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Peanut Butter & Chocolate
By Kerrie Smyres | June 28, 2005
I don’t care if it’s a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup or the Trader Joe’s version of this popular candy, peanut butter cookies with a Hershey’s Kiss in the middle, or a spoonful of Jif with chocolate chips stuck on top, any combination of peanut butter and chocolate is divine.
Last week I almost admitted that peanut butter and chocolate are triggers for me. Instead of accepting my fate, I say that I think that they could maybe be triggers.
I can do this because the medical jury is still out on whether foods are migraine triggers. Some believe that chocolate might be food people crave right before a migraine, but that it’s not the actual trigger. Or maybe a patient ate peanut butter and got a migraine, but stress and weather changes really triggered the headache. An ACHE newsletter article called The Trigger Quagmire explores this point of view.
Of course other articles deflate the argument, but I’m sticking with this one for right now. I’ll ignore that my husband is sure that peanut butter and chocolate are among my triggers. He doesn’t love peanut butter like I do. I’m skeptical that anyone loves peanut butter as much as I do. Add chocolate and I’m a goner.
Topics: Coping | 13 Comments »
June 29th, 2005 at 4:09 pm
I know absolutely 100% for sure that alcohol is a trigger for me because it enters my system so quickly that the cause and effect can’t be ignored. I think the reason I don’t identify chocolate and peanutbutter as triggers as easily as I would a glass of red wine is because it takes longer for them to metabolize. If you step on the cat’s tail in the evening and she hisses and bites you at about 10am the next morning, you aren’t going to make the connection. Very interesting site, btw.
October 6th, 2005 at 8:53 pm
I know I am REALLY late commenting on this (going thru your archives) but OH MY do I love peanut butter! Ditto with added chocolate.
The downside–my son is VERY allergic, so I don’t indulge in that so much anymore, but sunflower “butter” is a close second
August 5th, 2006 at 6:51 pm
Peanut butter is my all time favorite food, and it is without a doubt a migraine trigger for me so I avoid it now. I’m grateful for all the years I was able to consume it before it became a problem. I jokingly tell people now that it’s okay I can no longer eat it; I consumed so much of it in the first 35 years of my life I reached my lifetime quota.
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That’s a good way to look at it. I’ve really missed peanut butter this last week.
K
November 17th, 2006 at 4:02 pm
Chocolate causes migraines due to its caffeine content. The caffeine constricts the blood vessels and the headache is caused when the blood vessel contract to their normal size as the caffeine is drained from the body.
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A natural amphetamine called phenylethylamine in chocolate is thought to be the headache trigger. There’s much, much debate on chocolate as a headache trigger. Here’s a good article on the not-a-trigger side:
http://www.pitt.edu/utimes/issues/28/91495/24.html
K
May 16th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Hi I just read your article now after googling peanut butter and migraines. I am sure its a trigger for me. I used to eat it all the time for lunch and then stopped. Well this week I have eaten it every day and everyday day about 4-5 hours later i end up with a migraine…I’m convinced!
April 3rd, 2009 at 7:19 am
Like the poster above me, I too found this entry after googling peanut butter + migraines. I used to think food wasn’t a trigger for me until having pb&j last night and waking up with a migraine. I didn’t even know pb was on the trigger list. I’m both sad and relieved to have an answer.
March 26th, 2010 at 7:47 am
I have had migraines since I was about 10 years old but only in my young adulthood did I really start beind diligent about tracking them and trying to figure out what could be triggers. I am really beginning to wonder if peanut butter could be a trigger for me. I eat peanut butter toast almost every day for breakfast and for the last three months have really been battling my migranes. I guess I need to omit the peanut butter for a while and see if it truly could be causing it!
October 29th, 2010 at 8:47 am
Thank you everyone for your notes, it has helped me greatly to understand my peanut butter alergy. After tracking this year it has come to my attention that peanut butter is a trigger for me as well. Its weird that I have never craved peanut butter until this year either and cant seem to get enough. Well after last night peanut butter and I are breaking up. I am treating it like a bad relationship lol.
December 5th, 2011 at 1:36 pm
I was just about to get some yogurt when I was reading that it is a trigger, for petes sake everything I like is it seems. I have some peanut butter I was about to put on some crackers for a snack, finding it may be one too and feel like crying. i gave up the artificailly sweetened yogurt for sugsr sweetened pfarms I love in vanilla and pineapple. I am going to try and find out how you know what triggers it, I have had yogurt for 2 weeks since quitting smoking and haven’t noticed a migraine, I would have if it was there…Anyone have advice, could my migraines be disappearing since I quit smoking two weeks ago…Any ideas will be appreciated. Thanks..
December 5th, 2011 at 8:34 pm
Different people have different food triggers and many people have no food triggers at all. Yogurt and peanut butter are both triggers for me, but they may not be for you. The only way to know is to try it.
Smoking is a huge migraine trigger, so quitting could be the reason your migraines have disappeared. Congratulations!
Kerrie
March 4th, 2012 at 12:44 am
It’s not the caffeine in chocolate that triggers migraine, but it certainly doesn’t help. Tyramine, which is also the culprit in red wine, is the trigger.
May 8th, 2012 at 12:30 pm
I’ve suffer from headaches. They are not migraines, but they are still so painful to deal with. I have multiple months in a row where I have headaches every day. The Lord has given me strength to continue enjoying my life. If I didn’t have Him, these headaches would make be a miserable person. Recently, I started looking if certain foods are causing my headaches. I’ve noticed three times now that about 30 minutes after I eat peanut butter, my headache gets really bad. This could be a trigger.
May 8th, 2012 at 1:05 pm
Sharon,
I’m sorry to hear you are suffering so much. It definitely sounds like peanut butter could be a trigger for you. If that’s the case, then other legumes like beans, peas and lentils could also be triggers.
Take care,
Kerrie