Why Headaches and Migraines Keep Coming Back

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Transcript

Melanie: Welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition, brought to you by Nutritional Weight & Wellness. Today, our focus is on the food connection to headaches and migraines. And if you find yourself needing to bring headache medicine everywhere you go, regularly canceling those plans because of a migraine or a headache, or you're just fed up with dealing with ongoing headaches and migraines and wondering if there could be a dietary connection, well today's episode is for you.

You know, maybe you even have a child who struggles with headaches. I've seen more and more parents that are saying their children or their teenagers have headaches. And headaches, they're incredibly common. We kind of just take some ibuprofen and move on.

Britni: Unfortunately.

Melanie: You know, vitamin I.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: But really what we want to do is say, what is the root cause?

Britni: Exactly.

Melanie: In fact, almost everyone experiences them at some point, but migraines are different, and they can completely derail your day or several days. And unfortunately, many people are told that migraines are simply something they have to live with, and they're prescribed some sort of painkiller.

And women, interestingly enough, are two to three times more likely to suffer from migraines than men. In fact, migraines are one of the leading causes of disability worldwide, with women under the age of 50 being the most affected. So as dietitians, we often work with clients, like we mentioned, who tried medication after medication.

But they've never been asked about their diet or their eating patterns or other lifestyle habits like sleep and stress, and all of these can be contributors. So we'll be covering all of the connections. But before we go further, I'm Melanie Beasley. I'm a Registered and Licensed Dietitian, and I'm here with Britni.

Difference between a headache & migraine

Britni: Yes. I am Britni Vincent, also a Registered and Licensed Dietitian. And I want to start by explaining the difference between a headache and a migraine. Because some people don't even realize they're having a migraine.

I sure didn't the first time I had one. So the difference is and I, I want to say a lot of people use them interchangeably. And they are, they are two different things. You know, a headache is more of a symptom. It usually causes pain or pressure somewhere in the head, forehead, neck, behind the eyes. You know, the severity can vary. Could be mild, moderate, or, you know, it could put you in bed. But it's generally limited to pain. Mm-hmm. Like, that is the only symptom that's happening.

Whereas a migraine is a neurological condition. The headache is just one part of it. Migraines often involve moderate to severe throbbing pain, can frequently just be one-sided, but not always. Very commonly accompanied by nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light, sound, or smells.

Sometimes people get dizzy. And some people also experience what's called an aura before the migraine starts. Or sometimes people just have the aura. I have some clients that don't necessarily get a severe headache along with it. It's primarily that, that aura that they're seeing.

Melanie: So those are people that are having those severe migraines are saying, "I would love to just have an aura."

Britni: Yeah, yeah.

Melanie: But they're also disrupting.

Britni: Yes, for sure. And, you know, an aura, if you've not had one, you might wonder, well, what is, what is that like? Well, you might see flashing lights. You might lose part of your vision, noticing tingling in an arm or a face. You can even have trouble finding words.

Melanie: Yeah, it almost can feel like a stroke.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: So my daughter in high school had three migraines, and she would lose, literally she would have a blind spot where she couldn't see.

Britni: Scary.

Melanie: And that was before she started having the pain. So when she got that, she knew she had to get home rapidly before the vomiting began. So it can be very life disrupting.

Britni: Absolutely.

Melanie: And really painful. And it's an important distinction because a migraine isn't simply a really bad headache. It's a complex neurological event, and it involves changes in the brain and the nervous system, and many people also experience symptoms, like I mentioned, hours before the pain begins.

I know when I would get a migraine, I became very sensitive to light and smells. That's, that was my cue that it, something bad's coming. So they may crave certain foods, yawn excessively, feel unusually tired, become irritable, or here's an interesting one, both myself and my client and you mentioned: a stiff neck.

Britni: Yes. That is a big sign it's coming.

Melanie: Yes. Makes me want to rub my neck when we say that. So that stiffness is a, your body's communication. All of these symptoms are your body's communication that something is not right neurologically. Like I mentioned, it could be sight, it could be smells, it could be, sensory, tingling, that's another one that I've heard.

They'll, they'll get tingling in their hands and feet before a migraine. So then after the migraine is over, it's common to feel completely wiped out for another day or two, or you might have like an echo migraine the next day until eventually it subsides.

