Phenylethylamine

How does phenylethylamine affect a migraineur?

A migraine attack happens because phenylethylamine causes bloodvessels to contract. Non-migraineurs are also affected by this chemical, but migraineurs don't break it down as fast as the others. The contractions of the blood vessels thus become so substantial that that they can cause a migraine attack.

Where does phenylethylamine come from?

Phenylethylamine is - like tyramine - a biogenic amine, that is produced by some bacteria. By being careful, therefore, it's possible in many cases to avoid migraine triggered by phenylethylamine.

Two things are neeed to produce phenylethylamine: a food that contains the amino acid phenylalanine and bacteria that break this amino acid down to phenylethylamine.

Phenylalanine is an essential amino acid - we have to have it in our diet as we cannot manufacture it ourselves. It is therefore not possible to avoid food containing this ingredient. Instead, we can try to eat only fresh ingredients. It is also important to avoid a number of artificial or manufactured foods, because they are made with the help of bacteria or enzymes from bacteria. There is no industrial standards that ensure that the bacteria strains used must be 'phenylethylamine free', i.e. there is no compulsion to choose those particular strains of bacteria that to not produce phenylethyamine.

Which foods contain phenylethylamine?

Chocolate: Chocolate is made from cocoa beans that are grown in the tropics. The beans are found in the large fruits of cocoa trees. The harvested fruit are left to ferment, which means that naturally-ocurring bacteria break down the flesh of the pods so it is easier to remove the beans. Phenylethylamine is produced by bacteria during this process. The chemical stays in the cocoa butter through the entire the process of producing the final delicacy. Defattened cocoa, which is used e.g. to be stirred directly into cold milk, contains no cocoa butter, and therefore no phenylethylamine.

Red wine (and white wine) is traditionally produced in Europe by letting the harvested grapes stand for some time before they are pressed. They decompose a little and the bacteria that occur naturally on the grapes create phenylethylamine. This goes through the fermenting process to the finished, bottled wine. Wine that is pressed immediately after being harvested contains less phenylethylamine than wine produced by the traditional method. The amount of phenylethylamine is dependent partly on the type of grape (they contain different amounts of phenylalanine) and partly on how long the grapes are allowed to stand before being pressed.

Aspartam (E 951) The artificial sweetener aspartam (is also sold under the trade name Nutrasweet) is found in nearly all slimming products. It is made by an enzymatic process from, among other things, phenylalanine, and contains phenylethylamine. The enzyme used comes from bacteria. Products containing aspartam like diet drinks, sugar-free sweets and candy and toothpaste containing aspartam can therefore trigger migraine attacks in vulnerable people. Orally disintegrating tablets contain aspartam and may exacerbate a migraine attack if you are very sensitive to phenylethylamine.

Citric acid (E 330) Citric acid is also manufactured enzymatically, with the help of bacteria. The starting product is starch, but some migraineurs appear to get migraine attacks when they eat industrial citric acid (but not from fresh citrus fruit), so it is possible that phenylethylamine is produced during the process of manufacturing citric acid. Citric acid is used in many food products such as margarine, jams and jellies, dressings and sauces, juice and cakes.

Citrus concentrate Orange juice becomes bitter when it stands or is warmed up. The juice we drink with breakfast is ´debittered´ so it retains its good orangy taste after being pasteurised. There are two ways of debittering - with a filter or with enzymes. The enzymes are prepared from bateria and there is no requirement that the bacteria have to be ´phenylethylamine free´, i.e. chosen so that they do not break phenylalanine down into phenylethylamine.

Revised 1. November 2005

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