Michael Mather writes:
I was working in my office one day, enjoying a chocolate candy, when CaseTwo (not her real name) came into my office. She was a lady in her 40s, of African origin. I offered her a candy, but she refused it because it contained chocolate.
The story came out that CaseTwo suffered from almost continuous migraines and lived on strong painkillers. She had tried many things to cure her migraines, and had even had a hysterectomy, to no avail.
I explained to her my theory that migraines could be caused by tannins. She told me that she had a fridge in her bedroom with apple juice in it, because she got thirsty in the night. Also, her husband would bring her a cup of tea to bed each morning. (Both of these drinks contain tannins.)
So she stopped drinking apple juice and tea, and her migraines went away for a while. About ten days later, she got a migraine, but recognised that it came from a meal that consisted mainly of sesame seeds. (It was an African dish.) So she learnt to avoid that as well.
When I last heard from CaseTwo, she was still having one migraine a month. But her enjoyment of life had completely changed, thanks to understanding what had been causing most of her migraines.