cover image The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

Josh Turknett, M.D., with Recipes by Jenny Turknett. New Harbinger, $16.95 trade paper (224p) ISBN 978-1-60882-875-3

Neurologist Turknett, a longtime migraine sufferer, offers a potentially revelatory approach to treating a condition that affects 30–40 million people in the U.S. His premise: that the current standards of migraine management—including prescription and over-the-counter medications, and preventative drugs—can largely be set aside in favor of mimicking an ancestral diet that is high in animal protein and low in wheat, sugar, and processed foods. Doing so enables the hypothalamus, “a primary suspect in the hunt for neural origins of migraine,” to efficiently maintain the body’s homeostasis, short-circuiting diet-triggered impulses that cause and prolong migraines. Given the low-fat, high-carb eating favored by many, the writer acknowledges that the diet may be radical. However, as someone who has successfully made the transition himself, and who recommends the diet to his patients, Turknett’s idea carry weight. He offers a comprehensive definition of migraines and how they are diagnosed (or misdiagnosed), discusses factors that make a person more susceptible to migraines, and explores typical treatments. He then addresses the tenets of the diet and leads into original recipes and a 21-day eating plan. While the thinking behind Turknett’s plan appears anecdotal, his results should compel migraine sufferers to give the diet a shot. Agent: Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. (Dec.)