So that's why migraines can be so disruptive. They don't just affect you for a few hours. They can impact work, family, life, the ability to exercise, sleep, overall your quality of life, and of course, your mood is affected because you are in pain.

Britni: Yes. I mean, it's, it's hard to go on doing life when you're having a migraine. And the next day, I call it like a migraine hangover.

Melanie: Oh, yeah.

Britni: Yeah. You're just, you're not feeling yourself at all.

Melanie: Yeah.

Lifestyle strategies to prevent chronic migraines & headaches

Britni: So the big question here is- Can you prevent chronic migraines and headaches? And the answer is yes. But, you know, it's important to be realistic about expectations. You know, for some people, the frequency or the severity might decrease, which is huge. You know, having a migraine weekly to having maybe once a month- That's- ... that improves quality of life hugely.

Melanie: That is huge.

Britni: You might notice shorter, less severe, or easier to recover from migraines, and some people continue to need medication while also improving their nutrition and lifestyle. So it's really not an all or nothing situation. And it varies significantly from person to person.

Melanie: Yes. You know, I encourage clients to think about reducing the total migraine load when they come to me. Maybe you go 12 migraines a month to three. Like you mentioned, Britni, better is better. When you're in pain, better is better. So maybe you no longer miss work, or maybe you recover in the hours instead of days.

Those are life-changing improvements, and usually those improvements happen by addressing several pieces together. It's like a soup, is what I tell my clients- we've got various components that are contributing, and when you take out those components little by little, we start seeing progress little by little.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: So we're chipping away at those. It can be things like balanced meals, hydration, sleep, stress management, exercise, your nutrient status. A big one is identifying food triggers instead of searching for that one miracle cure. Sometimes it's the soup.

Britni: Yeah. And I always tell clients that, when we start working together, that it is usually not one thing. There are typically a lot of contributing factors, and it's like somebody has this underlying susceptibility to getting headaches or migraines, and then again, multiple triggers may stack up, and then it just puts you over the edge, and you end up getting a migraine.

Melanie: Yeah, I see a lot of clients with histamine intolerance or mast cell activation, and one of the symptoms is that headache, that unexplainable headache that they continually get. I know that can be my symptom as well. And I have a client, and she worked diligently for our government, but she had to travel. And those headaches, she knew all the food things.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: Her job was very stressful. And so inevitably, when she would be on her way home, she would get hit with a migraine because of that stress. Interestingly enough, now that she is retired, her headaches are minimal, very few.

Britni: Oh, that's amazing.

Melanie: Can't even count how many she has in a month.

Britni: Oh, wow.

Melanie: So it, little pieces make a big difference. We improved everything. But then retiring and getting out of stress made a huge difference, and she's very wise. I mean, she knows herbal things because she's an herbalist as well. So things beyond our scope, but yeah, little by little she has improved her quality of life.

Britni: Oh, that's wonderful. So you can think of all of this as like a bucket. So maybe you have lack of sleep. That starts to fill the bucket. Maybe you have stress. Maybe you skip breakfast, so that bucket fills up. Hormonal changes, dehydration, alcohol, food sensitivity. Eventually it overflows and then you get a headache or a migraine.

Melanie: If you have infection or you've had surgery or you have illness.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Melanie: Your body, when it's fighting so many things, your go-to symptom might be migraine. Because remember, symptoms are the body's communication to us that something is not right. So your symptom or your go-to symptom might be migraine. Someone else, it might be a stomachache. I got a daughter who's a puker. You know, as soon as her bucket gets full, that's her symptom.

Britni: Yeah,

Melanie: And it lets her know. She gets dehydrated or whatever.

Britni: I think that is so true, and I just had this conversation with a client yesterday. We all kind of have an area of our body that when things are imbalanced, it shows up in, you know, for you and I, it's migraines or headaches, you know?

Melanie: Yes. And you'll hear clients say, because women are, women especially are very intuitive. And I will have clients tell me, "Oh, I carry my stress in my shoulders," or, "My back will spasm," or they know. They know. So I love the analogy, this analogy because people often focus on finding the magical cure and they might think, "Oh, it's definitely chocolate."

You know, maybe. I mean, chocolate gives me a migraine, but maybe chocolate wasn't the whole problem. Maybe it was chocolate after sleeping five hours, skipping lunch. Maybe I had chocolate two or three days in a row. You know, I'd like to get my clients to a place where they can have a small piece of chocolate once a week and enjoy their life, but it's that whole bucket scenario.

