86. The New Food Pyramid Will Make Your Migraines Worse

The 2026 Food Pyramid guidelines just dropped...

Real food, double the protein, whole milk dairy, way fewer grains.

Sounds like a win, right?

But if you're a chronic migraine sufferer, blindly following these recommendations could actually trigger more migraines, even though you're "eating healthier."

In this episode, I explain the hidden problem nobody's talking about: most migraine sufferers have poor digestive function, and that changes everything.

I break down why doubling your protein intake overnight can trigger a multi-day migraine, how your appetite has quietly shifted as your digestion declined (which is why you crave grains and avoid meat), and why "just eat real food" isn't realistic when you're bedridden half the week.

Here's the truth:

If you can't break down the food you're eating, you're not getting nutrients to your cells, and you're flooding your system with toxins from undigested food. That's a recipe for disaster.

I'll show you how to slowly improve your digestion and shift your eating habits without triggering migraines, meeting you exactly where you are right now.

If you're having eight or more migraine days per month and you're ready to heal the root causes instead of just managing symptoms, let's talk.

Book your free consultation below!

https://www.drlesliecisar.com/apply

Free Training: 5 Proven Steps to Being Migraine Free (Even if you think you've already tried everything.)

https://www.drlesliecisar.com/5SHMN

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Episode Transcript

hi there
welcome to the Healy Migraines Naturally podcast
I'm your host Doctor Leslie Caesar
and I'm a licensed naturopathic doctor
former chronic migraine sufferer
and I help women all over the United States
restore their health
so that their body stops generating the migraines
and they can get off unwanted medication
and do it all without taking a fistful of supplements
so welcome to the podcast
today I'm really
excited to talk with you about the new Food Pyramid
guidelines so this is causing quite a stir
definitely within my community
the naturopathic community
the natural medicine alternative health industry
as well as the public at large
but we're going to talk about how this relates
specifically to chronic migraine suffers
because nobody is talking about this
and unfortunately someone who has chronic migraines
could try to implement these new food pyramid
recommendations and actually
find that their migraines are getting worse
while they're trying to eat healthier
OK
so I'm really excited to talk with you about this today
so let's just summarize what the changes are first
OK so the major changes in the food pyramid guidelines
or recommendations so No. 1
eat real food that's what they say
so what is real food so
real food basically
is food that you buy at the grocery store
and you take home and you cook it
and you eat it real food is found in the
like the produce section
the meat counter the dairy case
okay so basically real food is food that you
it's a carrot you know
it's a piece of chicken right
it's food that you're purchasing
you're taking home
you're cooking it and you're eating it
this is in contrast to what I call factory made food
a lot of people call this processed food
I think factory made food is a better descriptor
so this is food that's going to be pre
made for you in a factory
and it might be very recognizable to you as real food
so like I'm a Costco member
so you can go through the refrigerator cases at Costco
and you can get factory made mash potatoes
you can get factory made soups right
you know
so these are foods where they're made in a factory
but they're
recognizable as something that you would make at home
and then
you have foods that are typically called ultra
processed foods to me there's
I still call them factory foods
because they're made in a factory
but these are things that are more
what we might consider junk food
you know Doritos right
I mean I've never made a Dorito at home right
so they are foods that you are not in any way
ever going to make in your own home
and they're not maybe even recognizable as to what
is the food that it's made out of right
so like Doritos what are they made out of
there's no Dorito tree right
if you look at the ingredients you can read
I'm I'm pretty sure they're made out of like
corn flour or something but it's not
you know when you look at a Dorito
it's not recognizable what food made this Dorito
versus if you're looking at
you know Amy's Organic
you know cheese enchiladas that you're buying in the
in the freezer case at the grocery store
that's made in a factory but
you know you have some sense that
if I made cheese enchiladas at home
I kind of know what's in here right
I would kind of know how to make this at home
so the new guidelines
specifically recommend that people eat real food right
and so this would you know
be food that you are purchasing in its sort of
whole form like all
you know carrots
you know piece of chicken
a steak right
and you're taking it home and you're cooking it
and you're eating it
and they are telling people to deemphasize
certainly the ultra processed foods okay
that are really unrecognizable as to what the food is
but even the other factory made foods like the
like the Costco
mashed potatoes that are made for you in a factory
right even those are being de emphasized
so that's the first major change to the guidelines
