THIS IS Why You're Still Getting Migraines: Here's How To Fix It!

Is your food giving you migraines? So, here's what to eat and what to ditch for relief. I want to tell you about migraines because for a good half of my life, I suffered from migraines. I actually did baby heart transplants with migraine headaches. And if you've ever been flattened by a migraine, the pounding, the light sensitivity, the nausea, you know how debilitating it can be. And yet, who else is going to put a little heart into a newborn baby but me suffering with a migraine? Now, I was told that this was just me because my father had migraines. And most doctors will tell you it's stress or family history or simply throw up their hands. Now, I'm here to tell you something different. I haven't had a migraine for over 30 years. Why? Because it's what's on your plate that may be what's pounding in your head. Now, once you understand the gut-brain connection the way I do, this will all make complete sense. So, as I wrote about in my current book, The Gut Brain Paradox, the gut-brain axis is your migraine's hidden headquarters. Now, your gut and your brain are in constant conversation. Your microbiome actually sends signals to your brain every day, even [snorts] producing hormones like serotonin and GABA. But, when your gut lining gets compromised, better known as leaky gut or intestinal permeability, not only do bacteria and dead bacteria like LPSs, slip into your bloodstream. >> [sighs] >> But, your white blood cells in your gut actually send emergency signals around your body, including to the blood vessels in your brain, that trouble is afoot, that trouble is coming, and that you should try to protect the brain. Now, for many of my patients, and me, that inflammation shows up as a migraine. Now, there are a number of foods that are probably triggering your migraines. And I have a big practice, believe it or not, in treating people with migraine headaches. Why do I have a big practice in that? Because the good news is we can get rid of them in almost every patient I've ever dealt with. So, let me tell you the main culprits. So, the first main culprit is lectins. Now, lectins are plant defense proteins. And the plant, believe it or not, doesn't necessarily want you to eat it or its babies, its seeds. And lectins are designed to, among other things, punch holes in your gut lining. So, simplistically, here's what to ditch. First of all, wheat, rye, barley, all gluten-containing foods. Now, this triggers leaky gut, even without causing severe celiac disease, the ultimate gluten problem. But, here's what I've learned for 25 years now. People who go gluten-free don't resolve their migraines. Why? Because many of the gluten-free foods that they're eating are just as mischievous. So, corn. 70% of my patients who react to gluten react to corn. Buckwheat. Buckwheat, just because it's wheat-free, doesn't mean lectin-free. It's also on my avoid list. Quinoa, on my avoid list. The nightshade families are notorious. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, plain old potatoes. These are major triggers for sensitive individuals. Let me tell you about one of my patients who's a nurse who came to me years ago with devastating migraine headaches. And she happens to be a great gardener. And in fact, I just talked to her this week. Uh she makes a zucchini tomato relish. And I've written about her in my books. And she loves her zucchini tomato relish. And she cans it every year. And I told her I could guarantee that one of her big drivers was her tomato zucchini relish. And we eliminated and lo and behold, her migraines went away. But after a year, she really missed her zucchini tomato relish. And I said, "I'll tell you what, this next fall, I want you to can your zucchini tomato relish the usual way, but I also want you to pressure cook part of your batch. Pressure cooking in general breaks lectins. The one thing pressure cooking won't break, unfortunately, is the gluten molecule. So, we did that. And sure enough, she could have her pressure cooked zucchini tomato relish, no problem. But, when she tried her regular preserved zucchini tomato relish, she got her migraine. So, she's a perfect example that sometimes some of our favorite foods may be the real culprits. So, what else goes on? Well, processed foods and sugar feed the wrong type of bacteria. And they drive inflammation straight up to your brain through the gut-brain axis. Now, another thing that surprises people, and I wrote about this in The Plant Paradox, and people tend to want to not believe that I wrote it. LPSs, little pieces of bacteria, can ride through the wall of your gut on fats. Any fat, whether it's a saturated fat, a monounsaturated fat like olive oil, a polyunsaturated fat, they will get through the wall of your gut on fats. The fats that don't allow this are perilla oil, the favorite oil of Korea, fish oil, or ahiflower oil. Those actually block LPSs. So, for the first 2 weeks of my program, believe it or not, I want you to really avoid all fats, all fatty foods, even avocados, even cheeses, and concentrate on eating fat-free with the exception of perilla oil, fish oil, or ahiflower oil. Just remember, gluten-free is not lectin-free. Many of my patients out gluten and still suffered because they kept eating other lectin-loaded food like oats. Oats have a protein that cross-reacts with gluten. >> [clears throat] >> So, even if it says gluten-free oats, don't believe it. All right. So, what should you eat if you're prone to migraines? First of all, I want you to concentrate on fermented foods. Like kimchi, like sauerkraut, like kefir. Keep a jar in your fridge. A forkful a day restores the microbiome balance that helps keep inflammation in check. If you like yogurts, try to stick with, for instance, sheep yogurt, goat yogurt, which is readily available, and coconut yogurt. But, just eating fermented foods isn't enough. We now know that you've got to have prebiotic fiber in your diet. Prebiotic fiber, soluble fiber, is what good bacteria eat. And bacteria have to eat something to produce postbiotics, which will help repair your gut. Now, if you like foods, artichokes, chicory, radicchio, asparagus, these are all rich in inulin, a soluble fiber that your bacteria just absolutely love. And think of it as fertilizer for your gut garden. And interestingly enough, you got to have two. You can't just eat soluble fiber. You have to have fermented foods as part of what really energizes this whole system. What else can you have? Well, wild-caught seafood and shellfish. Oysters, mussels, clams. These are loaded with omega-3 fats that not only fight neuroinflammation directly, but again, prevents LPSs from getting through your gut. Now, your brain absolutely needs omega-3 fats. And most people, when we test them for the amount of omega-3 fats in their system, are woefully low. In fact, even people who eat salmon on a daily basis usually are deficient in omega-3s. The only people I really see who have adequate omega-3s are daily sardine or herring eaters. That's right. And get yourself a can of sardines. They're readily available. So, the bottom line, migraines aren't a head problem. They're a gut problem expressing itself in your brain. Like me, if you remove the lectin offenders, load up on fermented foods, soluble fiber, rebuild your microbiome, you'll be amazed how your migraines will resolve. Now, here's the other thing I've noticed. Gut healing takes time. But when it happens, many of my patients are shocked by how dramatically their migraines improve. The other thing that I'm amazed at is that I have my patients who get migraines, who once their migraines resolved, say, "Okay, I'm fine now. I can go back to way I did." And often, just introducing one of these triggers, all of a sudden gives them a migraine. Now, usually, that in itself is enough to get you to stop that behavior. And like my patient who's the nurse, sometimes you just got to have your favorite food, but make it so it's not going to harm you if you have to have it. Like for instance, pressure cooking. All right. I know you want to live your healthiest life. I assure you, it all starts in your gut.