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    Home » Recipes » Vegetarian + Vegan » Vegetarian Heal Your Headache Migraine Diet Tips

    Published: Nov 6, 2018 · Modified: Jul 13, 2019 by Alicia This post may contain affiliate links.

    Vegetarian Heal Your Headache Migraine Diet Tips

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    a vegetarian migraine diet

    Everyday I’m more surprised at the lengths some people are willing to go to for their chronic illness. For me, it seemed like starting a migraine diet and giving up some of my favorite foods was the worst thing ever. Then I realized I would have given my right arm to go one day without that constant, floaty dizziness. I’m so impressed when vegetarians and vegans decide to give this diet a try. It’s not impossible if you are willing to get creative with some of your food choices.

    Mandy Behe, has been doing the Heal Your Headache diet as a vegetarian for 8 months now. She helped me out with a few ideas for those that might be thinking about starting this journey, but feel limited. It was wonderful to know that I can still get a lot of protein from vegetarian sources. I hope you’ll enjoy her article about her typical meals on a vegetarian migraine diet. I'll be following up with a 5 day vegetarian HYH meal plan similar to this one after Thanksgiving.


    Image from Gemma Correll 

    Can a vegetarian succeed on the HYH diet? Absolutely. I’ve been doing it for 8 months and it just keeps getting better. Diagnosed with chronic intractable migraine without aura in 1998, over 20 years, I’ve tried multiple treatments/medications that have never worked. Unlike Alicia, I was well aware of what my diagnosis meant. My father is a migraineur so I had seen the debilitating condition first hand throughout my entire childhood. 

    Luckily, I stumbled across Heal Your Headache by Dr. David Buchholz in December 2017 and it changed my life. With the help of The Dizzy Cook, I’ve gone from 23 (Jan 2018) headache days to 4 headache days (Aug 2018).  I was able to join a gym, become more physically active, and feel great for the first time in 20 years.

    I food prep on Sundays to make my life easier. Either I will make all 5 days of food at once, or if I am using fresher ingredients, then I prep twice a week. In the beginning it was overwhelming, so I would make oven baked potatoes on Sunday to warm up through the week, served with butter, a side of cottage cheese, and a vegetable. It was very quick and did not require any thought after a long day of work.

    Some of my favorite recipes:

    Moroccan Vegetable Stew Swap leeks for onions and omit raisins
    5 Minute Hummus Omit the lemon
    Honey Mustard Dressing 
    Italian and Basic Salad Dressing
    Mediterranean Baked Sweet Potatoes Omit the lemon
    Vegan Mexican Sweet Potatoes
    Puerto Rican Beans Sub olive oil for coconut, sub leeks for onions, sub white vinegar for red wine. I use Pomi Tomatoes when they say “Tomato Sauce". I serve with Lundberg Brown Rice. This is so good that my husband makes me double the recipe so he can have it!

    Breakfast
    Swiss Water Processed Decaf
    with Half & Half – make sure you read your labels, only a few brands are made with just milk and cream.
    Apples with Sunbutter
    Potato Breakfast Hash sub dried chives for onion powder
    Vegan Buckwheat Pancakes

    Overnight Blueberry Oatmeal:
    ¼ cup Bobs Red Mill Gluten Free Rolled Oats,
    ¼ cup Tempt Hemp Milk
    1 teaspoon chia seeds
    1 teaspoon pure maple syrup
    ½ cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
    1 teaspoon cinnamon
    1 teaspoon nonalcoholic vanilla

    Pizza Craving
    Trader Joes Cauliflower Crust
    Cadia Pizza Sauce
    Fresh Mozzarella Cheese

    If you're interested in learning more about migraine safe protein sources - see Mandy's chart below or download the Vegetarian HYH Chart.

    A chart of protein amounts for different vegetarian sources

    Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry | Soy Free and Migraine Friendly

    Vegetarian Fried Quinoa

    Adapted from The Dizzy Cook’s Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry with Spicy Sesame Sauce. Perfect for a delicious weeknight meal. 
    5 from 2 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Dinner, Lunch
    Cuisine: Vegan, Vegetarian
    Prep Time: 25 minutes
    Cook Time: 10 minutes
    Total Time: 35 minutes
    Servings: 6 people
    Author: Alicia

    Ingredients

    Stir Fry

    • 1 cup dry quinoa
    • 2 cups vegetable broth
    • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
    • 2 Japanese eggplants, chopped
    • 2 zucchini, wash and chopped into ½" pieces
    • 5 carrots, chopped
    • 1 red pepper, chopped
    • 6 oz mushrooms
    • 1 bunch of green onions, trimmed at the ends and chopped