the second major change to the guidelines
is a doubling of the protein recommendation
so this is a real game changer here
and so the previous recommendations
recommended about point six grams
of protein per kilogram
the new recommendations are 1.2 to 1.6
grams of protein per kilogram of body weight okay
so nearly a doubling of the protein recommendation
so you're looking somewhere around 75 to 90 grams of
protein per day so
this is going to be about double
what they were recommending before
I couldn't agree with this more
I'll just I'll just stated up front
the previous protein recommendations
on the food pyramid were woefully
too low okay
so
the previous protein recommendations were sort of like
the amount of protein you need
so that you don't die in a famine okay
now there's a big difference between staying alive
and minimally subsisting
and what your body optimally needs okay
and so in the current environment that we live in
we live in a modern environment that is very
very stressful physically
mentally and emotionally and so
you're going to need more protein
to thrive in that higher stress environment
and so the increase like
nearly doubling
the protein recommendation for Americans
I couldn't agree with this more
the other recommendation the other big change
is recommending that people eat dairy products
and whole milk dairy products
now I recommend to all of my clients
that they consume whole milk
dairy products so when you're consuming whole milk
you are consuming the milk
closer to the form in which it comes out of the cow
okay it's going to be a little bit less processed
now the vast
majority of Americans are drinking
highly processed milk
and consuming highly processed dairy products
because it's pasteurized and homogenized
we'll talk about some of these issues
later in the podcast but despite that whole
if you consume if you drink a glass of whole milk
you're consuming a form of the milk
that's closer to the way sort of nature intended
and the way that we have adapted to drink milk
because pasteurization and homogenization
is something that is a
blink of an eye you know
development in human history
humans have been separating the fat from the milk
because the fat rises to the top
and so humans have been separating and taking that
concentrated fat off the top
and making things like butter and
and so on with it
but what was left was what we call whole milk
and we are very adapted to drinking that whole milk
and so this is
another recommendation
that I wholeheartedly agree with
the other major major change to the recommendations
is dramatically decreasing the amount of grains
that people are recommended to eat
so in the previous food pyramid
the recommendation for grains
was anywhere from six to 11 servings of grains
this is insane okay
so the new recommendations
are recommending about two to three servings of grains
which for most women they're gonna feel really good
having a serving of grains
with two or three meals per day
so these recommendations
the new food pyramid recommendations
if you're familiar
with some of the different diets that are out there
you're going to recognize that the new guidelines
are based off of
what is called the modified Mediterranean diet
so this is a sort of a way of eating
if you will a diet that is based on
what is called the Mediterranean diet
which is sort of
the native diet in the Mediterranean region
and the Mediterranean diet
I believe is very
very well suited to promote health
in the current environment that we are living in
here in the United States
and so how I teach my clients to eat
is my own
slight modification of the modified Mediterranean diet
I'm a little less restrictive actually than uh
the modified Mediterranean diet
but in general the modified Mediterranean
diet is not a restrictive diet
you are recommended to eat a wide variety of food and a
you know protein intake
which is basically
the same as what these new recommendations are
and you know
uh fats
fats every cell in your body uses fatty acids okay
so again the new food pyramid recommendations
the Modified Mediterranean Diet recommendations
include that people eat enough fat servings
during the day you know
throughout the day and then certainly
we all know you're supposed to eat vegetables
so certainly with the new food pyramid recommendation
you're supposed to eat your vegetables
I help my clients
incorporate more vegetables into their eating habits
if that's been a challenge for them
and then a moderate amount of fruit
I couldn't be happier with the new food pyramid
recommendations I agree that if you eat this way
you're going to be eating
a wide variety of food that you enjoy
you're not going to be sort of
white knuckling your way through food
you know food restrictions and so on
and you're going to be consuming
a wide variety of nutrients
and the increased
protein intake is really going to help you thrive
in the very stressful environment
inherently stressful environment that we live in
in this country so what's what's the problem right
why why would this give somebody a migraine okay
so this is where you have to go a little bit deeper
into how what you eat is sort of interplaying
or interacting
with the overall state of health that you are in
and nobody is talking about this
so
if you have been listening to the podcast for a while
you will remember you will know
that I talk about what I call the three principles OK
