Is Your Migraine Diet Lacking Whimsy?
Somewhere along the way of dialing in your diet, migraine food triggers, macros, and hydration, food can stop feeling like … food.
It's no longer just breakfast.
It's protein.
Triggers.
Minerals.
Macros.
Blood sugar.
Histamine.
Meal timing.
It's easy for every meal to start carrying extra pressure. Suddenly the food you put on your plate isn’t just nourishment - it becomes part of the fine balance between feeling okay, and feeling completely horrible.
When you're constantly second-guessing every bite, feeling guilty for wanting something different, worrying that one wrong choice will undo all your hard work... that's a stressful way to live.
And stress doesn't just influence migraine attacks.
Food Stress, Digestion, and Migraine
For most of us, stress is a major migraine trigger. But as you can imagine, migraine isn’t the only thing in your body that gets thrown off by stress!
It also affects digestion, appetite, cravings, the gut microbiome, and the way your body processes food.
In order to break down food and absorb the wonderful nutrients inside, your body needs to be in “rest and digest mode” - but that mode isn’t compatible with stress.
Researchers have been exploring these connections for years, and it's one of the reasons practices like mindful eating have been associated with improvements in digestive function and the eating experience itself.¹˒²
All of this is such a great reminder that eating isn't just a biochemical process - it’s also a nervous system experience.
It's also a nervous system experience.
Playfulness and Resilience
Some time ago, I was reading a paper that had absolutely nothing to do with migraine, or nutrition, or digestion.
It was about ✨whimsy✨.
And yes, on first glance a research paper on whimsy may seem completely irrelevant to anything we talk about here, but stick with me - it’s surprisingly insightful when applied to our experience as people with migraine who eat food.
The researchers looked at people who naturally approached life with more “playfulness” (aka they take things less seriously, they find more magic and whimsy in the mundane, etc). The researchers found that Playful People often adapted way more effectively during difficult situations and tended to have better psychological and physical outcomes while navigating tough things.³˒⁴
And of course because I’m a dietitian, I got me thinking - “what would this look like at the dinner table?”
What happens when you change nothing about your diet other than your experience with the food you eat?
The Milkshake Study
The cool thing is, we do have some insight into how our beliefs and attitudes change how we process food.
Several years ago, a group of researches conducted what is now affectionately known as “The Milkshake Study”. Two groups of people were given milkshakes to enjoy - one group was give a shake labeled as more “sensible”, while the second group was given a shake labeled as more “indulgent”.
Plot twist - everyone got the same exact milkshake.
But what the researches found is that the participants beliefs about the milkshake they were given actually had an effect on their hormones! The group that believed the milkshake was more indulgent (and therefor likely higher calorie) had a drastic decline in a hormone called ghrelin, the hormone responsible for hunger.
On the flip side, the group that believed their milkshake was more sensible (and likely lower calorie) had higher ghrelin levels after eating.
What does this translate to?
The group that believed they were enjoying a more indulgent treat felt more full than the group that believed they were drinking a diet shake. And they didn’t just feel that way - it was documented on a hormonal level!
Beliefs as a factor, not a cause
So at this point we know that:
Food stress can affect your ability to break down and absorb nutrients
Playfulness and whimsy can lessen the physical and emotional effect of difficult situations
Your beliefs about food can change how your body responds to that food
First let me tell you what it does NOT mean: none of this research tells us that you are the cause of your own migraine attacks / food triggers / health issues. It doesn’t tell us that your struggles with food are made up. It doesn’t say “oh hey, this is actually all your fault because you aren’t optimistic 100% of the time!”
We are not robots. Hard things feel hard. Stressful things cause stress. That’s how our sweet, soft, human bodies are supposed to react.
But here’s what this research does mean: your brain and your body are not two separate entities. The beliefs and emotions in your brain impact how your body responds to things! And really, this is something you already know.
For instance - if you have an extreme fear of bees, your body is going to have a very real physical reaction whenever you see a bee. Your heart rate will increase, you might start sweating, you might even start running away! Is that reaction 100% logical? Maybe, if you have an allergy to bees. But not everyone with a bee phobia has an allergy, and this extreme physical response can even put you into more danger than a bee every would (not that I would know … I’ve never run into traffic to get away from a bee …).
Your beliefs, your attitudes, your emotions, your stress levels … these are all factors. Just like the actual food you’re eating. Just like how hydrated you are, how balanced your blood sugar is, how much sleep you get.
They’re not causes, but they’re dials you can adjust to potentially have an easier time with migraine overall.
And to me, the easiest way to play with your emotions / attitudes / beliefs about food and migraine care is by adding a sprinkle of whimsy.
Adding Whimsy to Your Diet
Here are some ways you can add some whimsy to your diet! The idea is to help eating feel less serious and more playful, enjoyable, and fun. You don’t have to do this all the time or with every single meal, but play around with adding one or two of these ideas this week to see if it helps you feel a little lighter.
Add fresh herbs to your meal
Drink your electrolytes out of a fancy wine glass
Listen to the Practical Magic soundtrack while you make dinner
Make one little sweet treat per day mandatory
Enjoy your breakfast on the porch before it gets too hot
Add a sprinkle of cinnamon to your coffee
Use edible flowers just because they’re cute
Eat something you actually enjoy, even if it’s not perfectly “healthy”
Maybe it’s all silly … but maybe that’s kind of the point?
Try it and see for yourself 😉✨
References
Relationship between stress, diet, and gut microbiota: a cross-sectional study.
Mindful Eating: A Review of How the Stress–Digestion–Mindfulness Triad May Modulate and Improve Gastrointestinal and Digestive Function.
Proyer RT. How does playfulness (re)frame the world? Evidence for selective cognitive and behavioral redirecting in times of adversity.
Proyer RT, et al. Playfulness in times of extreme adverse conditions: a theoretical model and case illustrations.
