Dealing With Headaches, Heal Your Headaches Through Your Diet!

Heal Your Headaches Through Your Diet:

 What is Headache? 

Pain that occurs in the head is known as headache. It is one of the most common medical complaints. It is a common problem and almost everyone has suffered this ailment sometime or the other in life. headaches

A headache is the symptom of pain anywhere in the region of the head or neck. It occurs in migraines (sharp, or throbbing pains), tension-type headaches, and cluster headaches. Frequent headaches can affect relationships and employment. There is also an increased risk of depression in those with severe headaches.

Headaches can occur as a result of many conditions whether serious or not. There are a number of different classification systems for headaches. The most well-recognized is that of the International Headache Society.

Headache Causes:

Causes for headaches are often due to reactions of the body to some specific factors. Hormonal changes, uncorrected nearsighted or farsighted vision, dietary factors, sensory stimulus, and emotions are some of the common triggers of headaches.

Different headaches have different causes of pain and are diagnosed accordingly. Vascular headaches that include migraines and cluster headaches occur due to dilation or swelling of the blood vessels in the brain.

• The muscle contraction includes tension headaches that develop due to the result of tightening of muscles in the face, neck, or possibly from the restriction of blood flow to the brain.
• The traction ones are due to the pulling or stretching of pain-sensitive parts of the head like tension in the eye muscles etc. Inflammatory headaches and idiopathic ones are some other types of headaches.

The most common reasons are:

Don’t:

• Drink alcohol.
• Skip meals (even if you might not feel like eating anything).
• Sleep more than you usually would – it can make the headache worse.
• Strain your eyes for a long time – for example, by looking at a screen.

Types of headache:

There are more than 100 types of headaches. They fall into two main categories: primary and secondary headaches.

I. Primary headaches:

Primary headaches are those that aren’t due to another medical condition. The category includes:

• Tension headaches.
• Migraine.
• Cluster headaches.
• New daily persistent headaches (NDPH).

II. Secondary headaches:

Secondary headaches are related to another medical condition, such as:

• The disease of blood vessels in the brain.
• Head injury.
• High blood pressure (hypertension).
• Infection.
• Medication overuse.
• Sinus congestion.
• Trauma.
• Tumor.

Here are three common types of headaches and their symptoms.

• Tension headache. Pain often starts in the neck and back and works its way up to feel like a tight band around your head. It often goes away with rest.
• Migraine headache. Pain typically begins on one side of the head, throbs or pounds, and makes you sensitive to light and sound. It may cause nausea. A migraine can last for hours or days.
• Cluster headache. A cluster headache feels like a stabbing pain in the eye. It may cause eye tearing or redness, runny nose, or nasal congestion. It may last for a few minutes or hours, go away, and come back several times per day. These headache clusters can occur for months, disappear, and reappear a long time later.

Migraine headaches:

Migraine headaches generally referred to simply as “migraines”, are also quite a common form of headaches. If you are not on the receiving end of migraine, then you are probably aware of someone who is. Approximately one in five women and one in fifteen men are thought to be suffering from migraines.

You will experience migraines in the form of severe throbbing pain at the front or sides of your head and can typically only affect one side of your head. But, for some, it is not about simply feeling pain in and around the head. Migraines generally have a wider range of symptoms.

These include being sensitive to light and/or to sound. People suffering from migraines or “migraineurs” can end up feeling nauseous and may vomit after a migraine attack.

Migraines consist of four different phases:

1. Aura phase: this might or might not happen, but can be a warning sign.
2. Headache phase.
3. Resolution phase: where the pain tends to fade away or stop abruptly.
4. Recovery period: this might go on for hours or even days and has been referred to as a “hangover” type of feeling.

There is a possibility of you suffering from migraine with aura or without aura. There are also chances of you having a migraine-associated aura and other symptoms – but without the headache. Such cases are defined as silent migraines.

Headache Triggers:

Many things can cause a headache, thus it is important for you to become aware of the factors in your life that may contribute to your suffering, and, if possible, make changes to minimize the chances of continued suffering.

Some examples of factors that can cause headache are outlined below:

• Emotional Factors: Stress (work, home, family), depression, anxiety, frustration, let down, even positive excitement.
• Dietary Factors: Alcohol, aspartame, cheese, chocolate, caffeine, monosodium glutamate (MSG), processed meats containing nitrates.
• Physical Factors: Getting too much or too little sleep, too much physical exertion, injuries, skipping meals.
• Environmental Factors: Glare from the sun or bright lights, changes in the weather, strong odors, smog.
• Hormonal Events: Menstruation, oral contraceptives, hormone replacement therapies, menopause.

Headache Treatment:

Treatment of a headache depends on the underlying cause but commonly involves pain medication. A headache is one of the most commonly experienced all physical discomforts. About half of adults have a headache in a given year. Tension headaches are the most common, affecting about 1.6 billion people (21.8% of the population) followed by migraine headaches which affect about 848 million (11.7%).

However,

 There are a number of medications, such as muscle relaxants, analgesics (e.g., aspirin, Percocet, fiorinol), or antihypertensives that can help with migraine and/or tension headaches. If you’re reading this, chances are they’re not working for you or you haven’t tried all available treatments yet.