I know a big trigger for a lot of people is wine. You know, I have a daughter who said, "Well, I've switched to white wine because the red wine gives me a headache." So she's learned, you know, what is her trigger. But it can be a combination of these things, and that's what we're here to unravel for you because oh, my goodness, it, it's so complicated.

Britni: It is complicated.

Melanie: You need a buddy, and that's what we're here to be your buddy.

Britni: It's, I, I think it's really difficult, and I can speak to this personally, to figure out your own triggers. Like, it's hard, it- it's easier for me to meet with a client and figure all of this out than, you know, myself. So we are here to help you break it down and figure out what, what's at the root. What are, what are the factors contributing?

Melanie: Well, you and I were talking, you know, going over this before recording, and I asked you, because I know you had migraines in your younger years.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Melanie: And I asked you, "What do you think your trigger was?" And you kind of gave me the shrug emoji.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: Because you had cleaned up so many things as you learned about nutrition and lifestyle and health.

Britni: Yeah. Yeah.

Melanie: That it's not like you could put your finger directly on that one cause.

The blood sugar connection to headaches & migraines

Britni: I mean, I know for myself there's a few contributing factors, but I know there's, there's some other ones I'm not positive. And, you know, blood sugar is definitely one of mine, and for other people it is one of the biggest triggers. And so this is an area I always focus on, one of the first things with clients.

Melanie: So when you say blood sugar, I'm assuming when your blood sugar drops low because you skipped meals.

Britni: Mm-hmm, exactly.

Melanie: You would feel it coming on.

Britni: So our brains are incredibly sensitive to changes in glucose. So when someone skips a meal or you're eating a high carbohydrate meal…

Melanie: Think cake.

Britni: Yeah. You eat a lot of sugar. You live on coffee until noon. Your blood sugar's on a rollercoaster, and even when you're not eating, having a low blood sugar is very stressful. So your body is going to increase your blood sugar on its own, even if you're not eating. So you can be on this rollercoaster without even consuming much food.

Melanie: Yeah.

Britni: And that whole rollercoaster is incredibly stressful to the body. And again, for a lot of people, that is a, a cause of migraines or headaches, or again, a piece of the puzzle.

Melanie: You know, I've clients that tell me, "I get a headache in the afternoon, every afternoon." Well then, when we sort of break it down what they ate for breakfast, the answer's often just coffee or maybe a bagel or a... The favorite is one egg, a piece of toast and avocado.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: That's the favorite. But the bagel and the toast, they really digest quickly, and they create a spike followed by a crash. Because the body's good at bringing that blood sugar back down. And it doesn't sustain us up until lunch, but it kind of sets us up for that whole rollercoaster dramatic swing thing.

Britni: Yes, it does. And I mean, that's one of the first questions I always ask clients when I'm meeting with them to help to improve their headaches or migraines. Is there a time of day that you typically get one?

Because that can tell us quite a bit. You know, waking up with a migraine can clue us in on things. The blood sugar piece, if it's middle of the morning or middle of the afternoon. So, you know, one of the simplest nutrition strategies we can focus on is that balanced eating.

So balanced meaning we're getting protein, we're getting some fiber-rich carbohydrates, some healthy fat in there. That fat and, and the protein slow down the absorption to help to balance our blood sugar, and then we want to make sure we're eating frequently enough for your body. And that depends on the person.

Melanie: I am not a fan of skipping meals. I'm not a fan of this only eating in a five-hour window.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: I think it's a stressful event for the body, and it's really hard to get the nutrition in that you need. But if you're someone who struggles with headaches and migraines, that is not for you.

Britni: No.

Melanie: That's why we're a big fan of eating at least three meals a day with protein and fiber and healthy fats to balance that blood sugar and help mitigate a migraine or a headache. You know, it's why any client who walks into my office, they're going to leave with an understanding of how to balance blood sugar, that glucose that you mentioned, which is really built around protein, which I'm talking about animal protein, healthy fats, vegetables that have that fiber that we need.

You know, that balanced whole food carbohydrate. If you think a little sample might be instead of the avocado toast, maybe what you're doing is a slice of sweet potato, cooked sweet potato, avocado, couple eggs, and then some sausage on the side. You're going to get a lot more protein. Much better, much healthier for you.

