To feed or to fast? Nutritional triggers in migraine: a narrative review
Abstract
Background: Migraine attacks typically emerge in predisposed individuals after exposure to heterogeneous stimuli that vary widely across patients. A system-level perspective highlights migraine as a disturbance of homeostasis and allostasis: the brain integrates multiple inputs and generates adaptive responses to maintain physiological stability, but sustained physiological or paraphysiological stressors may impose excessive allostatic load. When compensatory mechanisms become energetically costly or insufficient, an “allostatic reset” may occur, clinically manifesting as a migraine attack. Within this framework, the concept of a migraine trigger is better viewed as a threshold modulator rather than a deterministic cause, i.e., a stimulus that lowers the attack threshold in susceptible individuals. Nutrition is among the most frequently implicated domains, including fasting, dehydration, specific foods and additives, and overall dietary patterns. Methods: This narrative review synthesizes current evidence on dietary exposures as potential migraine precipitants and modulators of disease course. Results: The most frequently reported food-related triggers include fasting, dehydration, alcohol, coffee and caffeine withdrawal, chocolate, milk and dairy products, processed and cured meats rich in nitrites and nitrates, citrus fruits, tea, onions, tomatoes, ice cream, nuts, spicy foods, and ultra-processed foods. Food additives such as monosodium glutamate, aspartame, sulfites, and…
Read the paper
Related studies
- Bioactive Molecules Released in Food by Lactic Acid Bacteria: Encrypted Peptides and Biogenic Amines
- A central role for amyloid fibrin microclots in long COVID/PASC: origins and therapeutic implications
- Bioaccessibility and bioavailability of phenolic compounds
- The Glutamate Hypothesis in ALS: Pathophysiology and Drug Development
- Therapeutic Approaches to Genetic Ion Channelopathies and Perspectives in Drug Discovery
- Effects of the Mediterranean Diet on the Components of Metabolic Syndrome Concerning the Cardiometabolic Risk
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.