so there are three things that our body needs
to maintain its state of health
and restore itself back to health
if it's fallen out of health okay
and if you're getting chronic migraines
your body is not in a state of health
despite what your blood work shows
despite what your doctor tells you
when our body is not in a state of health
it generates symptoms
and migraines are a symptom that the body
generates when it's not in a state of health
and so if you're listening to the podcast
and you're trying to recover from migraines
you're not in a state of health
this is not a indictment of you
this doesn't mean you're a bad person
it's just a statement of fact
when the body is not in a state of health
it generates symptoms so
there are three things that our body needs
to maintain its health
and restore itself back to health
every living thing on the planet
has the ability to heal and recover okay
and we are no exception to that
so
our body wants to get us back into a state of health
but if it can't
it's because there are missing pieces or blockers
or deficiencies
within what I call the three principles
so what are the three principles
so principle No. 1
we have to get the nutrients that our cells need to
our cells
our cells don't do anything without nutrients okay
we don't run on Starbucks Frappuccinos and unicorn dust
everything that is going to get done in our body
requires nutrients for the cells to make their enzymes
make their you know protein molecules
all everything that the body does requires nutrients
to drive those biochemical pathways
so if the cells don't have the nutrients
that they need to function optimally
they just don't die okay they just don't drop dead
thank goodness but they do the best they can
in less than ideal conditions
so they're not going to be functioning optimally
and so that starts at the cellular level
moves up to the organ level
the organ system level right
your your entire body so
we have to get the nutrients that our cells need
to the cells and so if we're not feeling well
there's going to be a blocker
that's preventing
the nutrients from getting to the cells
No. 2 principle
No. 2 is
we have to clear metabolic waste material
and other toxins from the cells
and eliminate them from the body
so when the cells do their work
they generate waste material
a lot of people call these toxins
so we are continuously making toxins okay
now there are toxins in the food supply
and the water supply and the air supply
um some of which are man made
some of which are naturally occurring
those are gonna get into our body too
all of this has to be
detoxified and eliminated from the body
we have what we need to do that
our liver is the main organ doing that work
but we also have our kidneys and our lungs
those are the three organs of detoxification
so that's so
if there's a whole bunch of trash laying around
inside the cell okay
the cell is not going to function optimally
if the cell is not functioning optimally right
we're not going to feel good
our body is going to adapt to less than
ideal conditions
but the price of that are what we call symptoms
okay if you're a woman
having eight or more migraine days a month
let's talk
I'll show you how to drop them to near zero in 90 days
and that's without adding more medication
in fact you can even lower
or possibly even completely
wean off of your medication within 90 days
and that's without any agonizing
cold Turkey withdrawals
so let me tell you about one of my clients Judy
she was nearly bedridden
because she was having to take such strong medications
for her migraines and she could barely function
in fact
she had to close the doors of her small retail business
and she was feeling like a failure
she wondered every day
why was she doomed to suffer from migraines
but just like you
she found this Healing Migraines Naturally podcast
and a spark ignited she knew that
if she could just figure out why these migraines
started in the first place
she could restore and recover her health again
so she booked a free consult call
and the rest is history now
she reports months in between migraines
and runs her small business full time again
she followed the 12 week plan
and got incredible results
and she's completely
weaned off of all of those preventative medications
that were leaving her feeling doped up
and committing her to being bedridden
I have worked with women just like Judy
from all over the United States
overcome migraines naturally
so if you're serious about healing your migraines
then tap the link in the description
and book a free consult call with me
just like Judy did we do cap new clients monthly
so if the calendar's full
the doors are closed for now
so don't wait to reclaim the life you deserve to live
no matter how hopeless things seem now
with expert guidance your body can heal and recover
so I look forward to chatting with you
click the link now to schedule your call
and then
the third principle is restoring our resilience
and vitality
so this corresponds to the literal cellular voltage
intracellular voltage
which they've been able to measure
but it also corresponds
to the overall organizing energy of the body
that keeps everything coordinated right
we call this homeostasis in biology
and it's a fascinating concept
that we really don't understand that much about
but when you look at life on earth
there's clearly
an organizing energy that keeps the organism
sort of running smoothly
we are just a spectacularly complex organism