Taking medication isn’t the only thing you can do to alleviate your headache. Research has shown that numerous other methods, or behaviors, are also very effective in treating and managing recurrent headaches.

Here are some examples of what you can do to increase your control over your headaches.

• Engage in relaxation exercises to decrease stress and tension:

  • Deep breathing, and cue-controlled relaxation.
  • Progressive muscle relaxation.
  • Relaxation by the recall.
  • Biofeedback.

• Cognitive-behavioral stress-management:

  • Focuses on increasing your understanding of the role of cognition (thoughts) in stress responses, and relationships between stress, coping, and headaches.

• Anti-depressant medications:

  • Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft.
  • Elavil, Pamelor, Tofranil.

• Combination of behavioral and medication therapies:

  • For example, engaging in relaxation exercises and taking Zoloft at the same time.

Optimizing Treatment:

To be better able to treat your headache, it is important to keep track of your triggers, symptoms, and progress. Filling out a headache diary gives you, and your medical and behavioral health doctor, an accurate picture of the frequency and severity of your headache experience. It also provides a way to identify patterns, such as the association with certain foods or specific situations.

In this article, we will be covering three main ways that you can heal your headaches through your diet:

• Avoiding food triggers.
• Consuming herbal remedies.
• Consuming vitamins and supplements that have been shown to be helpful in the prevention of headaches and migraines.

1. Avoiding Food Triggers:

• Most doctors advise their patients to keep a diary of their activities and food consumption so that they can relate the occurrence of headaches to the consumption of food.
• Eating particular food causes the trigger points in the brain to constrict and dilate the blood vessels, causing headaches.
• Food additives are discussed in the next section as potential food triggers for some of you.

A. Food Additives:

Food additives are specific substances that are added to foods in order to add different varieties and flavors to the food. They are best known to add different colors to the food as well as giving food the ability to remain preserved or sweetened.

There are several types of food additives, all of which are put in different types of foods in different quantities. Knowing what food additives are and how your body reacts to them is important in helping you to maintain your health.

The major thing to consider with food additives is that:

• They are not natural substances that your body needs. Because of this, some of them can cause problems with your system.
• Food additives, before they are put into food must be approved by the USDA.
• Beyond this, they must always only consist of a small amount.
• If it is larger than what should be used, it can cause your body to become imbalanced.

To Find out Your foods Has Food Additives:

You can find out whether your food has food additives by:

• looking at the back of the box. These will usually be labeled as coloring, preservatives, or anti-oxidant.
• There are also several other different types of food additives that are used in foods.
• They should also state how much of this is used in the food.
• If you find that this is a higher consistency, it is best to not buy the food, as your body does not need it for nutrition.

The main reason why food additives are used is that of the market for food that is popular today.

• Food additives help to preserve food and allow for the customer to have a better quality of the food. For example, preservatives are mainly used to help from spoilage and food poisoning in foods.

• Antioxidants are mostly used to stop oxygen from moving into oils and fats.
• To add flavor to food, things such as flavoring agents, acids, and sweeteners may be added to the food.
• All of the types of food additives that are used are mainly used in order to allow the food to be a better quality product on the market.
• If it is being shipped from another area, it will help the food to last longer.
• If the company wants to give the specific type of product a better taste, it can help to intensify the taste that you are getting.
• Food additives have become a part of the market in almost every single type of food, especially because of the competition that is in the food market.

Before Buying Any Food, You should look at the food additives that are in it:

• Usually, food additives are tested by the USDA before they are put on the market, which helps your body to stay balanced in some ways.
• Most food additives in foods are also in a low quantity and do not affect your system that much.
• However, consumed over long periods of time, they can be unhealthy for your body and may cause problems such as headaches and skin allergies.

Knowing those food additives are not even good or that necessary for nutrition purposes in the first place, it is best to limit its consumption whether they are a trigger or not for your headaches.

The best way to find out if a particular food is a trigger for your headaches is:

• to keep track of your diet and any symptoms and reactions that you observe after the meal.
• Symptoms are likely to appear within one hour of food intake but can also take one week to show up, according to some headache sufferers.

Discovering if you have food sensitivities is not an easy exercise:

• It requires you to be diligent in recording, keeping track, and sticking to a trigger-free diet.
• Food triggers differ from individual to individual.
• What triggers your fellow migraine sufferer may not be the same for you.
• A list of common food triggers can help you to take special note of them and your reactions after consuming them.

2. Herbal Remedies: 

Feverfew is the primary herbal remedy for migraine headaches. It has been the subject of many clinical studies proving that it helps in the relief of headache pain.

A study:

One study has taken recently showed that 60% out of 100 migraine sufferers reported a significant drop in the frequency and severity of their headaches after taking feverfew leaves.

The results of this survey are very encouraging.

• A migraine is a complex condition and to manage it effectively sufferers require an individualized treatment approach.
• This survey confirms previous research and indicates that Feverfew Leaf can help to reduce the severity and frequency of migraine attacks and is a useful addition to the range of treatment options available.”

