Lessons to be Learned...

If I had started this blog on my own, it would have been named something snappy like Eating MSG Free... or Good Eats without Monosodium Glutamate...

Well, let me tell you, that despite all that my mom and I know about food and nutrition, we are always learning. Migraines run in my family - just about every member of my immediate family has had them, as well as my cousins. They are awful, horrible things, and not just a bad headache. If you've had one, you know, and if you haven't - count your lucky stars. The tricky thing about migraines is that everyone has a different trigger. What makes my brother Derek get one, is not what makes me get one. I got my first migraine with an aura (a visual disturbance that we refer to as spots in our eyes) on the last day of 5th grade. As a freshman in college, I was able to correlate what was causing my increasing number of migraines through some research and observation - monosodium glutamate (MSG). At the time, I really didn't know anything about it. I started doing some research online and found this to be a relatively common trigger. However, what I did not know was the many forms that it comes in, and how it is hidden in so many of the foods available at grocery stores and restaurants. My list of things to avoid grew to include yeast extract, and autolyzed yeast extract. Soon after we added nitrates and nitrites to the list. Now, I do my best to avoid things with modified food or corn starch, as well as anything hydrolyzed. Natural flavors, and 'spices' got added to the list. I think that food is best when we can enjoy it in it's natural form. Even if I find something that doesn't have these ingredients, if there are more than about 10 ingredients I'm not eating it. I want to know exactly what I'm putting in my body.

Well, with all that knowledge you think I would be pretty set. And for the most part, I am. I try to get 8 hours of sleep every night. I drink water all day long. I managed to go almost 10 months without getting a migraine, which is a minor miracle for me. However, I had one on Sunday! :( I was racking my brain to think of what was different, what possibly could have triggered the migraine. My sleep schedule was slightly disrupted over the weekend due to later nights than normal, but that didn't seem to be it. So I backtracked in my mind to figure out what had been different in my diet. Tofu. I was nervous about eating the tofu for this very reason, but instead of researching the links between tofu and msg, I research msg and the two coagulants that are used to help firm up the tofu. Not sure why I didn't think to do tofu as a whole, I guess because the only other ingredient on the list was organic soybeans. Hmm. Well, I learned my lesson, and did my research today. Found a fascinating article on the work of Dr. David Bucholz. [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5364970] It talks about all sorts of triggers and guess what he says: "When you process the protein in soy, you liberalize MSG, so you're basically manufacturing MSG when you make a protein like tofu or miso or protein bars". Bummer! For all of my diligence I missed out on this very big risk factor. So I learned my lesson and won't be eating tofu ever again. Like Mom always says, you learn something new every stinking day! (By the way, it dawned on me to research tofu as I was cooking up a batch for dinner - quickly sent it down the garbage disposal. Boo!)

As with anything, not everything will be a trigger for everyone. You have to research, experiment, and over time you will figure out what works best for you. Also, not all triggers are dietary - weather can be a trigger, as well as lighting changes, allergens, stress and hormones. For those of you interested in a comprehensive list of dietary triggers, here is a link: http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2006/apr/migraine/triggers2.pdf

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So, enough about what I've leaned today, I wanted to share some good snacks that I have had recently - that are just about as natural as you can get. And I don't mean "all natural" like many products claim, I mean food of the earth, in its purest form!

Carrots and grape tomatoes with a spoonful of hummus.

Apple cut up with a tablespoon of almond butter.

Cut up peach in low fat vanilla yogurt. (Check the ingredients mine has all natural sweeteners, not aspartame, etc!) Below is what I packed for my 4 hour class this morning - similar to above, carrots, bell peppers and cherry tomatoes with a spoonful of hummus; sliced apple and TB of almond butter, and a cinnamon roll LARABAR.

To leave you with one other snack idea - popping your own popcorn! A lot of chemicals and a whole lot of fat are often packed into the pre-packaged popcorn bags. The bags that are more natural tend to cost a lot of money. Hence, the air popper. This sells at Target for about $8. It is wonderful! Pops on air alone. You buy a bag of popcorn kernels, place in the bottom of this nifty tub, and put in microwave on popcorn setting. When it comes out, I spray it with Pam or another spray and then season with whatever herbs and spices I want - lemon pepper, salt, garlic powder, cinnamon/sugar. A great alternative. And popcorn is a very low calorie snack - you get a lot more popcorn for a given amount of calories than you would for chips.

Alright, that's my two cents for the evening (actually might be a few dollars worth ;-) of advice there)! Please, if you have any specific questions, ask them in the comments section or send an email and my mom and I will be happy to answer!

XO, Mary