we have our physical body
which is 30 to 40 trillion cells okay
then in addition to our physical body
we have our mental and emotional component
which we've just scratched the surface of understanding
that throughout the ages humans who have thought about
okay what
you know how do we
how do we function how are we alive
you can see that there's an organizing energy
an animating force some people call this a life force
in traditional Chinese medicine
they call it Chi in naturopathic medicine
we call it the vital force
there's an organizing energy that keeps everything
running smoothly
in homeostasis so when I talk about the third principle
we want to increase not only the cellular energy
cellular voltage
which is a measurable phenomenon in the lab
but we also want to increase this life force
the the Chi
the vital force
we want to strengthen the organizing energy of the body
and when we do that we can withstand stressors
we call these migraine triggers most of the time right
so we can withstand the stress
of a barometric pressure change
we can withstand the stress of the sun
beating down on us as we're outside hiking
we can withstand the stress
of a conflict with a coworker
right when we are suffering from migraines right
we're trying to bubble wrap ourselves
from all of these stressors
physical mental
emotional stressors
we are trying to bubble wrap ourselves and protect
and avoid and oh my goodness
but that's not the answer
because these stressors are inevitable
and so we want to increase our resiliency and vitality
so that we can weather these stressors
and then again at the cellular level
we have to have enough cellular voltage
you have to have enough energy for things to run within
side of the cell so
these are the three things that our body needs to feel
good okay
when we're in a state of health
we feel good our body is generating symptoms okay
so again
what happens to people is they start to develop
maybe a little deficiency in an area
things start to kind of snowball
and then they start to develop blockers
within these three principles
when you have a blocker
you can't just change your habits okay
you can't
if you have a blocker within these three principles
just changing your eating habits
is not going to make a tremendous difference
and most migraine sufferers
have already put in a lot of effort
changing their eating habits okay
most of my clients when they come to me
they're already eating pretty well
I do have some clients where they say
you know what Doctor Leslie
I need some help
I know that I'm not eating well and you know
please help me I could do a lot better
but most migraine suffers
because they are trying to avoid food triggers
are already not eating a bunch of Doritos
they're not eating a bunch of ultra processed foods
they're eating pretty clean already
when you heard these new food pyramid guidelines
most chronic migraine sufferers are going yeah
I'm pretty much already doing that or
you know on my way there right
and I'm still getting 15 migraines a month right
so for migraine sufferers right
this is where I wanna go into
what's actually going on here
because I read through the press release information
when they put out the new food pyramid guidelines
and they talked about the chronic disease crisis
in this country which is a very real thing
most Americans are not feeling well
trust me okay
with migraine suffers what do we always say
I've I've said it haha when I had chronic migraines
we go you know
my my brother in law eats terrible
and you know he's he never gets even a headache right
he never has a problem you know
he just eats whatever and then I'm like so careful
I can't even eat a strawberry or you know
I have a
you little piece of tomato and I'm down for the count
right you know
how come I have to eat so carefully
and nobody else does I eat so clean
my husband doesn't you know
he doesn't eat never right
we are always saying things like this right
so we are already sort of
ahead of the curve with our eating habits
most of us right
so in the press release information
you know
they're talking about the chronic disease crisis
and how diet I mean
obviously right
what we eat
our body is literally made out of what we've eaten okay
what our mother ate right
and then what we were fed
and then what we have continued to eat
like literally that's what we're made out of right
so you know
people know that what they eat has an impact on
their health right
so the
in the press release information for the food pyramid
you know it was a lot about the chronic disease crisis
which is a very real thing and how you know
the food supply and what people are eat are
are contributing to that
which is definitely a real thing
but if you have a blocker
that's preventing
the nutrients from getting to your cells
just changing your eating habits
is not going to have a big impact
and this is not this is not being talked about
this is not in the press release okay
so let's dive into this a little bit more
so when we eat food
our digestive track has to break the food down
and sort of extract or liberate the nutrients
from the food
I've talked about this on several podcasts
so most Americans have poor digestive function
unfortunately
most migraine sufferers have poor digestive function
unfortunately and most Americans
don't realize that they have poor digestive function
because we've been told
that it's normal to have digestive symptoms right
so the symptoms are so common
