Cooping with Migraines

Although I rarely get migraines now, the very thought of them are always near the forefront of my mind.  I struggled horribly with them several years back and the idea that I may get them again like that scares me.  All doctors give you a general list of things to avoid; like stress, changing your sleeping habits and foods such as aged cheeses, MSG and nitrates.  My first question is what is an aged cheese?  Of course most doctors don't tell you.  It wasn't until I found Dr. Carol Foster that I began to understand my nagging migraines, and nagging is an understatement.  She gave me a true list of foods I could and could not eat...including the cheeses, hint aged cheeses are hard like cheddar, Swiss and parm., just to name a few.  Now, we all know that MSG is product used in Chinese food.  Wrong!  MSG is a flavor enhancer that comes from the #8 food allergen in America -- Soybeans!

Once I cut these foods out of my diet, my migraines lessened.  Of course they didn't go away without the proper medication, but I did feel relief.  Dr. Foster also insisted that you drink a full glass of water, eat a slice of wheat bread and a slice of cheese at the onset of migraines as it helps keep you hydrated with food food in your stomach to get you through the migraine.  It didn't cure the migraine, but I believe it helped.  I also like to drink gatoraide when I feel a migraine coming on.

I hope these ideas help anyone with migraines.  For more information about Dr. Foster, visit her website at gottaheadache.com.

Dr. Foster's list of eat/don't eat foods was so intimidating, seeing since soy is in just about everything these days I created my own recipes.  Since summer is upon, I will share my family's favorite salad dressing (even my 16 year old nephew loves it and thanks me for bringing him an extra jar of it for later).

Blender French Dressing

1/2 c sugar
1/2 c canola oil
1/3 c ketchup
1/4 c white vinegar
1/4 c cranberry-apple juice
1    T dried, minced onions
1     tsp each; salt, paprika, and dry mustard

Mix all ingredients in blender until smooth.  Chill in refrigerator before serving.  Will keep several days in refrigerator. Servings 6-8.