Fifty-two quarts of chocolate syrup. Nine hundred bowls of cornflakes. These might prevent a migraine--if they weren't guaranteed to give you a stomachache first. They add up to a superhigh dose of riboflavin, which research hints may ward off the someone's-put-a-soccer-ball-in-my-head pain.
Fortunately for the 49 people in a Belgian headache study, they were able to take supplements to get the necessary 400-milligram daily dose. The migraine-prone people in the study received this high dose (it's about 235 times the Daily Value) every day for three months. In addition to the riboflavin, 23 of the people in the study took one low-dose aspirin a day.
By the end of the study, migraine severity decreased by nearly 70 percent in both groups compared with what it had been at the study's start. Aspirin had no added value.
Why would something like riboflavin work? Researchers have noticed a deficit in certain energy generators in the brain cells of some people with migraines. They suspect that flooding the system with riboflavin could indirectly help regenerate this flagging energy system and somehow short-circuit migraine pain.
What's attractive about riboflavin, if rigorous scientific studies support these preliminary findings, is that it's likely to have fewer side effects than current headache preventives (although no one knows for sure the long-term effects of this much riboflavin).
"I wouldn't use it as the first line of attack, because we have other agents of proven value," says Seymour Solomon, M.D., professor of neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. "But since this appears to be a relatively harmless treatment, it would be worthwhile to explore it with patients who haven't responded well to standard therapy."
Although riboflavin generally is quite harmless, it's a good idea to check with your doctor before supplementing in such a high amount.
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