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When it comes to a migraine diet, there are so many choices out there. Finding the right migraine diet for you can make a huge improvement in your symptoms and decrease attack days. But a lot of the complaints I see are focused on how difficult a migraine diet can be after you see the list of foods not allowed.
Foods Allowed on a Migraine Diet
Because I know it’s very easy to get caught up in focusing on the foods to eliminate on a migraine diet like Johns Hopkins or Heal Your Headache, I spent a long time putting together this list of foods to embrace that you can eat freely during the elimination period. I began this diet because I wasn’t complacent with just feeling 60-80% on my meds and supplements. I knew there had to be more, but wanted to approach things from a more holistic standpoint. You could have probably told me to walk around on my two hands to feel better and I would have tried it!
Focus On What You Can Have vs. What You Can’t
Beginning a migraine diet can be completely overwhelming. I remember standing in the middle of the supermarket (which was already a challenge), looking at my book of things to eliminate and tearing up. It was like literally everything I picked off the shelves was on the “no” list. But I promise the shift gets a lot easier. This diet, although temporary, gives you the tools you need to make better decisions about food going forward. And even now that I’ve reintroduced foods, I try to cook more at home or check the ingredients on pre-made meals more often.
Because you now know foods to avoid temporarily, we will focus on the many things you can have. You might be surprised that you find new foods or spices that you actually enjoy more than you did before! Plus it can make you a better cook too.
Is Coconut a Migraine Trigger?
Coconut is controversial. Although HYH says to eliminate it, I don’t see it affect people enough to that you should leave it in unless you don’t see an improvement in your migraines, but that call is up to you. Perhaps eliminate it if you’re not dairy free, but keep it in if your diet requires you to be dairy free.
I created two lists of basics that you can print out or save to your phone and carry with you to the grocery store. Hopefully it makes your life a little easier. If I missed something, it might not be on the “no” list. I just wanted to give you an idea of how many things you can actually have!
Heal Your Headache & Johns Hopkins Migraine Diet Foods to Enjoy
For pdf print outs:
Fruits Veggies and Spices Allowed on HYH
Meat, Cheese, Drinks, Beans, Grains, and Condiments Allowed on HYH
For more information on how to start a migraine elimination diet.
Pre-made Foods Allowed on a Migraine Diet
And for migraine diet pantry recommendations – check out these pre-made migraine-friendly foods and snacks.Don’t forget these tips for eating out on a migraine diet.
I would really appreciate that! We will take all the help that we can get. ????
Cassey will set you up with anything you need from VeDA. Her email is
cassey.parrish@vestibular.org. Please let me know if I can help you in any other way!
Discovering your website and wealth of resources has brought so much light to this incredibly difficult journey that I’m rallying with my sweet husband who’s been recently diagnosed. Your story and his have so many parallels. He’s described this as the greatest challenge of his life. I know that you can attest to that too. Thank you so much for sharing so candidly and generously. You are an answered prayer for me!
Meg, this made my day. Thank you so much for saying something. It takes a very strong person to get through this illness, and I had no idea I ever had it in me to fight so hard. The people I meet with VM or any kind of migraine are the kindest, strongest, and most positive human beings and it always surprises me knowing what we all go through everyday. A proper diagnosis is half the battle, so I have no doubt he’ll be on the path to recovery soon. Please don’t hesitate to email me if you have any questions – alicia@thedizzycook.com. I can also set you guys up with an online support group or resources through VeDA (vestibular.org) if you’re interested.
I am curious about beans. I saw on your no list some you’d posted but did not see on your yes list any beans. So I’m guessing pinto, black and many others are fine? All of your information has been very useful and thank you for doing this!
Yes! Pinto and black beans are allowed. You just have to avoid navy, fava, lima, broad Italian, and lentils. In all honesty, I didn’t understand how some beans were higher in tyramine than others and I also don’t really like beans, so I just avoided them all in the beginning except maybe garbanzo. I’ll have to update my list. I always forget about those since I don’t like them! 🙂
Hi again, with fruit jams/jellies all the ones I keep finding say ‘gelling agent’ (I’m from New Zealand so maybe slightly different) do you think that’s still okay to eat?
Also other herbal teas are fine too as long as they don’t have caffeine right? Eg: peppermint.
I’m loving your blog!
That one is tough because it could be gelatin or a number of things that are on the “no” list. However, you’re probably using it in such a small amount, I’d give it a try and just be aware of how you feel over the next 2 days. Yes! Anything without caffeine is fine and peppermint should be one of the better ones. I find I have to get the “naturally decaffeinated” as opposed to just “decaf”, otherwise I still get dizzy.
Love this list and site! You’re doing a great job, Alicia! Thanks for providing this helpful info always and great meals!
I had a question with the heavy cream store bought. I keep finding ones with the extra ingredients. What brand do you suggest and what store? Thanks!
Thank you so much! It’s always nice to hear it’s helpful.
I typically use Organic Valley. I believe Trader Joe’s has one, I can’t remember the name. It has gellan gum, but that’s usually ok. It’s the brands that have carrageenan that seem to give me a big issue. I believe Whole Foods also has one that’s strictly heavy cream.
I’m really excited to have found this website! Your story is very similar to my own, unfortunately. I’ve read a couple migraine books, HYH being one I own, but I was so put off by HYH because of the sugar that is in this diet. One of the days has a breakfast of waffles and syrup. I’ve read another book, I think it was The Migraine Miracle, and he’s all about getting rid of sugar because it is so inflammatory. Do you have any thoughts? I know you’re not a dr but it seems like you have things figured out for the most part. Thanks!
Hi Alyssa, I’m excited you found it too! What I inferred from Dr Buchholz was that the diet was difficult enough to try to implement for some people, that getting rid of sugar on top of everything else would have almost been impossible. It’s why I like HYH the most out of all the migraine diets. I believe it’s the easiest to implement and actually stick with. That being said, I personally don’t eat a lot of sugar and I have seen large amounts trigger migraine in some people. I think there’s more research out there on food now, that perhaps HYH would be updated if it were written today. You’ll see a lot of the recipes here that are sweet either use honey or organic cane sugar, and are overall lower sugar than you might see elsewhere. The recipes here take HYH a little further also, as most are gluten free.
As for The Migraine Miracle, I think it works for many because it’s basically the keto diet. It doesn’t allow you to eat sugar, but it does allow you to eat other migraine triggers that HYH eliminates. I personally don’t love that they charge you for their support group, but they gotta make money somehow and I clearly didn’t get that memo haha. It just comes down to what diet you think you can stick with the most. If HYH works for you, like it did for me, then you have more options of things to eat! If it doesn’t, then moving to a keto diet might be a better fit.
I LOVE the list!! This was part of the reason I was always drawn to Charleston…I needed the lists when I was trying to recover from the migrainous stroke. I loved the protocols from HYH, but the lack of a black and white list was too much for my recovering brain to try to comprehend. Thank you so much for putting this together!!! You are awesome!!
That’s awesome, Eileen! I’m glad it’s been so helpful. I agree with you that lists are necessary! I used to take a screen shot and flip through it on my phone when I was in the grocery store. The lists in the book are kind of all over the place, and the ones I would find online eliminated way to many things. I did think of more things to add once I was finished, so it may be an ongoing list. 🙂
I just read this. You are so awesome to take the time to research and list all of these foods.
Thank you.