A friend of mine had a birthday yesterday, so I baked her a cake, which we consumed today. It was a lemon and poppy seed cake with drizzly icing, and it worked out quite well even though I'd never made it before :)
Last night I developed a nasty headache which made me feel nauseous and gross. Then again, this afternoon, I developed a nasty headache which made me feel nauseous and gross. Coincidence? Hmmm.
I'm well acquainted with the rumour that poppy seed consumption can give you a false positive on a drug test, but what I suddenly began to think about was this: poppy seeds make opium... opium is an opiate... morphine is an opiate... I am allergic to morphine. Well, I suffer an adverse reaction to it, which is close enough to allergic I'd say.
So, having employed the help of ibuprofen and a decent nap to numb the painful throbbing of my head, I got onto Google and consulted the very reputable sounding icanhasscience.com, which informed me that morphine is, in fact, derived from the poppy plant.
Apparently a standard oral does of morphine is between 10 and 30 mg. The concentration of morphine in poppy seeds varies widely, but if you ate about 40g of the most highly concentrated seeds you would ingest the equivalent of a 10 mg oral dose of morphine. So theoretically you have to eat a LOT for it to have any real effect. But the only part of the cake that I ate yesterday was some of the uncooked batter off the sides of the scraped bowl... yet it was still enough to give me a nasty headache?!
I started to doubt my own theory, but then found this comment by SciWo on the icanhasscience.com blog post:
I had adverse reactions to codeine and morphine prescribed after surgery, and I’ve noticed several times that poppyseed bread/bagels give me headaches.
So I guess it isn't just me.
My entire cake only contained 50g of poppy seeds, and I'm sure they weren't even high quality, so I guess I'm just ultra sensitive to morphine. There are other recipes out there that would have been far worse though. Like this one, with a whopping 128g of seeds. I feel sick just thinking about it >_<
i agree< ate poppyseed in bread and got a headache, I never have headaches, so i googled it and found others thought so as well
ReplyDeleteCodine gives me horrible migraines, and twice now the same type of headache followed after eating poppy seeds. Coincidence? I'm not going to test it any further!
ReplyDeleteGosh, I had some lemon poppy seed muffins that were muy delicioso, but afterwards I had a headache T H I S B I G and found your post after googling. Gosh, something so deliciouis w/ such terrible side effects. Although I know the issue my head is having to put up w/ right now, I haven't quite made up my mind on quitting eating them yet. I am reminded of an episode of a cartoon "Two Stupid Dogs" I saw some years ago. One of the pups loved corn and almost died while choking on an ear of the stuff. He eventually hacks it up but proceeds to eat it again b/c it looks so tastey. I think may be dumber than that pup. Nonetheless, I'm glad to know that the random headache could've been prevented. I'll consider that the next time buy those delicious little muffins.
ReplyDeleteI ate a poppy seed bread roll and within 20 minutes became so dizzy I had to close my eyes to find my way upstairs. I lay in the dark feeling dizzy with palpitations for about an hour. I take medication for bi-polar disorder and had no idea of side effects from poppy seeds.
ReplyDeleteI ate a poppy seed bread roll and within 20 minutes became so dizzy I had to close my eyes to find my way upstairs. I lay in the dark feeling dizzy with palpitations for about an hour. I take medication for bi-polar disorder and had no idea of side effects from poppy seeds.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you all are talking about migraine headaches. Sorry to say that I'm an expert on migraines and headaches. I've learned that the hard way unfortunately. ,I've suffered since being a child with both. Poppy seeds are in the seed family and seeds can be a migraine trigger for some people. They are similar to nuts as an offending ingredient. Nuts, chocolate and many other foods are on the list of migraine triggers. I am reactive to many many foods. So I know that list very well and unfortunately react to many of them. I often read blogs and want to comment. So today I wanted to bring my awareness of what I've learned over the years. A lot of people having "bad headsches" are really having migraines. Some people think that sinus headaches are a separate thing. Which often they get sinus symptoms as part of the migraine. So can runny eyes and nose be part of the symptoms of a migraine. People often mistake this as allergies. I get those symptoms as well as neck and shoulder /upper back tightness, spasm and pain. Yes, migraine symptoms. So this is a long reply but wanted to bring awareness. Also I doubt that it is a morphine allergy and poppy seed allergy. It was most likely that the poppy seed was acting as a food trigger for the migraine. Also the lemon can be a food trigger for the migraine. With the both of them,it was enough that it put you over the edge. The more food triggers, the more likely you are to having a migraine. One day a little bit won't hurt you. Another day it will. The chemistry of many of these food triggers are what makes them cause a migraine. You can be close to your period and that can predispose you to a migraine. But add poppy seeds, nuts, citrus, dairy, aged foods (long list), alcohol, stress, and you have a migraine. If you go to a doctor and you are diagnosed with migraine. ..you will be put on a drug train! Omitting the foods that caused the migraine is the best answer to resolving the migraine. Sometimes I am human and I eat something anyway. I take a prescription drug Fioricet (without codeine), for the migraine. The best prevention is not having a substance that causes migraine. Not a drug approach. Hardly any doctors,even the migraine specialist will tell you not to eat certain foods or alcohol! There are plenty of articles that will tell you what migraines are all about. Dig deeper, the more you'll find. Be your own health care provider and take personal responsibility for yourself. Trust me. Drugs are not going to be the answer. I was given all kinds of drugs to try as a preventative for migraines. I didn't get relief or prevention. Still had migraines and bad side effects from the drugs. Just because they are in white coats and suits underneath. They are still drug pushers!
ReplyDeleteDo the research. Execute what you've learned. You will be healthier and happier down the road for having done it. I even react to onions and garlic! Even a shake of onion or garlic powder on a hamburger! Avocados are a trigger food for me! We have the world of knowledge these days. Medical information that I didn't have all the years that I have had migraines.We are blessed, fortunate, and lucky to be able to have the Internet and the exposure to all kinds of medical research and knowledge. Best of health to you all.