Watermelon and others plant foods that trigger headache in migraine patients

• Published in: Postgraduate medicine
• Main Authors: Silva-Néto, Raimundo Pereira, Soares, Adriana de Almeida, Vasconcelos, Carlos Augusto Carvalhode, Lopes, Luciano da Silva
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 03.10.2021
• Subjects: plant foods; primary headaches; watermelon; dietary; Migraine
• ISSN: 1941-9260
• DOI: 10.1080/00325481.2021.1922211

Food is already recognized as a trigger for migraine, but its mechanism of action has not been fully clarified. There is evidence that they act on the pathogenesis of migraine, interfering with meningeal inflammation, vasodilation and cerebral glucose metabolism. The aim of this study was to know which plant foods are triggers for migraine and the latency time for the onset of pain. We interviewed patients with migraine and tension-type headache about plant foods that trigger headache and onset time of the headache. We studied 3,935 migraine patients and 1,163 with tension-type headache. There were headaches triggered by plant foods after 90.5±7.9 minutes of ingestion in 40.3% (1,584/3,935) of migraine patients and none with tension-type headache. Headaches triggered by plant foods intake are distributed in the following order of frequency: watermelon (29.5%), passion fruit (3.73%), orange (2.01%), pineapple (1.52%), grape (0.51%), banana (0.46%), cucumber (0.43%), acerola (0.25%) and papaya (0.25%). Many plant foods, especially watermelon, may trigger headache attacks in migraine patients within a few minutes.