that Americans don't realize that their symptoms
they think it's normal right
so some of the most widely selling
over the counter and prescription medications
are to cover up digestive symptoms right
so how many Americans have heartburn
how many Americans are taking something like Prilosec
a PPI
a proton pump inhibitor because they have heartburn
these used to be prescription only
now they're available over the counter
this class of medication these PPIs
they're consistently
within the top 10 selling drugs in America
so the there's a tremendous number of
Americans that are suffering from heartburn
but we've been told it's normal
oh well
you know you had tomatoes
what do you expect oh
you had a piece of pizza what do you expect
oh you had spicy food
what do you expect
it's so common for people to have heartburn
that we think that it's normal to have it
and so when we go into you know
the drugstore the Walgreens
and get that over the counter Prilosec
or we get the Tums the Alka Seltzer right
we think oh
you know this is
I mean this is just something that I need to do
because I have this heartburn
and it's inevitable and
you know it's really not that big of a deal
everybody gets heartburn right
I mean I
I did have a piece of pizza
so this is one of the most common symptoms
that is actually a symptom okay
then we've got gas bloating
irregular bowel movements right
loose stools constipation
back and forth people feel
a lot of
people walk around all the time just with indigestion
right it just doesn't feel good in there right
so another common symptom is
people have difficulty swallowing right
so the food is getting stuck
they're regurgitating food
so um
these are some of the most common symptoms that people
experience
isn't it normal to look like you're six months pregnant
by the end of the day
everybody seems like all my friends
me right
everybody
it's not normal to look like you're pregnant
at the end of the day my stomach has like
really not even a noticeable change
from when I get up in the morning
to when I go to bed at night
but because these symptoms are so common
people think it's normal
so if you don't have good digestive function
and you eat food
your digestive track is going to struggle
to break that food down and then
you're going to have even more digestive symptoms
right'cause if you're if it's already struggling
and then it's gonna struggle more
you're gonna have more heartburn
you're gonna have more indigestion
you're gonna have more gas
you're gonna have more ball problems right
so different types of foods
are easier to digest than other types of foods
so when our digestive track is struggling
our appetite changes this is very
very important for people to understand
so we don't have like
a conscious control over our appetite
people talk about food cravings right
well I just don't feel like eating that
or I really feel like eating that right
if our digestive track is going to struggle
to break down certain foods
it's going to change our appetite
it's going to drive us
to want to eat foods that are easier to digest
and it's going to
make foods that are harder to digest unappealing to us
we're going to fill up faster right
so you know you get a plate you think yeah
this this seems like a meal right
you take a couple bites oh
I'm full oh I can't eat anymore right
so we're not conscious of this right
because to us what we feel like eating how much we eat
that just seems like how it's supposed to be right
it's like if I'm eating food
if I'm eating a plate of food and I start to feel full
it's like well
I guess I ate enough right
I guess that was enough for me right
and so we stop eating
or if we're being pulled to eat certain foods
and other foods don't seem that unappealing
we're gonna be drawn to the foods that we wanna eat
so the easiest to digest foods are grains okay
grains are not especially nutrient dense
grains are carbohydrates and carbohydrates
all plants are made out of carbohydrates
not just grains
but carbohydrates are basically long chains of glucose
and grains have a lot of glucose
on those carbohydrate chains
they're not that nutrient dense
and it's very easy for the digestive tract to sort of
snip off those little glucose molecules
off of the chain
that's super easy to do protein is harder to digest
okay so
to break protein down into amino acids
requires a lot more work from the digestive track
so what happens to people
when their digestion starts to decline
they feel like eating more and more grains
and they feel like eating less and less protein
so funny enough
the previous Food Pyramid recommendations
we're more in line with the typical Americans
digestive function than the new guidelines
think about that so if I have poor digestive function
if I'm struggling to break down my food
I'm gonna
wanna eat six to 11 servings of grains per day
trust me
it's gonna be much easier for me to break that down
and I'm not gonna want to eat a lot of protein
because that's harder to digest
it's harder to break down
so what's happened over the you know
50 years that I've been alive
you can see this shift culturally
so now many
many people don't eat a lot of animal foods
and they say well
I I don't like it I don't like chicken
it seems real dry to me oh steak you know
it's just I gotta chew and chew and chew that steak
I don't really feel like it's unappealing to me
I just wanna have protein powders right
well
protein powders are sort of like predigested for you
