The making of a user friendly MAOI diet.

BACKGROUND

Many monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) diets are considered to be excessively restrictive and founded on poor scientific evidence. We present a safe and practical MAOI diet based on the related clinical and analytic data.

METHOD

We used a critical review of the literature and our own tyramine assay results to categorize foods to be restricted absolutely, taken in moderation only, or unrestricted.

RESULTS

We recommend that users avoid aged cheese; aged or cured meats (e.g., air-dried sausage); any potentially spoiled meat, poultry, or fish; broad (fava) bean pods; Marmite concentrated yeast extract; sauerkraut; soy sauce and soy bean condiments; and tap beer. Wine and domestic bottled or canned beer are considered safe when consumed in moderation. Other foods not mentioned are considered unrestricted.

CONCLUSION

The concerns about perpetuating an overly restrictive MAOI diet include the avoidance by prescribers of a potentially useful treatment option, excessive limitations on lifestyle for patients, and increased risk to patients secondary to noncompliance with the diet. We propose an MAOI diet that has a solid scientific and clinical basis and that is, above all, practical.