Headaches may occur in a variety of reason, and in random people. It may be because you’re going to have another sickness and the headache is just a symptom, or because you’ve been exposed to changes in weather patterns. There are a lot of causes and it’s hard to determine why most of the time. There are even times you feel just fine in the morning then all of a sudden your head hurts in the afternoon. There are others who, aside from having a headache, feel completely fine. Thinking about these things is giving us a headache!
Everyone experiences headaches once in a while, there isn’t anyone in this world who haven’t experienced it even once in their life. As we have mentioned, there are many possible reasons behind this condition and normally, the pain would subside in no time. However, there are people who experience a kind of headache that is different from a normal one. It is different because there is something that triggered the headache and it did not happen normally. This is what we call as migraine. There are several factors that could make a person feel migraine, like stress or a very strong scent for instance. Aside from these, do you know that the food we eat also plays a role in this matter? Know what these foods are as you continue reading the article.
1.SPECIFIC FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
Fruits and vegetables may be nutrient-rich foods that can make our body healthy, there are still trigger a headache or migraine. These include citrus fruits like orange and lemon, avocados, bananas, onions, and broad beans. Researches are being conducted to know the exact reason why these healthy foods can give such reactions but their hypothesis is that it’s because of their tyramine content.
2.CAFFEINE
If you’re a coffee lover and you often experience migraines, then that explains the reason. Caffeine is a substance commonly found in chocolates, coffee, and tea which, if consumed continuously, can cause a “withdrawal” that will lead to a headache. So for your own good, it’s best if you limit your caffeine consumption for about 200mg per day. Exceeding that limit will surely be a headache!
3.CHOCOLATE
Chocolate also housed quite a number of tyramine and because of this, people who love eating chocolate often experience migraines. As a matter of fact, 22% of people complaining about migraines experienced it because of chocolates. On the other hand, there are also some hypotheses stating that it is the “crave” for chocolates and the likes are the cause of migraine, not the food itself.
4.PROCESSED FOODS
Processed foods like canned goods and other processed meats like bacon, ham, and sausage are full of nitrites and nitrates that are used to preserve them. However, these substances that prevent food from spoiling immediately can harm the blood vessels, thus leading a headache.
5.ALCOHOL
After drinking too much, you will surely experience a severe headache when you wake up in the morning. Such occurrence, as well as regular migraine attacks, may happen because of the sulfites present in alcoholic beverages. These drinks that are the most common trigger to migraines include champagne, red wine, and beer, so you might as well avoid these if you don’t want to suffer from a pulsing headache. Aside from that, a person who drinks alcohol will also feel dehydrated.
6.AGED CHEESE
Cheese is delicious and is commonly used in many dishes. However, aged cheese will give you a headache. A normal cheese is already high in tyramine content, and all the more is the aged cheese. So if you want to avoid having a migraine just because of cheese, then I suggest you limit your consumption of mozzarella, cheddar, gorgonzola, Swiss, parmesan, and feta cheese.
7.COLD FOOD
By cold foods, we are pertaining to foods that are naturally cold like ice cream or frozen popsicles. There is no specific explanation for this but researchers suggest that it is because the blood vessels at the back of the throat constrict and dilate when coming in contact with cold substances, Because of this, the nerves automatically send a signal to the brain which causes the headache. This sensation is commonly referred to as “ice cream headache” and is also one of the most common reasons for migraines.
8.MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE
Another common trigger for headaches is called MSG or Monosodium Glutamate. Because of the salt content of the amino glutamic acid, foods with MSG like tomato, cheese, and soy extracts usually can make your head throbbing with pain.
9.ASPARTAME
This is an artificial sugar used to make processed foods sweeter. It may make preserved foods tastier but it can also give you a headache according to a recent study. This study includes 170 test subjects wherein about 8% or so were confirmed to have experienced migraines because of aspartame.
10.FERMENTED FOODS
Tyramine is already bad and can cause headache, what more is fermentation which boosts the tyramine in foods. Hence, you must avoid fermented foods like soya sauce, miso, and teriyaki sauce if you want to avoid a headache.
Now you may be wondering, how are you supposed to know what triggered your headache if there are this many to choose from? That is quite hard to answer because it may vary from person to person. Because not all persons eat the same food every day, and not all people have the same health status, certain food may have a different effect on different people. It’s a matter of personal experience so it really is hard to tell. However, if there is a way to determine what the trigger to you is, that would be having a journal where you would write down the foods you have eaten before you had a headache. After happening a few times, check your journal and see what food did you ate most commonly in those episodes that you wrote.
As mentioned earlier, migraine is different from a normal headache because it is triggered by several controllable factors. But when you do experience a headache, don’t jump to the conclusion that what you are experiencing is a migraine. It’s still better to have yourself checked by medical experts just to be sure that nothing serious is threatening your health.
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