right so now you've got how many Americans
the majority of the
protein they're eating is just in a powder well
that's a lot easier to digest than a piece of meat also
particularly over the past 15 years
we have been told that it's not only
unethical and immoral to eat meat
but it's actually bad for your health okay
so at first you know
I started noticing
like a lot of documentaries and so on
encouraging people to eat more plant foods
which at first I was like great right
people need to eat vegetables okay
so I was like this is
this is great advice
but then it started to turn as the years went on
into what I I don't know
might be an organized campaign
to actually
have people decrease the amount of animal foods
and therefore
the amount of protein that they're eating
and because people's digestive function is poor
and their appetite has changed as a result
this also seemed very natural to people
because if I don't feel like eating a lot of meat
because I don't have an appetite for it
because my digestive function is low
unbeknownst to me and then I have a Netflix documentary
telling me that it's you know
not only immoral and unethical
but it's also unhealthy to eat meat
then what people have started to think is oh
the fact that I don't have an appetite for animal foods
the fact that I don't have an appetite for meat
that must be my body
guiding me towards a healthier choice
I have had so many clients that thought that
that was what was going on
and it that's not what's going on okay
so we humans thrive when we eat animal foods
now of course we want to have the animals raised
in a way that they are healthy right
we don't want them to be tortured
at the end of their life so
putting aside how animals are raised
for the food supply humans thrive with animal food
and like I said at the beginning
particularly
the modern American environment that we are in
requires more protein intake in order for us to thrive
you have to remember we
humans can thrive in a lot of different environments
we can live from the Arctic to the equator
and there's different food
that's available in those areas right
so we are highly adaptable
we can thrive in a lot of different environments
but if you're at the Arctic
you're not gonna thrive eating the food that's
that's native to the equator right
if you're living in the equator at the equator
you're not gonna thrive on the food that's available
in the Arctic the food has to match the environment
that the human is living in
and in our modern American environment
we need more protein but again
unfortunately
the modern American can't digest the protein
they don't have an appetite for the protein
and they're not getting enough protein in
so like I say the ironically enough
the previous food pyramid guidelines were more suited
to people's digestive function
even though it's a mismatch for the environment okay
so when you have that right
you're gonna have the health decline
and that's what we've seen
so this is what I call a blocker
your digestive function is the blocker
to getting the nutrients to the cells right
so when I talk about the first principle and I say okay
the first principle first thing your body needs is
the cells
have to have the nutrients that they need to function
and people go oh
she's talking about a diet
she's talking about a migraine diet
I'm not talking about a diet right
I'm talking about
all of the pieces that have to be in place
in order to get that end result
and it's not just like what are you eating right
a major piece of this is your digestive function
the other main piece of this is actually the function
the proper functioning of your blood
which I won't go into a lot of detail on this podcast
but you know there's three major pieces
to getting the nutrients to the cells
one is the food that you're eating
two is your digestive function
and third is the function of your blood
to actually get
to distribute the nutrients to the cells right
so when I talk about the first principle and
and people just sort of hear this word nutrients
and they think I'm talking about taking supplements
or I'm talking about some sort of special diet
it's it's more involved than that okay
so
if I eat food that my digestive track can't break down
I'm not gonna feel good so
you have millions of Americans
who have poor digestive function
protein is harder to break down
and then if they're following these recommendations
they're going to try to increase their protein intake
if you don't have migraines right
if you're not prone to migraines
and you overload your digestive track with food
that it can't break down very well
you're not gonna feel great okay
oh man I tried to eat that chicken and you know
I had I was belching all night
I had gas right you're probably gonna have
an uptick in digestive symptoms
as your digestive
tract is struggling to break down that food okay
but if you're prone to migraines
and you put food into your digestive track
that you can't break down
this is a great way to get a migraine okay
and I've talked about this on some other podcast
we'll link to those in the description okay
but basically if you can't break the food down properly
you're going to have an influx of toxins
coming in to your bloodstream
from your digestive track okay
again I go into this in more detail in other podcast
so I'm just going to keep it high level for this one
so when you have an influx
of toxin molecules from your digestive tract