So those, a meal like that's going to provide steady fuel for your brain starting out the gate in the morning instead of the dramatic high and low, and then you've got to take the time to have lunch.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Melanie: Your health is so much more important than your work. I'm sorry. It is.

Britni: I 100% agree.

Melanie: And you can't do good work if you're in pain at, by 3:00 in the afternoon because you skipped lunch. So even if you just put a really balanced smoothie, we've got a ton of them on our website at weightandwellness.com, sip on that. Pound it if you need to, but get that, that nourishment in at lunchtime so you're not crashing by late afternoon.

Britni: Yeah. That's a great recommendation. Cannot stress enough the importance of a large enough breakfast. You threw out the example of one egg and a piece of toast. Yes, you're getting protein, but it's not enough. It's not enough to stabilize and set up your blood sugar for the day.

Melanie: No. Ladies, lumberjack up. Get that breakfast like you're going to go out and saw wood.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: It's going to really make a difference in how you feel, and I don't mean a plate of potatoes or six slices of toast. Think protein, protein, protein.

Adequate hydration is key

Britni: I promise you will feel better. And here's another common trigger. I don't think this is surprising, but not drinking enough water.

Melanie: Oh, yes. I'm glad you brought that up.

Britni: Huge. Huge.

Melanie: Your brain needs it.

Britni: Yes. So, you know, even mild dehydration can contribute to headaches.

Melanie: I want to talk more about that, but we're ready for our first break, and we will be right back to help you find some relief to those pesky headaches and migraines.

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Britni: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. We are talking today about why headaches and migraines keep coming back. Before the break, we were talking about some food ideas, but if you are looking for more food ideas and meal ideas, I encourage you to check out our cooking classes. We have one coming up about how to create a healthy bowl on August 12th. So you can join live for the cooking class, and it is $25.

If you can't make it live, you can still sign up and watch the recording for 30 days. So if you sign up, you get that recorded cooking class for 30 days, so you can re-watch it.

Sign Up for a Cooking Class!

Melanie: Oh, who doesn't love a healthy bowl?

Britni: Yeah. Oh, it's delicious.

Melanie: Easy, breezy, delicious.

Britni: I think for a lot of people, I definitely know I used to get in this habit, is you assume you need another cup of coffee or maybe an energy drink when really you just need some water.

Melanie: Yeah.

Britni: Some plain old water, maybe some electrolytes in there, especially if you spend a lot of time outside in the heat. And I'm not saying you need to eliminate caffeine altogether, but you should be limiting it. And I always recommend drinking a glass of water before you start in on your caffeine. Otherwise, it could be 10:00 in the morning and you haven't drank any water yet.

Melanie: You know, when you, you think about it, you go eight hours sleeping. You wake up dehydrated.

Britni: Yeah, absolutely.

Melanie: So you're, the first thing you should do is drink some water when you wake up. But always, clients are always surprised by the volume of water I think they need.

Britni: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Melanie: So they might drink one water bottle a day, and I'm talking the disposable ones that you, you buy, you know, in a case.

Britni: 17 ounces, yeah.

Melanie: One or two of those a day. And I'm talking half your body weight in ounces of water. I'm going to give the listeners a minute to calculate. Did you calculate? Because it's a lot of water.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: And if you are a chatty Cathy and you talk, talk, talk all day, you are expelling water through your breath. If you work outside, oh my goodness, your body, even if you're not sweating, your body's, is evaporating water off your skin. You need more water than that. And if you are, like Britni said, the caffeine drinker, you're dehydrating yourself. So you need at least one cup of water for every cup of coffee you have, or tea.

Britni: So it adds up.

Mel: It adds up.

Britni: It adds up. And if you're exercising and you're sweating a lot, you need extra.

Melanie: By the time you are thirsty, you are dehydrated.

Britni: Yep. And here's an interesting fact about caffeine, is it is actually included in some headache medications because it reduces swollen blood vessels. So for some people, it can actually help reduce the severity of their headache or their migraine. But again, you should not be drinking large amounts throughout the day. Water should be your primary beverage.

Melanie: Because if you're drinking large amounts of caffeine throughout the day you may not sleep well. If you do not sleep well, it puts you at risk for a headache.

Britn: Here we go. So you've got a lot of caffeine, you don't have enough water, and then your sleep isn't good. That is going to set you up and increase the likelihood of getting a migraine.

