Diet Cure for Migraine - Home remedies, symptom, cause, treatment of Migraine

What is Migraine?

Migraine is an ancient and formidable malady. It bothered such distinguished persons as Ceasar, Darwin and Freud. It has assumed alarming proportions under modern conditions of living and is now believed to afflict about 10 per cent of the world's population.

Migraine can be defined as a paroxysmal affliction, accompanied by severe headache, generally on one side of the head and associated with disorders of the digestion, the liver and the vision. It usually occurs when the person is under great mental tension or has suddenly got over that state.

What are the symptom of Migraine?

There is a definite pattern for migraine. The pain rages on only one side of the head and often radiates from the eye. The right side of the head may be affected in one attack and in the next it may be the left side. Migraine attacks are usually preceded by a short period of depression , irritability and loss of appetite. Some persons get attacks daily, others every month or every two or three months and still others only once or twice in several years.

What are the causes of Migraine?

There are various factors which trigger off migraine. The most important is consuming food which the patient may be allergic to. Such foods include certain chocolates, cheese and other dairy products, fried foods in general, onions, tomatoes, citrus fruits as well as coffee, tea, nicotine and alcoholic drinks which stimulate or depress the nerves and alter the size of blood vessels. Other triggers include excessive bright light, eye-strain, excitement, fright, hurry, anger, resentment and depression after hard work.

Dietary Treatment of Migraine and home remedies

Painkilling drugs may give temporary relief but they do not remove the cause. The patient soon gets addicted to strong drugs which also lose their effectiveness in course of time. The best treatment for migraine is to prevent it.

A lowered energy level, however, is the chief factor which contributes towards migraine. Any successful treatment for this ailment should, therefore, aim at a complete toning up and revitalisation of the whole organism. To achieve this, it will be essential to under-take a thorough cleansing of the system and adopt vitality-building measures.

To begin with, the patient should resort to fasting on orange juice and water for two or three days. The procedure is to take the juice of an orange in a glass of a warm water every two hours from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Alternatively, juices of vegetables such as carrot, cucumber and celery may be taken. A warm water enema may be taken each day while fasting to cleanse the bowels. After the short juice fast, the patient may adopt an all-fruit diet for about five days, taking three meals a day of fresh juicy fruits such as apples, pears, grapes, grapefruits , oranges, pineapples, peaches and melons. NO other food stuff should be taken during this period, otherwise the value of the whole treatment will be lost.

Niacin especially, has proved helpful in the treatment of migraine. It is, however, necessary that when taking any of the separate B vitamin factors, the entire B-complex should be taken in some form as too much of one factor can throw the other factors into imbalance. This may result in other undesirable problems. IN fact, the entire B-complex range is beneficial in the prevention of migraine.

Drinking lots of water, hot foot baths, fomentations over the stomach and spine, cold compress ( 40 o F to 60 o F) to the head and towels wrung out of very hot water and frequently applied to the neck will go a long way in relieving migraine headaches. The patient should also undertake plenty of exercise and walking in fresh air.