Ever since I gave birth to my daughter nearly 11 years ago, I have had menstrual migraines. Pregnancy & delivery corrected my irregular periods but I was left with regular painful migraine episodes as my hormones shifted during my menstrual period.
As if motherhood weren’t headache enough! (Just kidding!)
As I’ve altered my diet over the years I have seen improvement in frequency, duration and severity of the migraines. Eating the 80/10/10 way has given me the most relief.
My husband and I eat mostly the 80/10/10 way 6 days a week (a bowl of homemade popcorn here and there, a bit of roasted nori, a bowl of soup on occasion) and we take off Friday night through Saturday night to celebrate the weekend. This is what we now call the Golden Eighty20 method.
Since we don’t drink alcohol or partake in the usual weekend shenanigans, we opt for some of our favorite restaurant food or homemade dishes. We go out for Mexican burritos, Japanese sushi, Greek food, salads at the local pizza place or stay home and make fried farm fresh eggs or Caesar salad. It’s mostly vegetarian fare with some seafood…no steaks, burgers, fast food, heavy desserts, etc.
This month my period started on Saturday morning, right in the midst of our “day off.” It’s clear to me how cooked food impacts & influences my hormones because I became uncharacteristically irritable, lethargic & short-tempered Friday afternoon. Sunday I could feel all day my head becoming more sensitive to lights & sounds: the precursor to migraine onset.
Migraine
Taking Ibuprofen doesn’t appeal to me so I opted to conduct an experiment. If cooked food can increase my migraine potential as I believed it did, then raw food can reverse or decrease my migraine potential.
Off to the store I went for lots of VEGGIES: 4 tomatoes, 1 cucumber, 1 stalk of celery hearts, 1 beet, 4 carrots with tops, 1/2 bunch Italian parsley, & 2 big handfuls of spinach. Inspired by Kristina Bucaram’s Real V8 Juice recipe, I juiced all these veggies and strained it into a nice big pitcher. (Btw, I know tomatoes & cucumbers are technically fruit.)
Into the tub, filled with epsom salts, lavender & bergamot essential oils, I went with my reading material (my favorite The Sun magazine) and veggie juice. After the tub I ate a full bag of cold, sweet red grapes.
Guess what?
I went to bed pain free. All the light & sound sensitivity, irritability & short-temperedness vanished. My energy returned and it was a challenge to fall asleep because I felt so great, energized & alive for the first time that day!
Try it for yourself. If you are prone to migraines of any kind (hormone induced or not), nurture yourself with fresh, raw produce and see if your symptoms can be reduced or eradicated. Do not underestimate the immediate healing power of food.
Staring at this screen composing this message is triggering some light sensitivity and head discomfort, so I’m going to sign off and make another batch of that healing juice. Too bad it’s the middle of my work day and I can’t slip back into that healing tub too!
{ 0 comments… add one now }