If you occasionally suffer from headaches or migraines, you know how difficult it is to determine what causes them. It could be that you’re not eating enough, eating a certain type of food that triggers headaches, skipping workouts, smelling certain chemicals and perfumes or missing some important nutrients in your body.
So how should you reduce the risk of getting headaches?
You can start with monitoring your activities to establish any patterns and narrow down key headache triggers. Ask yourself questions such as: When do you usually have headaches? Do you feel head pain after having your first coffee in the morning, after an exhausting day at work, while skipping meals or when eating a certain type of food?
Headaches and migraines often depend on what you eat, how much you sleep and how much you exercise. Once you identify potential triggers, try to change your habits accordingly and see if it helps in reducing your headaches.
Daily Vitamin Intake
When keeping track of your activities and eating habits, make sure to monitor your daily vitamin intake as well. Some recent studies have shown that deficiencies in vitamin D, vitamins B6 and B12, folic acid and magnesium can raise the risk of getting severe headaches and migraines - so ensure these are included in your diet.
Good sources of vitamin D include different types of fish and seafood including salmon, sardines, herring, tuna, shrimps and oysters, but also some other types of food such as egg yolks, mushrooms, cow milk and soy milk, orange juice, oatmeal and different kinds of cereal. Foods rich in vitamin B6 include pork meat and poultry, fish, bread, whole grain cereals, eggs, vegetables, soybeans, peanuts, milk and potatoes, while vitamin B12 can be found in salmon, meat, cod, cheese, milk, eggs and a variety of breakfast cereals.
Good sources of folic acid include asparagus, legumes, eggs, beetroot, green vegetables such as spinach, kale and arugula, citrus fruits, Brussel sprouts, broccoli, nuts and seeds. Magnesium can also be found in green leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds, legumes, fish and seafood, but also in some fruits such as figs, avocado, banana and raspberries, as well as in raw cacao and dark chocolate, baked beans, tofu and chlorella powder.
Preventing Headaches and Migraines
You may experience severe headaches if you are exhausted from not getting enough sleep, extremely hungry because of a restricted diet plan, or if you have spent an entire day sitting in front of the TV or computer. Some types of food and drinks can occasionally act as triggers too. Caffeine, aged cheese, alcoholic drinks and processed meats are often listed as potentially dangerous for people who have recurring headaches.
Sugar can be a threat as well. If you have been eating plenty of sugary foods and then abruptly stop for a while, a sudden drop of serotonin in your brain can cause a change in your blood flow, which often triggers headaches. Instead of consuming excessive amounts of sugar in order to keep the levels of serotonin up, try to reduce the amount of sweets gradually or refrain from going overboard in the first place.
Fighting headaches and migraines requires a holistic approach. A healthy lifestyle that includes regular workouts, spending plenty of time outside and breathing in fresh air, having enough sleep every night and eating healthily can be promising ways to reduce your risk of headaches. And if you are modifying your diet in order to lose weight or improve physical health, make sure to consume all the important nutrients, especially vitamins D, B6 and B12, magnesium and folic acid.
References:
Martin, V. T., Vij, B. (2016) “Diet and Headache”, Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain, https://doi.org/10.1111/head.12953
Slavin, M. & Ailani, J. Curr (2017) “A Clinical Approach to Addressing Diet with Migraine Patients”, Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11910-017-0721-6
Menon, S., Nasir, B., Avgan, N. et al. (2016) “The Effect of 1 mg Folic Acid Supplementation on Clinical Outcomes in Female Migraine With Aura Patients”, The Journal of Headache and Pain, 17: 60, https://doi.org/10.1186/s10194-016-0652-7
Monireh Dahri, A. S. et al. (2018) „The Role of Nutrients in the Pathogenesis and Treatment of Migraine Headaches: Review”, Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, Vol. 102, 317-325, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2018.03.059
Mottaghi, T., Askari, G., Khorvash, F., & Maracy, M. R. (2015). Effect of Vitamin D supplementation on symptoms and C-reactive protein in migraine patients. Journal of research in medical sciences : the official journal of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, 20(5), 477-82.
Rainero, I. et al. (2019) “Targeting MTHFR for the treatment of migraines”, Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Targets, 23:1, 29-37, DOI: 10.1080/14728222.2019.1549544
Stanton, Angela A., “Migraine Cause and Treatment” (2015). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2690927 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2690927
Sun-Edelstein, C., Mauskop, A. (2009) „Foods and Supplements in the Management of Migraine”, Clinical Journal of Pain, Vol. 25, Issue 5, p 446-452, doi: 10.1097/AJP.0b013e31819a6f65
Author’s Bio
Kym Wallis, the founding director of Higher Ranking has over 15 years of advertising sales, digital strategy, and business development experience. He is currently working as Digital Adviser for Bioscor.