Even though Alicia Wolf was in college when she first fell in love with cooking, it wasn't until a vestibular migraine diagnosis (a form of migraine that causes vertigo, dizziness, and balance problems) years later that she realized cooking was more than a hobby, it was a lifeline.
Because of her symptoms, she lost her job, could no longer drive, and some days struggled even to walk in a straight line. Cooking was one of the only things that made her feel normal.
"I started having to find joy in very small things," she says. "Sometimes, that looks like a very beautiful electrolyte ginger ice cube in a mocktail."
Through cooking, Wolf found not only support for her life with migraine, but also an outlet for advocacy. Today, she is the creator of The Dizzy Cook, a website dedicated to recipes and meal plans for people living with migraine. With it, she hopes to remind and encourage people with migraine to find foods that bring them comfort and joy.
"I want people to know you do not have to eat a super restrictive diet," says Wolf. "I saw people really struggling, and eating the same thing every day. I wanted to show them that you can have delicious things, and I wanted to show them how to do it."
Understanding Trigger Foods
Certain foods can be triggers for migraine attacks. Triggers don't cause migraine in the first place, but they may sometimes kick off the cascade in the brain that results in migraine.
Even though some foods, like chocolate or fried or highly processed foods, are more likely to be triggers than others, there's no one definitive food trigger list, says Sarah R. Ahmad, MD, a health sciences assistant clinical professor in the Department of Neurology at UC Davis Health.
"Migraine triggers, including food triggers, are individual," she says. "They vary person to person."
One helpful tool for figuring out what may lead to an attack is keeping a food diary. Ahmad suggests tracking your migraines and noting what foods you had in the time surrounding an attack. But if you're trying an elimination diet – stripping down what you eat to only the basics, and then reintroducing potential problem foods slowly– she recommends having a clear plan.
"Elimination diets should be structured and time-limited," Ahmad says. "The goal is to identify personal triggers, not to create long-term nutritional deficiencies or anxiety around food."
Wolf's doctor also suggested trying a structured elimination plan based on the Johns Hopkins migraine diet.
"I remember thinking, 'My gosh, this diet is ridiculous. I just want to eat what I used to eat,'" she says.
Then she realized she had been eating common migraine triggers like coffee, yogurt, and nuts almost daily. For the first month or two, she didn't notice dramatic improvement. Then she reintroduced yogurt in a homemade tzatziki sauce.
"Within about an hour, I had a severe vertigo attack," she says. "And what I didn't realize was that I actually hadn't experienced a vertigo attack since I had started the diet."
But Wolf is quick to stress that elimination diets are temporary. "That's something people tend to miss," she says. "It's supposed to help you figure out if you have personal food triggers. It's not a cause of migraine. Migraine is a neurological illness."
She saw people in support groups overwhelmed by long "avoid" lists, surviving on plain chicken and rice. That inspired her first cookbook, designed to give people on elimination diets real variety and flavor.
Once you spend some time learning if your body reacts to certain ingredients, you can start to hone a migraine-friendly diet full of foods that support brain health and lower inflammation.
Foods That Help With Migraine Prevention
Eating for migraine health isn't just about cutting foods out of your diet. It's also about getting the nutrients that can help keep migraines at bay.
"We know that migraine is a brain disorder, and the brain is very metabolically active," says Ahmad. "Nutrients like magnesium, riboflavin, and CoQ10 have evidence for prevention, and omega-3 fatty acids may reduce inflammation pathways involved in migraine."
Wolf partnered with her neurologist, Shin Beh, MD, to create a cookbook focused on a Mediterranean diet-based style of eating for people with migraines. They used research on omega-3 fatty acids, leafy greens, berries, and anti-inflammatory eating patterns for brain health to develop recipes rich in salmon, chia seeds, dark berries, and vegetables.
"I provide recipes that are anti-inflammatory with natural anti-inflammatory ingredients," says Wolf. "We hit a lot of ginger. We do a lot of dark berries, which are great for brain health and brain fog. We also use a lot of leafy greens."
Ahmad says a diet with a focus on migraine-friendly nutrients such as leafy greens, berries, healthy fats, and fish supports overall vascular and brain health.
"Even if it doesn't 'cure' migraine, it supports resilience," she says.
Cooking During an Attack
Another important part of Wolf's advocacy is supporting people through the real parts of life. For example, she understands that migraine attacks rarely fit themselves neatly into your schedule. What happens when migraine hits at mealtime?
For those days, Wolf encourages having ultra-simple options on hand: buttered noodles, "lazy enchiladas" with five minutes of prep, freezer-friendly magnesium-rich soups, or electrolyte ginger ice cubes that can be dropped into hot water for nausea.
She also teaches techniques for cooking in a more relaxed, safer way if you find yourself struggling when it's time to prepare a meal.
"You can learn to hold your knife to be more steady if you are having to cook during symptoms and organize your ingredients so you're not rushing around the kitchen," she says.
Building migraine-friendly habits into your meal prep routine can make a big difference in the long run, and may even help keep migraine attacks from getting worse.
"Chronic migraine is a disability," Ahmad says. "Teaching people how to adapt daily activities – including cooking – is empowering. It reduces stress, and stress is one of the biggest migraine triggers."
