Chocolate Migraines are pretty Easy to Figure Out

Chocolate migraines aren't caused by the chocolate, but by two ingredients in the chocolate.

This could be a migraine treatment you need for migraine relief if you eat chocolate, and unknowingly to you, it doesn't agree with you.

Tyramine is a chemical found in cocoa beans which increases the activity of neurotransmitters (brain chemicals) in certain areas of the brain.

My wifes headache doctor said her neurotransmitters were firing rapidly. "Go figure on this".

Also chocolate has caffeine. Both of these substances can constrict blood vessels, and constriction causes head pain.

Chocolate is actually a poor source of caffeine.

An average chocolate bar will have between ten, and sixty milligrams of caffeine.

Dark chocolate contains about as much caffeine as a cup of Decaf coffee.

A cup of hot chocolate contains only about five percent as much caffeine as a cup of perked coffee. So you would have to consume a bit to have chocolate migraines from caffeine.

A little later we will give you the migraine food triggers page to see if you could be consuming something besides dark chocolate that could be giving you migraines.

In your case of having migraines by eating chocolate, the tyramine is most likely the chemical that is giving you migraines.

But as with all migraine sufferers, chocolate will not trigger migraines in many. If you notice that your migraines start after you eat that whole chocolate cake (just joking) then download our diary, and keep check.

It shouldn't be a hard one to figure out.

But if you are drinking a aspartame soda while you are consuming a piece of chocolate cake, then think. This can also trigger headaches in some people. Check this page, there may be a connection.

There is no evidence that chocolate gives migraines, But!

Many that stop consuming chocolate, claim that there was instance relief. And just as quickly if they forgot, and started back on it, their chocolate migraines returned.

Can white chocolate be eaten without giving you a migraine?

White chocolate is similar to milk chocolate, but without the cocoa base.

Without any real cocoa bean content, white chocolate is not really a chocolate .

Since it does not contain real cocoa beans and the many healthy nutrients which are present in the cocoa beans, and since it has a high content of fats from both cocoa butter, and milk fat, white chocolate is by far the least healthy of the chocolates.

But for a trade off of a migraine, it's not hard to make a choice here is it?

Here is something else to think about when you have a chocolate migraine.

Dr. Audrey Halpern, clinical assistant professor of neurology at New York University School of Medicine, said that it might be safe for the migraine-prone to eat chocolate. Apparently many headache specialists, including Dr. Halpern, believe that chocolate doesn’t cause migraines, but rather that craving chocolate might simply indicate that a migraine is on it’s way.

In order to fix that theory, the next time you really want to eat chocolate, don't do it. Do without chocolate several times, and see if each time you do without it you have a migraine.

If you do than she is right.

But if you don't get a migraine, go back and eat some chocolate. See what happens. That will eliminate that.

A link on chocolate migraines, and an article will be interesting to read.

Our last page is about more migraine food triggers to watch for, and our next page is about one trigger, caffeine.

All the best

Leave chocolate migraines, go to home page

This video is about what triggers migraines in some people.

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