Melanie: So here's a little tip. I don't drink caffeine, and if I feel a headache coming on, that's the time I drink caffeine to help with some relief with these blood vessels being constricted. That helps. But if I drink caffeine all the time, that effect is not as strong.

Britni: Interesting.

The stress connection to migraines & headaches

Melanie: So you might want to decaffeinate mostly. Well, let's touch on a big one. I think stress deserves its own conversation.

Britni: Sure does.

Melanie: Could be a whole other podcast. I think we have done podcasts on stress.

Britni: I think so.

Melanie: You may have heard of, or experienced stress headaches. Chronic stress changes the nervous system, and when you're under chronic stress, like cortisol and adrenaline, they remain elevated. Muscles tighten, sleep suffers, blood sugar becomes more unstable, inflammation increases.

All of these life conditions can affect your migraine and make them more frequent. So even though as dietitians our focus is food, you know, we care about the total client and working with clients, and stress reducing techniques can be so helpful for everyone.

Britni: Yeah. I think we can all use that in our life. And I mean, the lack of sleep part too. I mean, that's a big stressor on the body.

Melanie: But there are tools that you can use, which I talk about with my clients. Even if you can't change your job, you can use these tools to trick the brain into feeling less stressful.

Britni: Yes. And it's, it's really not about the stress itself, it's about how you react to that stress that is going to affect how your body responds to it.

Melanie: That’s a really good point.

Britni: So like you said, having some tools in your toolbox to help you handle that stress better is going to be hugely beneficial. So all of this to say, you know, this is why managing migraines and headaches, it's not about one trigger or one food or one food group.

It's really about supporting the nervous system, getting enough sleep, eating consistently, managing stress. You know, sometimes these basic healthy habits really do make the biggest difference.

Melanie: And it's not just for headaches and migraines, but your total overall wellness.

Britni: Yes.

Common food sensitivities to rule out

Melanie: You know, let's talk about some common food sensitivities because this is our wheelhouse. Many of our, my clients are surprised to learn how a food that they're eating every day is the underlying connection to their headaches and migraines, especially if it is considered a healthy food. The, sometimes healthy foods bite us back.

Every individual is, is, needs to be addressed. The challenge with headaches is that the reactions aren't always immediate. You know, you might eat something at dinner and not develop a migraine until the following morning, or even maybe two or three days later. When you eat a food that creates inflammation or an immune system response, it can take time for the symptoms to show up. Remember I mentioned you might be able to eat chocolate one day, but if you had it two or three days ago?

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: One of the ways I learned I had a chocolate sensitivity is if I made a paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, no processed sugar free chocolate cake, and I can make a really good one, first day, fine. Third day, because of course I had a piece every day.

Britni: Yeah, of course. It's sitting there.

Melanie: Third day, migraine.

Britni: Ugh.

Melanie: So it's, this is hard to navigate.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: But when you've got pain, it really motivates you.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: Some of the most common culprits I will have my clients eliminate, the first one, above and beyond, is gluten. Man, I can see people's migraines improve, I would say 60% of my clients, just removing gluten.

Britni: It's a big one.

Melanie: It's a big one. The others could be dairy, corn, soy, or foods containing large amounts of histamine if you have a histamine intolerance. So that's a whole other conversation. You know, personally, histamine is one of my triggers, so if I am eating spinach, healthy food, I mentioned the chocolate, tomatoes, aged cheeses. These are things that will trigger a migraine, but they seem healthy. So it can be a little head-scratcher for people.

Britni: Mm-hmm. And, you know, if you're wondering if the histamine is a part of your trigger, we did another podcast all about histamine intolerance that you can search for on our website, and learn more about that.

Melanie: Yeah.

Journal to track possible triggers 

Britni: This is where the detective work comes in. So I like to encourage clients to keep a journal, and this could be, you know, I did this when I was getting frequent headaches and migraines. I just had a notebook, and I wrote down everything I ate, the time of day I ate because that can clue you in. Sleep, you know, other possible factors, if you had a lot of stress that day, and then you jot down when you get a headache or migraine.

And, and it becomes a lot easier to kind of see the big picture and notice patterns in what's happening. And then if you are working with one of us, it is incredibly helpful for us to, to look at all of that, to help to, again, identify those triggers.

Melanie: You know, when you said keep a journal, I know I had purchased a journal off Amazon that was all-encompassing. It was great. So it's not like you have to get a notebook and kind of figure out how to organize it yourself. There are really good journals.

