The association between dietary glycemic index and disease severity among the women with episodic migraine.

Purpose: To our knowledge, no studies have evaluated the association between dietary glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) with migraine-related clinical symptoms.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 266 women with episodic migraine. The migraine disability assessment (MIDAS) was used to evaluate migraine-related disability in the recent three months. Visual analogue scales (VAS) were also employed to examine migraine-related pains. Glycemic index and glycemic load indices were calculated using the nutritional information obtained from the food frequency questionnaire.

Results: The study participants had a mean age of 34.32 ± 7.86 years. It was observed that individuals in the quartile 4 of GI and GL reported significantly higher consumption of calories, carbohydrates, proteins, and fats ( < 0.05). In the unadjusted models, those in the quartile 4 of GI and GL had significantly increased odds of experiencing severe pain (based on VAS score) (OR = 2.09, 95% CI = 1.37-2.70,  < 0.001 for dietary GI, and OR = 1.75, 95% CI = 1.16-2.79,  = 0.005 for dietary GL). Additionally, compared to participants in the quartile 1 of GI and GL, those in the quartile 4 of GI and GL were more likely to suffer from severe disability ( < 0.05).

Conclusion: We found a significant positive correlation between the consumption of foods with higher GI and GL and the clinical conditions related to migraine disease. However, due to the cross-sectional nature of the study, it is not possible to establish a cause-and-effect relationship for the observed results.