Migraines, Nutrition & Food Sensitivities

At the ripe old age of 12, my migraines began. I learned to treat them with prescription medications, but never learned how to prevent them until I was in my 30’s. By the time I was 27, my migraines were so crippling that I often found myself unable to even teach a 90 minute yoga class. Skull-crushing pain would often immobilize me in my bedroom for 2-3 days at a time, twice per week. I had no life and barely functioned. I was so depressed because I was already living a thoroughly healthy life, or so I thought. I meditated daily, ate a plant-based diet, avoided alcohol and drugs, slept plenty and exercised daily. What more could I do?

I took it personally. It felt like the Universe was really pissed at me. Why else would I be in such shape?

The future was bleak, as the healthier my lifestyle became, the worse I felt. I feared what the future would become in such a body.
After I became a dietitian, I finally discovered the MRT food sensitivity test, which evaluated inflammatory responses to foods and chemicals.

The testing was so personalized. Finally, a solution was available that wasn’t just another set of generalized recommendations for the average Sue. This is what I’d been needing.

It turned out that I registered very reactive to 27 foods and common chemicals.

To this day, I’ve still never seen a patient register with as many reactions as I had at that time. Really healthy stuff was triggering pain for me, such as garlic, cayenne, and pineapple. After removing the items for a few weeks, my migraines drastically reduced. As did my back pain, neck pain, acne, and digestive ailments. I could hardly believe it.

Today, migraines are pretty rare for me – maybe once per month or less. Compared to a few years ago, this is totally nothing.

Because of this, I’m a big fan. The MRT test and LEAP plan has helped hundreds of migraine sufferers regain function, and happiness, in their lives. For anyone who has suffered with migraines, this is like receiving an oxygen mask when you’re suffocating.

When we think of nutrition intervention for migraine, our goal is to raise migraine threshold and decrease inflammation that may be coming from what the patient is ingesting.

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Here’s what we address in the following interview with food sensitivities expert, Jan Patenaude, RD.​

• What are common root causes of migraines?
• How can you identify unique migraine triggers, such as sensitivities to naturally occurring food chemicals?
• Is it possible that the thing that helps your migraine also triggers your next migraine?
• Which dietary approaches are available?
• General anti-inflammatory diet
• Elimination diet with testing (using MRT testing and LEAP)
• Elimination diet without testing is the SWAG diet: simplified wild ass guessing
• Why is it so difficult to figure out sensitivities and how testing can help

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Thanks for listening!

Your Nutrition Nut,

Frances Arnold

About Jan Patenaude:

Jan was the first LEAP dietitian over 14 years ago. Since then, she’s worked with thousands of LEAP clients and has mentored hundreds of dietitians, helping pioneer the area of food sensitivity and adverse food reactions, an area that has been lacking in most of our dietetic training.
This education has enabled over 1,000 healthcare practitioners to be effective in helping tens of thousands of patients with various chronic inflammatory conditions, like IBS, migraine, arthritis and other inflammatory conditions.   She recently spoke at the annual conference for nutrition and dietetic professionals at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics on the topic of Migraine.

Contact Jan by Email Jan@certifiedleaptherapist.com.

Phone: 972.456.5806

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