Case Report: Plant-Based Diet Possible Aid for Migraine Management

New findings suggest that a whole food plant-based diet may be beneficial for the care of chronic migraine, according to a case report published in BMJ Case Reports. 

The patient, a 60-year-old male, suffered from unmanageable migraines for 12.5 years, which became chronic 6 months prior to consultation. The patient suffered 18-24 headache days per month, rating his pain severity at 10-12 on a 10-point scale. He also experienced sensitivity to light and sound, nausea, and vomiting.

After trying medication and cutting out potentially triggering foods by process of elimination, the patient began following the Low Inflammatory Foods Everyday (LIFE) diet at the direction of the report authors as systemic inflammation and oxidative stress are implicated in migraines.  LIFE is a plant-based diet consisting of nutrient dense, dark green leafy vegetables, with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties via carotenoids, and whole foods. 

After 2 months on the LIFE diet, the patient’s headache days per month were reduced from 18-24 headache days per month to 1 headache day per month.

Abortive and preventive migraine medications, which were taken to reduce migraine days by 50% per month, were discontinued with this improvement. 

The patient reported no headaches after 3 months on the LIFE diet and has now been migraine free for over 7 years.

They concluded, “This report suggests that a whole food plant-based diet may offer a safe, effective and permanent treatment for reversing chronic migraine.”

Perzia BM, Dunaief JL, Dunaief DM Chronic migraine reversal and prevention with the LIFE diet: a nutrient dense whole food plant-based diet (WFPBD) BMJ Case Reports CP 2021;14:e243987.