The chocolate, cheese and red wine advice is not, without
foundation. In November 1974, Migraine Action awarded
gold medals to Professor Sandler, Dr Youdim and Dr Edda
Hannington for their work in detecting a biochemical defect
in migraineurs which was not present in non-migraine
controls. Their research showed that, in the migraineurs
studied, there was an alteration in the body’s final handling of food containing
amines; for example, tyramine, which is found in cheese, wine and citrus fruits,
and phenylethylamine, which is found in chocolate and alcohol.