LIFE diet: THE solution to migraines?

Chronic migraines are not only uncomfortable for those affected, they can enormously reduce the quality of life. This is what happened to an American who suffered from migraines for twelve years – most recently 18 to 24 days per month. Nothing seemed to help until he adjusted his diet on the advice of his doctors LIFE diet surrounded. We’ll tell you what happened next and what the LIFE diet looks like here.

Man had migraines for 12 years before following the LIFE diet

In a recently published case study, medical professionals from the University of Pennsylvania, USA, describe the case of a 60-year-old man who suffered from severe migraines for over 12 years. He’d taken medication, left out foods that triggered the headache, such as chocolate, cheese, and nuts, and tried yoga and meditation. All measures that are traditionally used in migraine sufferers. But none of this helped the man, whose migraine episodes last lasted around 72 hours.

The doctors who also published the case study recommended that the man follow the so-called LIFE diet. A diet that mainly consists of wholesome, plant-based and nutrient-rich foods. After just two months on the LIFE diet, the man’s migraine attacks were reduced to just one per month. After three months he had no more migraines and he has been completely free of migraines for seven and a half years.

What is the LIFE Diet?

LIFE stands for “Low Inflammatory Foods Everyday”, which means something like “Every day little inflammatory foods”. In the LIFE diet, therefore, primarily anti-inflammatory foodseaten, such as vegetables, fruits, nuts and high quality vegetable oils.

The LIFE diet puts a special focus on dark green leafy vegetables, such as Kale, Black cabbage, spinach or Swiss chard. Almost 150 g of this should be cooked or eaten raw per day. Dark green leafy vegetables are particularly rich in anti-inflammatory plant compounds. In addition, there is almost a liter of green LIFE smoothie a day, which consists of kale or spinach, blueberries and flaxseed, for example. Whole grains, starchy vegetables and animal protein, especially dairy products and red meat, are avoided as much as possible.

Is the LIFE diet the solution to migraines?

The case study of the American who got rid of his migraines in just three months using the LIFE diet is extremely promising. In addition, the doctors were able to show successes with the LIFE diet in relation to chronic diseases and a reduction in inflammation levels in earlier studies. However, the LIFE diet cannot be generalized as the one solution to migraines based on one case.

That the Diet for migraines However, it does play a role has now been scientifically confirmed. For example, it could also be shown that the anti-inflammatory Omega-3 fatty acids can help with migraines. In general, an anti-inflammatory, plant-excess diet could definitely help against chronic headaches. The authors of the case study also come to the somewhat more general conclusion that “a wholesome, plant-based diet can offer a safe, effective, and permanent treatment for reversing chronic migraines.”

More Information about migraines as well as help and tips can be found on our topic page. You can find more tips on the subject of natural remedies on our topic page Naturopathy.

Sources:

Perzia BM, Dunaief JL, Dunaief DM: Chronic migraine reversal and prevention with the LIFE diet: a nutrient dense whole food plant-based diet, 2021, accessed on December 9th, 2021

EurekAlert: May be worth adopting plant based diet to ease chronic migraine severity, say doctors, November 18, 2021, accessed on December 9, 2021

Also: medicalnewstoday.com, today.com

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