94% of people who go to a doctor with the complaint of episodes of a headache actually have a migraine. Almost 50% of people with a migraine have eye tearing or nasal stuffiness. A migraine is a type of headache that affects half of the head. It occurs due to a mixture of environmental and genetic factors.
A migraine does not have permanent relief. But according to new research, a low-carb diet could be the answer to migraines. Scientists from Italy have tested volunteers on a high-fat, low-carb Ketogenic diet. And they found that it reduced the number of headaches within the first month.
This diet encourages the body to generate ketone bodies as its primary fuel by reducing carbohydrate intake—for example, less demanding and less inflammatory water-soluble molecules than the glucose that’s usually created.
Scientists think this may be the reason for the reduction of migraine.
Scientists held a 6-month study. They involved 96 women who had migraines in this study. Among them, 45 followed a very low-calorie ketogenic diet for a month. They then turn to a standard low-calorie one. The remaining volunteers kept to a standard diet consistently.
Both groups experienced a drop in the frequency of their headaches. However, that was even more pronounced for those on the Ketogenic diet. Scientists found that when these volunteers switched to a standard low-calorie diet, their migraine levels increased.
Generally, the average migraineur loses 0.54 paid days from work and 12.7 hours of work still impaired by migraines in a month. But the study shows that just after one month, the volunteers who had a ketogenic diet were averaging 0.91 days with a headache per month. That means attacks happened less often and even more briefly.
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Lead researcher Cherubino di Lorenzo said, “The combination of ketone bodies and changed glucose response could cause the outstanding therapeutic effect. This is what we have observed in our patients.”
The Ketogenic diet was previously used to diagnose epilepsy in children. It also helps to lose weight. Scientists were already alert about its potential migraine-busting properties. It reduces a potentially harmful type of inflammation linked to migraines. Additionally, in another study, they observed that it could even reduce the headaches in twin sisters.
Scientists said, “Despite the link between ketone bodies and reduced migraines, further research is needed. Because there could be other factors at play in the chemical reactions that the diet induces in the body.”
“Several interacting mechanisms may be at work in the clinical and neurophysiological actions of the ketogenic diet,” they explained.
Di Lorenzo said, “For overweight migraine sufferers, it’s worth exploring. But always consult your doctor first.”
