Soon after I published Food As Medicine in 2011, I received an email from a reader, who wrote about her experience with migraines and magnesium. A long-time lacto-ovo vegetarian, she told me that she took supplemental magnesium each month to control her premenstrual migraines, and that it was the only thing that worked for her. To be sure, it's been known for years that magnesium can be helpful in the prevention of premenstrual migraines. Several studies have shown that low serum magnesium is an independent risk factor for migraine headaches, and that magnesium can be used therapeutically to both prevent and treat migraines, as well as a host of other disorders characterized by spasm. She couldn't understand why she might be magnesium-deficient, however, because she ate a lot of brown rice, and had been told that brown rice was high in magnesium. According to nutritiondata.com, rice indeed tops the list of all magnesium-containing foods, at 781 mg per 100 mg. Although this refers … [Read more...]
Some musings on meal times
One of the central tenets of eating in traditional medicine, is that we probably eat too much. According to an ancient Chinese legend, when the people of earth were starving the Emperor of Heaven gazed down upon them with compassion, and called the Ox god to him. “The people are starving," the Emperor said, "but if they work hard they could produce enough food to eat once every three days. Please fly down to earth and tell them this message.” The Ox god did as he was told, and on his way flying down from Heaven, began to recount what the Emperor had told him. “Oh my, what did he say again?" the Ox god asked himself. "If the people work hard, they can eat… hmm… three times…? Yes, that’s it! They can eat three times a day!” When the Ox god arrived on earth, he called all the people to him, and told them that the Emperor of Heaven said that if they work hard they can produce enough food to eat three times a day. The starving people were overjoyed with the news, and the Ox god feeling … [Read more...]
