What is Tyramine?
Tyramine is a building block of proteins called an amino acid. Amino Acids are found naturally in foods, and build up all the proteins we eat and the proteins that make up our body. There seems to be a link between tyramine and migraines, and some people find high-tyramine foods to be a migraine trigger. Scientists don’t fully understand why that might be, but much like chocolate and alcohol, a lot of migraine triggers are fine for most people to eat.
What Foods Should I Limit?
Tyramine is found mostly in aged and fermented foods. Fermented foods include things like kimchi, sauerkraut, and yogurt. It also includes fermented soy products like soy sauce and miso. Aged foods include aged cheeses and cured meats. Nuts and seeds can also be high in tyramine. Most fruits and vegetables are fine, but citrus fruits and tropical fruits are high including banana, pineapple ,avocado, passion fruit and mango.
Eating a low tyramine diet means you have to watch out for a lot of different foods that could trigger an attack. If you are trying to narrow down your possible triggers, it can be helpful to do an elimination diet for about 1 month to see how your headaches respond. Then you can slowly reintroduce one food at a time to see how you respond. For me, I found that I cannot drink fruit juices like lemonade or passionfruit juice without getting an attack. However, if you don’t feel a difference, then there’s no need to continue a restrictive diet.
Low Tyramine Recipe List
Smashed Potatoes
Drop Biscuit Pot Pie
Homemade Pizza
Squash Casserole
Herby Chickpea Salad
Quinoa Salad– Skip the nuts on this one
Lentil Meatballs
Savory Bread Pudding
German Potato Salad
Mushroom Risotto
Vegetarian Chicken Biscuits
Instant Pot Potato Soup
Balsamic Pear Orzo
Breakfast Casserole
Some people find that tomatoes and onions can also be migraine triggers, so you may want to pay attention to those foods as well. I left off the tomato-based recipes in this list, but you can find some more options on the blog!