Survey Results:

• The results of the survey confirm those of previous studies that have documented the ability of dried Feverfew leaf to help stave off the frequency, pain, and nausea of migraine-type headaches.
• Feverfew is one of nature’s oldest headache remedies and its therapeutic qualities have long been recognized.
• Feverfew is also available as a dietary supplement in herbal shops and pharmacies.

Another way to consume herbal remedies is by brewing herbal teas: 

• At the first sign of a headache, a herbal tea of feverfew, chamomile, lavender, lemon balm, rosemary, or sage has been shown that can help to relieve stress and headache pains.
• Although most herbs have little or no side effects, there are some that can induce powerful reactions. Feverfew is one example. If you are pregnant, do not use feverfew.
• It is also important that herbs used to be of the highest quality. Always consult with a qualified herbalist on the use of herbs for your headaches.

3. Vitamins And Supplements: headaches

It is possible to have a higher tendency for migraines and tension headaches due to the lack of specific vitamins and supplements in your diet. To diagnose any deficiencies accurately, it is best to consult a doctor.

Your doctor can then prescribe the correct dose that will help relieve headaches.

• A food supplement that has been tested in recent studies to be helpful in reducing the severity of headaches is Omega 3 commonly found in fish oil.
• Fish oil has a natural anti-inflammatory compound and can relieve headaches.
• Recent reports of the beneficial effects of a migraine from the ingestion of fish oil capsules have caused excitement among millions of migraine sufferers.
• Decreased frequency and severity of migraine attacks were noted in a few double-blind studies.
• In double-blind studies, neither the physician nor the patient knew what was being taken.
• The severity of headaches has been shown to reduce by as much as 80-90% in terms of severity and decreased headache frequency.

Omega 3 Oil Benefits For Headaches:

A. Omega 3 oil is becoming a recommended part of one’s diet:

• It can provide for certain nutrients that one needs in order to help with their body keeping a balanced lifestyle.
• Knowing why Omega 3 oil is important as well as knowing where to find the substance will help you in determining how much and if you would like to include this in your diet.
• Omega 3 is known as an essential fatty acid. This type of fatty acid provides your body with several different levels of functioning.
• Without these types of fatty acids in our system, our body will be unable to maintain balance.
• We can not produce this type of fatty acid without having substances and nutrients moving into our bodies.

B. Omega 3 oils are essential for the functioning of several different areas of your body: 

• They can help your nervous system function at a higher level, including better brain functioning and lowering stress levels.
• They are also known to help with maintaining regular cholesterol levels.
• It is also known to help with better skin and hair.
• Omega 3 oil also provides support to your bones and joints.
• Having Omega 3 oil as part of your daily meal, or as a supplement, it can help with the nutrition levels of your body.

C. Omega 3 oil is best known to be in fish:

• Having fish once or twice a week will help in maintaining the right level of this fatty acid in your body.
• However, you can also find Omega 3 oil in the form of flax oil that you can use for cooking.
• Nuts, especially walnuts, also usually provide a good amount of Omega 3 oil in your system.

If you don’t particularly want to use any of these foods in order to get your supply of Omega 3 oil then:

• You should consider looking into a supplement that has this fatty acid in it.
• There are several fish oil supplements that will give you the nutrients that you need.
• These come in both gel forms as well as in liquid form, making it easier for you to take on a regular basis.

D. Omega 3 oil is a fatty acid That Can:

• Help promote better health and balanced functioning of your body.
• By incorporating it into your meals and making sure that you are getting some sources of this type of fatty acid, you will be helping your body.
• Your nervous system, cholesterol levels, and other secondary functions of your body will all thank you for providing this fatty acid.

Implementing Dietary Changes For Headache Prevention:

I. You can combat many a headache by changing your dietary patterns:

Diet constitutes the major part of your body’s functioning by providing the necessary energy. It is best to have three full meals each day with healthy snacks in between. Stay away from fasting or depriving your body of essential nutrition.

II. Eat fresh food as old food has a higher concentration of chemicals:

• These could cause headaches. Increase intake of seasonal fruits in your daily diet, as they contain natural sugar.
• Natural sugar does not increase your blood sugar levels to alarming highs although it does increase to necessary levels only.
• Rather, natural sugar contains chromium in the glucose tolerance factor molecule.
• Chromium works with body insulin and other vitamins and enzymes to process sugar within the body.

However,

• Refined sugar and sugar products do not contain chromium and therefore, natural processing of sugar does not take place.
• This increases blood sugar levels to alarming levels often causing severe headaches.
• Your diet should contain wholesome food with many vegetables, fruits, and other fiber.
• Besides, your diet should contain moderate amounts of salt.
• Include many vitamin supplements like vitamin C, vitamin B6, and tryptophan, omega-3 essential fatty acids as present in nuts, uncooked flaxseed oil, fish, and wheat germ.

If you find this article useful, don’t forget to share it with your friends and family, as you might help someone in need. Thanks.

Disclaimer: “Nothing in this article makes any claim to offer cures or treatment for any disease or illness. If you are sick please consult with your doctor.”

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