Migraines: how much coffee should you have?

Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.

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Red wine, chocolate, weather changes, stress: migraines can be triggered by very different substances and circumstances. Most migraineurs know what causes them to complain.

Coffee is also one of the suspects - but how great is the risk? Researchers led by Elizabeth Mostofsky from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston have investigated this question. To do this, they recruited almost 100 migraine sufferers. On average, they were 35 years old and had been suffering from the attacks since they were 17 years old.

Caffeine consumption versus frequency of attacks

Over a period of six weeks, participants recorded their consumption of coffee and other caffeinated beverages, as well as other factors that can influence the likelihood of a migraine attack. These include medication, alcohol, physical activity, depressive symptoms, stress, quality of sleep and the menstrual cycle. If migraine attacks occurred, they noted their duration and intensity.

One or two cups are usually not a problem

The result: Most of the participants tolerated one or two cups of coffee without any problems. Only those who very rarely drank coffee ran the risk of triggering a migraine attack on the same or the following day with a single cup.

For everyone else, the risk did not increase continuously until the third cup. On days when participants drank five or more cups, it ended up being twice as high as on decaffeinated days.

Opposite effects of coffee

"While some potential triggers such as lack of sleep fundamentally increase the risk of migraines, the role of caffeine is complex. It can trigger attacks, but it can also help alleviate symptoms," explains study leader Mostofsky.

Migraines are one of the most common headache disorders. Overall, around 10 to 15 percent of the population in Germany suffer from it. It can appear in childhood. After puberty, women are up to three times more likely to be affected than men. Typical symptoms of a migraine are strong, usually one-sided headaches, nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light, noise and smell.

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