A frequently asked question is whether the keto diet can counter migraines.
Migraine is a brain disorder characterized by (severe) headache attacks in possible combination with nausea, hypersensitivity to light or sound, dizziness and dropping out symptoms.
These signs of failure are also called the 'aura'.
According to the Dutch Brain Foundation, in Neferland, about 33% of women and 13% of men suffer from migraines at some point in their lives. 25% of women and 7.5% of men suffer from it at least once a year.
Migraine particularly affects the labour force, so people between the age of 15 and 55.
What are the symptoms of migraine?
Migraine occurs in seizures that have a characteristic course. The course of a migraine attack can be divided into four phases (2). On the brain foundation's website, these phases are described as follows:
Warning phase
The warning phase means that there are certain signs that may indicate an upcoming migraine attack. These signs may include:
Mood changes
Hypersensitivity to stimuli (noise, light, smells)
Disturbed sleep or yawning
Feeling hungry/hungry in certain foods
Aura phase
This phase is not experienced by everyone, but in people who do pass the aura phase it takes 5 to 60 minutes. Aura phenomena usually start slowly and disappear completely.
The aura phenomena can be expressed in the following ways:
Seeing flashes of light, spots, sparklers and other distortions in the field of vision
Field of View failure
Tingling or numbness in arms/legs/face
Are you curious what it is like to experience such aura phenomena? On the website of the NOS they have a realistic imitation in which you can experience what it is like to enter an aura phase.
Headache phase
This phase, which often follows the aura phase, is characterized by severe, usually throbbing, headaches. This headache is often so severe that patients are glued to the bed.
In addition, during this headache phase, side effects such as (severe) nausea and/or vomiting may also occur. Hypersensitivity to light/sound is also common.
Without treatment, a headache phase can last 4 to 72 hours.
Recovery phase
After the headache phase of a migraine attack has come to an end, then the recovery occurs. A patient may feel tired, irritable, less concentrated for several days after the headache phase.
What causes migraines?
Migraine occurs in people who have an increased sensitivity to stimuli that can provoke a migraine attack. This sensitivity is partially hereditary.
The characteristic aura phenomena, in which the field of vision affecting the field of vision is caused by a wave of increased brain activity.
This increased brain activity then completely extinguishes for 30 to 60 minutes. This wave movement of brain activity is also called the Cortical Spreading Depression (CSD).
This CSD leads to the fallout symptoms that are characteristic of the aura phase.
Scientists think the CSD also leads to increased activity in the central headache center in the brain, called trigemino-vascular system.
Through an inflammatory mechanism, several chemical messengers in the brain, also called neuropeptides, increase the headache.
Can a keto diet counteract migraines?
You may already be aware that the ketogenic diet is also used as a means to combat various neurological disorders.
For example, a keto diet is used as a remedy for epilepsy in children.
The ketogenic diet has developed particularly in this medical field and then researchers have also started to study the effect of ketosis on other neurological and metabolic disorders.
For example, there are promising results with the application of the keto diet as a way to inhibit the development of Alzheimer's disease.
But how can the keto diet help with migraines?
This has everything to do with the presence of ketones once you are in ketosis. And the ketogenic diet is the perfect way to get into ketosis.
There are a number of similarities between epilepsy and migraine that make the keto diet interesting for migraine sufferers.
Glutamate
For example, in some cases anti-epilepsy medications, such as valproate and topiramate, are prescribed by doctors to migraine patients (3).
The underlying reason is that these drugs block the neurotransmitter glutamate. Glutamate is a substance in the brain that is observed in large vertebrae in epilepsy and migraine patients.
Do you know the taste enhancer monosydium glutamate (better known as MSG or E621)? Consumption of large amounts of this product can act as a trigger for headaches. This is due to the increase in glutamate in the body (4).
It evokes a reaction in the brain that can cause headaches. This type of headache is even called Chinese Restaurant Syndrome, because MSG is widely used in Chinese (takeaway) restaurants (5).
Ketones increase the activity of the neurotransmitter GABA
GABA is a neurotransmitter. It's a substance that transmits signals in the brain.
A consequence of burning ketones is that in the brain a shift occurs in the balance between the two neurotransmitters GABA and glutamate (6).
GABA has a relaxing effect, while glutamate has a pungent effect. This pungent effect thus causes the Chinese Restaurant Syndrome.
By shifting, in which GABA shows more activity, ketones can prevent excessive brain activity, thereby also counteracting the uncontrollable impulses associated with neurological disorders such as epilepsy, autism, and Parkinson's disease.
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