    Sesame Sauce

    • 1 cup coconut aminos
    • 6 tablespoon tahini
    • 2 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
    • 2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
    • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
    • 4 teaspoon ground mustard
    • 2 teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and grated
    • kosher salt and pepper to taste

    Instructions

    • For the sauce - Add all the ingredients to a food processor and blend till combined. Set aside.
    • Cook quinoa according to package with vegetable broth. I use Bob’s Red Mill because it is already rinsed. Most others need to be rinsed first. 
    • Add sesame oil to a skillet or wok on high heat. Add all the veggies except for 2 green onion and toss. The veggies should take about 3-4 minutes to cook. You still want them a little crisp. (I use Japanese eggplant because it doesn’t need to be peeled, has less seeds, is less bitter and a little creamier, but any eggplant will work)
    • Add the cooked quinoa to the skillet and toss everything together with the sauce. Serve and top with the 2 chopped green onions.
    Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @thedizzycook or tag #thedizzycook!

     

     

     

     

    « Pumpkin Sage Pasta
    Allergy Friendly Pumpkin Pie Bites »

    About Alicia

    Alicia is a vestibular migraine advocate and the bestselling author of The Dizzy Cook: Managing Migraine with More Than 90 Comforting Recipes and Lifestyle Tips. Her articles and recipes have been featured by Healthline, Parade, mindbodygreen, Today, Good Morning Texas, the Vestibular Disorders Association, and the American Migraine Foundation. Read More

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Trevor Moore says

      September 15, 2021 at 12:53 pm

      5 stars
      I'm going to try this out tonight.

      Reply
      • Alicia says

        September 15, 2021 at 5:38 pm

        I hope you love it!!

        Reply
    2. Jan Freidman says

      November 10, 2020 at 7:31 pm

      5 stars
      Loved this quinoa recipe!

      Reply
    3. Jillian says

      March 31, 2020 at 1:06 pm

      Thank you for all you do in putting together recipes and information about vestibular migraine. I'm curious, because so many of these vegetarian suggestions have beans, if Mandy eliminated these items at first and then slowly added them, or if its found that by removing the meat from the diet that it changes the amount of triggers the beans are acceptable? I realize these are very individual and what is a trigger for one person might not be a trigger for another, so I guess my question is more about her process than what is right for me, or another.

      Reply
      • Alicia says

        March 31, 2020 at 2:21 pm

        Hey Jillian, some beans (like the ones listed in the chart) are acceptable on the Heal Your Headache diet! There are just a few that have to be eliminated. If you're not a vegetarian or vegan by personal choice, there's no reason to eliminate meat just for a migraine diet. Otherwise, it's really important to include beans to make sure you're getting enough protein in meals. The food triggers listed on migraine diets aren't meant to be eliminated forever, they are just temporary until you feel like you're in a good place with your attacks. Then you can reintroduce these foods to see if they bring on any attacks. This allows people to clearly see if they have foods triggers and what they might be.

        I have two posts that may help - the foods allowed list and the details of the Heal your Headache diet.

        Reply
        • Mary Westbrook says

          April 22, 2021 at 11:16 pm

          To be fair, I've been a vegetarian for over 20 years and still struggle with migraine. Giving up meat would provide a different elimination.

          Reply

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    Meet the Cook! I’m Alicia, cookbook author and recipe developer. I was diagnosed with Chronic Vestibular Migraine in 2016 - a diagnosis that changed my life. I’ve gone from bedridden to extremely active by implementing migraine diet, incorporating key supplements, and making lifestyle changes. The Dizzy Cook is a collection of my delicious recipes that everyone will love, and tips for anyone that struggles with migraine attacks.

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    Meet the Cook! I’m Alicia, cookbook author and recipe developer. I was diagnosed with Chronic Vestibular Migraine in 2016 - a diagnosis that changed my life. I’ve gone from bedridden to extremely active by implementing migraine diet, incorporating key supplements, and making lifestyle changes. The Dizzy Cook is a collection of my delicious recipes that everyone will love, and tips for anyone that struggles with migraine attacks.

    About The Dizzy Cook

    Trending Recipes

    • Creamy Boursin Pasta
    • Mediterranean Baked Halibut
    • Air Fryer Flank Steak
    • Grilled Bok Choy
    • Crustless Chicken Pot Pie
    • Chicken Zucchini Poppers with Creamy Cilantro Sauce

    Get New Posts via Email

    Subscribe for new recipes, tips, and discounts.

    Popular Summer Recipes

    • Crustless Blueberry Pie
    • Vanilla Ice Cream Pie
    • Slow Cooker Pork Shoulder
    • Dry Rub Oven Ribs (Baby Back)
    • Creamy Sweet Corn Pasta
    • Grilled Bok Choy

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