Since my sophomore year of college, I have become increasingly familiar migraines, mostly manifesting in a sharp pain behind my eyes. Occasionally, I’m able to ease the symptoms, if I’m able to take action quickly. However, if I’m unable to get away from lights and cool off, it could lead to several hours of pain. Those of you who have migraines can probably relate to this.
Because migraines really suck, I’m always looking for ways I can quickly help the pain from building up. One thing in particular that I’ve found helps me is some fresh tacos with chips and salsa — yes, really! But, is there actually any reason to this, or is it just the placebo effect and will only work for me? Let’s dig a little deeper!
Citrus Sensations
One of the first flavors that comes to my mind when I think about tacos is the lime squeezed over it and pouring off the sides. Since it’s such a prominent flavor and it goes on the top, let’s start our investigation there.
Right out of the gate, it’s not looking good for our tasty limes. Several sources all citrus fruits as triggers for migraines [1, 2, 3]. There are a lot of different opinions as to why this is, mostly revolving around the acidity of the juice. That’s a huge bummer.
Another point against citrus is that too much of it can make my jaw tense up, causing more pain. So if the citrus isn’t the answer to the taco’s migraine-reducing powers (should they exist), then could it be the meat?
Carne Asada
Let’s move down under the lime, cilantro, and other toppings to the meat. Obviously there are so many options for what you could use for your meat — or even not meat at all. My favorite tacos are tacos carne asada (unless there is some legit al pastor on the table). So how good of a headache reducer is steak?
And it looks like there might be some hope for our protein in the form of vitamin B2. In a study published in 2015, researchers found that increasing levels of vitamin B2 can both reduce the frequency that headaches occur as well as shorten them[2, 3, 7].
On top of this, usually tacos carne asada is prepared with a lot of salt on the steak meat. In Severe Headache or Migraine History Is Inversely Correlated With Dietary Sodium Intake, over five years with more than 15,000 participants, participants who had increased sodium levels reported having fewer headaches than those who did not[3]. So this could be another legitimate plus, though I wouldn’t suggest significantly increasing your salt intake just for this 😅.
Crunch a Bunch!
We’re going to derail a bit from the tacos to look at an important side to the meal, tortilla chips. Growing up, my mom would often look for “something to crunch” when she felt like she was getting a migraine. She would go for chips, Funions, and really just about anything that would snap, crack, or pop! At the time, I thought this was pretty silly, but whenever I started getting migraines myself, I noticed this was actually really helpful!
Right out of the gate, I found some Reddit users that actually agreed with this as both a solution to headaches as well as stomach aches. One user said “I have sometimes total relief (or at least significant relief) while I’m chewing, which makes me think that jaw tension is really playing in to my migraines,” which may be promising if you find that your migraines are from tension[4]. Mine usually begin behind my eyes and move towards my neck, so I think some muscular relief might come from the motion.
I have sometimes total relief (or at least significant relief) while I’m chewing, which makes me think that jaw tension is really playing in to my migraines
SouthernEllie, Reddit User
On the other hand, The American Migraine Foundation points to poor diets as a possible trigger for migraines[5], specifically mentioning chips and crackers due to their salt content. Again, in a 2010 study[6], it was found that fatty and salty foods likely did have a link to increase migraine pain.
This is looking like a lot of bad news for chips and the crunch. However, in “Treatment of Migraine Headaches” by Dr. J. D. Bartleson, published through the Mayo Clinic, specifically MSG and nitrites are listed as triggers as opposed to general sodium content. So perhaps the source of the sodium makes a difference. Or maybe this is a thing unique to me by training myself to do it. The evidence seems to be against it in the long term, but there doesn’t appear to be any research done on any immediate relief to a migraine that crunching down on some good ‘ol tortilla chips could provide. Try it for yourself! I’d love to hear the results!
Conclusions
When I first had the idea for this, I had expected that I would find a lot of evidence to support the relief I experience. Lime certainly seems like a no-go and chips are inconclusive; there does appear to be some promise in having tacos carne asada. At the end of the day, maybe your best option would be to have an overly salted steak to ward off the oncoming migraine. As for me, I’ll stick to what works: Tacos, tacos, with a side of tacos.
References
- Bartleson, J. Treatment of Migraine Headaches. Concise Review for Clinicians. 1999; 74(7):702-708. doi 10.4065/74.7.702
- Mayo Clinic, Migraines
- Healthline, What Foods Can You Eat to Prevent Migraines?
- Namazi N, Heshmati J, Tarighat-Esfanjani A. Supplementation with Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) for Migraine Prophylaxis in Adults and Children: A Review. Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 2015;85(1-2):79-87. doi: 10.1024/0300-9831/a000225. PMID: 26780280.
- Dana P. Turner, Sampling Methods in Research Design, Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain, 10.1111/head.13707, 60, 1, (8-12), (2020).
- Reddit: r/migraines, Crunchy food helps with the pain
- American Migraine Foundation, Migraine and Diet
- Zencirci B. Comparison of the effects of dietary factors in the management and prophylaxis of migraine. J Pain Res. 2010;3:125-130, https://doi.org/10.2147/JPR.S9437