Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Migraine Triggers in Fast Food Items

I was reading an article online the other day, and I thought you might be interested in reading it. It lists the top ten ingredients in all fast food items. And remember, just because an ingredient is not listed in the top ten, doesn't mean it isn't common.

http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/10-ingredients-fast-food.htm

Anytime you want to know the ingredients of fast food items, you can find them online. Here are just a few sites to help you get started. Notice in particular the triggers in McDonald's fries!

http://www.wendys.com/food/NutritionLanding.jsp

http://www.bk.com/#menu=3,3,-1

http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/nutritionexchange/nutrition_facts.html

Have fun!

12 comments:

  1. Wow! I never knew McDonalds french fries had MSG in them. Good to know. Thanks for the post.

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  2. I wonder about MSG at other restaurants. do you know anything? i've been sticking to
    steak or hamburger and baked potato, plus veg on the side with "no seasonings or sauces";
    grilled cheese sandwhich with American cheese and bread that's at least a day old;
    eggs/veg omlet no onions, potatoes, plain cheerios type cereal.
    Not sure yet how well its working.

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  3. It sounds like you have the right idea! Keep at it. I'm going to create a post about eating out, since I've had several inquiries.

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  4. How do you know if you have a "high-quality" American Cheese? I bought some American Cheese slices at Costco, but am leary of eating them now, as I'm afraid of the pain of getting a migraine. I don't see any MSG, nitrates, nitrites listed in ingredients, but is that the only thing I should I'm looking for as a trigger?

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  5. One of the main problems with other American cheeses is the fact that they are highly processed, never-mind that they may have other triggers hidden within them. If your cheese was purchased at the deli counter, and it doesn't contain any of the ingredients you mentioned, then it is probably safe. However, if it says processed cheese food or anything similar on the package, then it should probably be avoided.

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  6. I looked at the McDonald's web site, but I don't see MSG as an ingredient in their fries. Is it under a different name?

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  7. Yes, it's under the name "natural beef flavor" as hydrolyzed protein.

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  8. I was researching migraine triggers and I've since discovered that my migraines always occur after I've eaten fast food containing MSG. I am so glad I stumbled across this blog.

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  9. I'm glad you did too, and that you have discovered MSG as a trigger. I hope this is a big step toward healing for you. If you haven't had a chance to read "Heal Your Headache: The 1-2-3 Program for Taking Charge of Your Pain" by David Buchholz, M.D. yet, it may answer your questions more completely. Thank you for posting!

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  10. Are french fries at other fast food restaurants acceptable? What about hamburger meat? Alos, what about Kraft cheese slices?

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  11. Hi Robert, Some other restaurants season their french fries as well, so be careful. It just depends on the restaurant. Hamburger meat is many times more safe than chicken at fast food restaurants, but that doesn't mean it's safe. It is overly processed, and many restaurants will season their hamburger meat with MSG to avoid the loss of flavor during processing. It's best to avoid overly-processed food whenever possible. If you haven't seen the movie Food Inc. yet, it will help. Kraft cheese slices or any other processed American cheese food slices are not safe, but high quality American cheese from the deli counter is. It doesn't contain MSG ingredients, just mainly milk. I hope that helps. Thanks for posting.

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  12. my doctor told me AVOID dairy and in your blog a lot of things have cheese or cream cheese, milk. What are your thoughts on this? Thank you

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