this is a fantastic way to get a migraine okay
because migraines themselves are a toxicity symptom
there is a symptom that your body has an overload
of metabolic waste
material and toxins
that your liver
and your other organs of detoxification
are struggling to detoxify and eliminate from the body
period okay
so for most migraine sufferers they have poor digestion
they're struggling to break their food down
and they're already overloaded with toxins
so any little additional influx
coming from the digestive tract
is going to tip them into a migraine
so I agree with the recommendations right
but how do we get there
this is the question so a lot of people again
they've been to you know a functional medicine doctor
they've been to a chiropractor
they've been to another naturopathic doctor
and what they were given was a food list right
and most functional medicine doctors chiropractors
naturopaths they're gonna tell their patients to eat
pretty much what this new food pyramid recommends okay
because this
modified Mediterranean diet is well established
as being the most health supporting diet
for this current environment that we're living in
in America so
most practitioners are going to recommend something
very highly aligned to these new recommendations
so you're gonna get a food list
and there you're gonna be told
eat the food on this list
and avoid the food on this list
and so the migraine suffer very diligently
tries to do that and then what do you know
they get a migraine for three days okay
so we have to very carefully
improve the digestive function
and then make slow changes to eating habits
if you've been eating eight servings of grains per day
just abruptly cutting that down to 2 or 3
and then adding in a bunch of hard to digest protein
if you're a migraine sufferer
you're highly likely to get a migraine
so as I work with my clients
I'm assessing okay
what is the digestive function that we're starting with
and then what are we currently eating
and how do we slowly improve the digestive function
and then start making gentle changes again
if you try to overstimulate the digestive track
in an effort to get it working better
if you're not prone to migraines
again you may not feel great right
it might be an uncomfortable couple days
but if you're prone to migraines right
we're so sensitive
when we're in that chronic migraine state
that any little stressor tips us into a migraine
so if I'm pushing pushing
pushing somebody's digestive tract too hard
that's a physical stressor on the body
and so if I'm prone to migraines
and I'm just hovering around my migraine zone
and a practitioner comes in
and slams my digestive track
that additional physical stress on my body
can tip me into a migraine
so again I'm not like most practitioners
I'm a former chronic migraine sufferer
this is my life's work
this is why I became a naturopathic doctor
so I know that we have to very carefully make small
incremental changes
that are going to move you towards health
and not tip you into a migraine okay
so that's what is not being talked about
with the food pyramid okay
so you can make somebody feel worse
by telling them to eat healthier okay
this is a very real phenomenon
and people that are prone to migraines
have probably experienced this multiple times
and they're a little bit Leary
the other thing that I want to talk about
particularly relative to migraine sufferers
about these recommendations
is the recommendation to eat real food okay
and so again like I talked about
this requires someone to go into the grocery store
and buy the food and take it home and cook it
and eat it okay
so this requires a lot of effort
so a lot of people who are struggling with chronic
migraines they are very fatigued right
their energy even on a good day isn't real high
and then because migraines can hit us at any time right
we can wake up feeling great and by four PM
we can be laying on the bathroom floor vomiting right
so migraines is the insidious aspect of migraines
is that they can take us down very rapidly and
you know totally ruin the whole day right
whatever we have planned so to eat real food
you have to have enough energy to do the shopping
the meal planning the shopping
the chopping the chopping the vegetables
sauteing everything doing the dishes afterwards right
it's a lot of effort to eat real food
so then
you go to all of this trouble to do the meal planning
purchasing the food you've got it in your refrigerator
it's real food it's gonna rot in a couple days right
it's not like
factory made food that you can keep in the freezer
or the refrigerator for a couple months
and it's just fine
you gotta eat the food cause it's fresh food
so you have all of these good intentions
to eat the food that you made the effort to buy
that's in your refrigerator
but what do you know now
you're struck down with a migraine
and what you were planning on making that night
there's no way you're gonna be able to make that
you can hardly you know
keep your eyes open
and you can hardly move from a horizontal position
out of the bed so you're not gonna be downstairs
you know cooking some beef and then
you know the odor from the beef makes you wanna vomit
I mean like it's a whole nightmare right
so for chronic migraine sufferers
they've been through this cycle so many times
they know that their eating habits impact their health
again I don't think I'm saying anything shocking
I think everybody realizes right
that there you know
