Since I was 14 years old, I had severe migraine pain. My parents took me to many doctors and did tests. But they always ended up writing me a prescription and told me to take pain killer pills when the pain is severe or out of my control. For the next 12-15 years I kept on doing the same. Whenever I had pain I popped in a pain killer pill. For the time being I got relief but it was not a permanent relief. But since I turned vegan, I started believing that my food is my medicine and slowly the intensity of my migraine attacks reduced. Now, for the past 2 years I didn’t get migraine pain for a single moment. So what did I do extra to treat my own migraine pain. Here you go:
1. Avoid deep oil fried food
In India, we all love fried food in our diet. Be it puri, pakora, and other fried food, everything is part of our diet. But many of us are not aware of the fact that fried food gives you tremendous headache. When we consume fried/oily food, the levels of certain fats increases in our blood stream. It leads to the production of prostaglandins ( a small group of active fats in our body). It helps the blood vessels to dilate and elevates headache or joint pain for elderly people.
2. Cut down dairy products
Many of us feel that dairy products are highly beneficial for our health and provides us calcium and many other nutrition. But cow/buffalo milk consists lactose, which is very difficult for humans to digest. So when we consume cow/buffalo milk, we generally feel very full or bloated, and that’s the reason that why do we feel full after having cow/buffalo milk. It’s not going to be the same with plant based milk. It doesn’t make you bloated/full because it’s coming from the plants and doesn’t have lactose in it. Its a great milk alternative for those who are allergic or intolerant to lactose.
3. Stop having sugar
Many of you might have a sweet tooth and might be scratching your head that how to consume desserts if sugar is supposed to be removed from your daily diet. The immediate impact you can see in your health is sudden high blood sugar, high blood pressure, weight gain, inflammation and fatty liver issues. That’s why most of the times doctors, fitness coaches, nutritionists and dieticians ask their clients/patients to reduce sugar consumption. Some people also get acne on their faces due to too much of sweet consumption. You can use stevia, maple syrup or agave syrup to consume sweets. Honey could be an alternative for the common people, as honey is not a vegan food product.
4. Avoid gluten from your diet
Avoiding gluten from your regular diet could be a real issue. Most of us eat sandwiches, burgers, and various types of breads. But nowadays, many cafés and restaurants are presenting gluten-free breads in their menu as this is becoming a part of people’s lifestyle. If you are having gluten, once in a while for a change, it’s still okay but having it regularly might give you skin rashes, bad acnes, weight gain and digestive issues quite frequently. You can alter gluten with some gluten-free breads made from almond flour, buckwheat flour and amaranth flour. You can also explore millet flour as an easy alternative. These gluten-free flour can easily be used to make pancakes at home as well.
5. Smoked or barbecued food needs to be ignored
Smoked and barbecued food items are delicious but not so good for health. It’s partially smoked/burnt food cooked in charcoal. Many of you might get digestive issues after consuming smoked food. I have come across some of my friends who loved to eat the burnt noodles/rice in sizzlers, but mind it, that its not good for your health. You create more pressure on your digestive system when you consume sizzling hot, barbecued or burnt food. Your digestive system needs extra time to digest it.
I have already posted it in my Instagram reels, but posting a proper blog here, as I received few DMs where people asked me to describe it. I suffered a lot with severe migraine attacks for more than a decade, and believe me when I say it was terrible and pathetic too. My migraine pain was so severe that I threw up couple of times what I ate that day. Not able to get up from the bed and feeling agitated throughout the day due to the pain is not something which anybody would appreciate. These simple remedies helped me which doctors couldn’t help me with. Don’t forget to sleep for 7-8 hours/day for better results. Hope you will find it helpful.