The headache is not triggered by chocolate, cured meats or fizzy drinks, not always and not for everyone at least, because every child can have his own guilty food.
Researchers from the Department of Neuroscience of the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital have just published a systematic review of all the scientific literature produced on the headache-nutrition relationship in the journal Nutrients. To conclude that there is no blacklist of prohibited foods that is the same for everyone, and that before eliminating a food from a child’s diet, the relationship between migraine attack and food must be verified and confirmed, in every single young patient and for any suspicious food.
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What are we talking about
Migraine affects about 10% of the pediatric population and, in this age group, has a genetic origin. In about 5% of children who suffer from it, the disorder can become chronic, with heavy repercussions on the quality of life, in terms of loss of school days, suspension from sports and play activities, and therefore of relationships. There are many factors that can trigger a headache attack or increase its frequency: in children in particular, emotional aspects are important, such as school stress, anxiety or depression. And some foods too.
Among those most often accused of causing headaches there is for example chocolate, sodium glutamate (a molecule that is found among other things in tomatoes and some cheeses, and which is used a lot in some oriental cuisines), nitrites (present in sausages), artificial sweeteners and gluten.
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The absolution of chocolate and other myths
In fact, the researchers say, that chocolate is associated with migraine attacks has not really been proven. Same thing for sodium glutamate: to date we have no scientific evidence that indicates that the administration of glutamate can cause headaches. In the literature there are works that have shown that when this substance was administered to some patients and not to others, contrary to what was expected, the headache was not more frequent in the former than in the latter. For sweeteners there are essentially no data: there are no scientific studies that confirm their role as triggers of the migraine attack.
Alcohol and coffee
The speech changes for alcohol (and in these cases we are talking about adults or adolescents with bad habits) and for caffeine (which is present in some carbonated drinks that children use). According to the review authors’ review, alcohol can actually cause headaches. As well as caffeine: both excessive consumption of this substance and a rapid suspension of its intake can trigger migraines. According to published work, stopping caffeine can cause headaches in about half of people, and for about one third of migraine sufferers there is a close relationship between taking or stopping caffeine and the onset of a migraine attack. What to do then? How should parents of young migraine sufferers behave?
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To each his own … food no
According to the researchers of the Child Jesus, removing all suspicious foods from all migraine sufferers is wrong. Because it is not possible – they argue – to predict that in the individual patient a series of foods can trigger the migraine attack, “rather – he says Massimiliano Valeriani, head of the Neurological Hospitalization of the Infant Jesus and coordinator of the review just published – the family must verify whether or not there is a constant relationship between the intake of a certain food and the appearance in a short time of headache. Only in this case it will be possible to proceed to remove that specific food from the diet. “A bit like saying that everyone has their own guilty foods, which are such only if the headache appears regularly after their intake and if you spend little time between the moment of consumption and the painful attack.
“In addition – added Valeriani – children with migraines are often subjected to tests for allergies and intolerances for foods such as tomatoes, seeds (hazelnuts, peanuts), lactose, nickel, gluten which, however, have nothing to do with migraines”.
Obesity can make headaches worse
A study conducted by the neurologists of the Infant Jesus previous to the one we are talking about has shown that a high frequency of migraine attacks (greater than 5 per month) affects about 65% of overweight children, and only 35% of those of normal weight. Consequently, based on the scientific evidence, it is good for migraine children with obesity to follow a low-calorie diet and for young migraine patients to not gain weight.
I nutraceutici
For the treatment of children’s migraines, nutraceuticals are widely used, i.e. food supplements of natural origin such as magnesium or feverfew. There is no scientific evidence that says with certainty that nutraceuticals can be useful against headaches, but – according to the experts of the Child Jesus – certainly these products have no side effects. So – they conclude – the advice is to evaluate the possible use of supplements in younger children or when the side effects of drugs are feared.
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