Tannins and migraines

[Kathrynne Holden, MS,RD]

To the lists,
This could be of interest to many health professionals in helping treat
migraines.

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Foods Containing Tannin May Trigger Migraine
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WESTPORT (Reuters) -- Tannin appears to be one of the substances that
can
trigger migraine, a Canadian physician reports in the September issue of
the journal Headache.

"There have been many reports of food triggers for migraine attacks, but
there seems to be no mention of tannins in general or of apple juice in
particular," Dr. Michael Mather of Toronto notes. However, his
experience
with two patients whose migraine attacks appeared to be triggered by
tannin
consumption leads him to believe these substances should be added to the
list.

Both patients were adult women, one with frequent migraine, the other
with
"almost continuous migraines for most of her life." The first patient
reported the onset of a migraine shortly after she consumed two glasses
of
cloudy apple juice. Following discussion of this episode, the patient
agreed to avoid foods containing tannins such as apple juice, coffee,
tea,
and red wine. Shortly thereafter, her migraines stopped.

The second woman, who found it necessary to take potent analgesics
almost
continuously began a tannin-free diet. After she began the diet, the
woman
did not have a migraine attack for 10 days, and the overall frequency of
migraine was reduced to once a month.

Mather suspects that tannin acts by mechanisms unrelated to allergens,
which can make them difficult to identify as migraine triggers. He
concludes that there is an association between migraine and tannin
consumption, and believes this relationship merits further
investigation.


SOURCE: Headache (1997;37:529)
[1997, Reuters Health eLine]
<http://www.medscape.com/reuters/tue/t1110-5f.html>
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-- 
Kathrynne Holden, MS, RD
Editor-in-Chief,
"Spotlight on Food--nutrition news for people 60-plus"
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