you have to have health supporting eating habits
you're supposed to eat real food
that you buy at the grocery store
and you take home and you cook and eat again
I don't think this is that revolutionary for people
but for migraine sufferers right
you go through the effort to do this
you've got the whole thing planned out
and then you're struck down with a migraine
and then the food rots in your fridge
cause you're down for the count for a couple days right
you maybe you've got you know
you're in bed for a day
and then the next day you're like
oh my goodness I feel like I got hit by a truck
and I don't really feel like doing too much right
so now the food has rotted
and now you've got to throw the food out right
so you've wasted your time
you've wasted your money
you've wasted the resources that went into
you know making the food right
it's a whole guilt trip so again
just saying well
eat real food for chronic migraine suffers
this can be a real challenge
so again with my clients
I understand this I've been there too personally
so I've worked with clients where they don't have
they can't go to the grocery store
they're too light sensitive right
I mean they're wearing sunglasses in their house
that you think they're gonna go into a Costco
and buy a bunch of stuff right
they can't be in a grocery
store for more than a couple minutes right
and you know
now after Covid there's a lot of like
you know pickup options or delivery options
but you know that may not be
available or convenient or cost effective for you right
so even doing the food shopping itself for a migraine
suffer can be
you know very
very difficult so in again
most practitioners
they're just kind of giving you a food list and saying
well go to the store and buy this food
and then when you can't do that
you're the problem that's not how I look at this
so again I'm looking at okay
we do have to eat okay
that's that's a requirement we've got to eat
so what is doable for you
given the frequency and severity of your migraines
and the other you know
sensitivities or or barriers that you may have
and then also who else is in your house right
is it just you or you know
do you have a husband and three kids
that also have to be accommodated
with their meals right
what I have done many times is help my client navigate
I've had clients where you know what
the only food I can get is through
through a drive through
that's the only thing I can muster
I don't have energy for anything else
and I have guided clients through okay
what do you order at the drive through right
what are the drive through
restaurants that you have access to
and then what would be
the best thing for you to order on that menu
given your current digestive function
given what your body is currently used to
eating and how can we move the needle a little bit
so that you don't feel worse
but we can get a little bit more nutrients in
while we're working
on improving your digestive function
and then of course overall
reducing the severity and frequency of your migraines
and improving your energy level
and as people's energy improves
as their migraines start to improve okay
can we move on to
a factory made food that you get in the grocery store
you know maybe it's Amy's organic
something or other in the freezer section yeah
I could do that now I think I could do that okay great
what are we gonna do right
and we build up from there
because you can't eat real food
unless you can make all of those other things happen
and a lot of people can't make that happen
I get it
so we've got to work with what we can accomplish
a recommendation is worthless
if you can't implement the recommendation
and so this is you know
sometimes the level of problem solving and
individualized recommendations
that we have to go through
to get people turned around okay
so this is the other thing that I wanted to talk about
relative to chronic migraine suffers
eating real food
you may or may not be able to implement that right now
and if you can't that's okay
we have to work with what we have
but we can make incremental changes no matter where
we're starting from
so thanks a lot for joining me today
I hope this was helpful like I say in general
I'm very pleased with the new recommendations
um it's a long time coming
but my concern is
how people implement the recommendations
I think unfortunately
a lot of Americans are going to struggle
to make those changes
because their digestive function is not going to
sort of allow them to make those changes
and for migraine sufferers
that can lead to a migraine itself
so thanks so much for joining me today
I hope this helps like I say
I think this is really critical information
that people are not talking about
and not considering if you resonate with this
if you've had a few aha
moments regarding your appetite
and your digestive function
and maybe why you've struggled to implement
you know so called healthier eating habits in the past
let me know and if you'd like to work with me
please book a free consult
call with me and I will ask you a few questions
about your migraines
and any other health concerns that you have
and if I can help you I will tell you that
but if I don't think you're a good candidate
for what I do I will also tell you that too
and try to find someone
that would be a better fit for you
so again happy to talk with you on a free console call
if this resonates with you
and you're ready to turn around these chronic migraines
talk to you guys soon