Britni: Yeah, there are.

Melanie: You can get Amazon. I don't know where else you could source them. I think Amazon rules the world now.

Britni: And of course, there's apps that do the same.

Melanie: Apps that do it. So just pick, pick what you want. But it really, really unfolds what is going on.

Britni: And, you mentioned this, it can take a day or two or three days for the trigger to actually show up as a migraine.

Melanie: Yes.

Britni: So that's why it is so difficult to kind of figure this] out on your own. So when you eat a food that creates inflammation or creates an immune response, it can take time for those symptoms to show up.

Hormones can affect migraines & headaches

Britni: Another thing I would add to your journal. If you are still menstruating, track when you get your period and when you ovulate because that can be a very big trigger for a lot of women. You know, we had talked about the largest population of people that headaches and migraines affect are women under the age of 50. Well, that's because of this hormonal piece.

Melanie: Tell us about what happens with the hormonal piece. Is it when the estrogen drops, is that when the headache happens, Britni?

Britni: It can be that, yep. It's just a huge drop in estrogen can trigger that. If you have estrogen dominance, which could be an excessive amount of estrogen, a normal progesterone, or maybe you don't have enough progesterone, that can be a trigger.

And so in ratio, then you have estrogen dominance if you don't have enough progesterone. So it kind of depends on, you know, I have some clients, their migraine gets triggered at ovulation. Some it's before they get their period. Some it's the day of their period. So all of that and when the migraine is actually happening, what day of your cycle, can again indicate to us what we could recommend to help you.

Melanie: And we do see people get better from that.

Britni: Oh my gosh, yes.

Melanie: I mean, this is, women think they just have to suffer through, this is just who I am. Nuh-uh.

Britni: Yes.

Melanie: I'm here to say, "Nuh-uh." This is fixable.

Britni: It is fixable. I've had many clients with hormonal migraines. But currently I'm working with somebody, she's had them for years, decades; tried many things. Her food is fabulous, but we, we focused on balancing the hormones, and within two months, those hormonal migraines were gone.

Melanie: That's the best.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: It's the best. And, you know, we've got some great tools that we use to help with those migraines and period headaches, and sometimes you can do all the things, but you do need a little help.

Britni: It's true. Yep.

Melanie: You know, all of these items that, you know, keeping the food journal, asking a bunch of questions, it gives us clues, and sometimes it can be something as simple as a reaction to a food additive, like MSG. That's a big culprit.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Melanie: If you're someone who's doing artificial sweeteners; had a client, she drinks Diet Coke, chronically Diet Coke, and she has chronic headaches, and when we got her off the Diet Coke, the headaches magically went away.

Britni: Oh, that's amazing.

Melanie: So it was a simple fix. And that's why we encourage people to, to become curious and start tracking your diet and headache or migraine patters- patterns. Your body is giving you that information, and the goal is to learn how to interpret it.

Britni: And then, you know, sometimes we will suggest an elimination diet where we remove common food triggers for a few weeks while, you know, you're continuing to eat plenty of nourishing foods. Or, you know, sometimes I do just start with gluten. Let's do an experiment. Remove gluten for a few weeks, see how you feel, and that can tell us a lot.

Melanie: Especially if you have a gluten day after.

Britni: Yeah. Yes.

Melanie: They love those challenges.

Britni: Yep.

Melanie: But it gives us information. Your body will tell you, and you are your body's best doctor.

Britni: And then at that point, you know, a lot of people are reluctant to eliminate certain foods, but I always tell them, "Well, if you eliminate them, you reintroduce it, and you get a headache or a migraine, you know, and then from there it's up to you. If you choose to have it, then you know that you might get a headache or migraine, and is it worth it or not?" That's up to you.

Nutrient deficiencies: another possible contributing factor 

You know, nutrient deficiencies, that can be another contributing factor to headaches and migraines, especially magnesium deficiency. Magnesium can inhibit glutamate, which is an excitatory neurotransmitter that can cause headaches for some people.

It's also our relaxation mineral, and relaxation meaning it helps to relax our muscles. You might feel more relaxed as well, puts you into a deeper sleep, and it's also common for migraine sufferers to have low magnesium levels. I mean, there is research on this, on magnesium and migraines.

Melanie: Mm-hmm.

Britni: I will always have my clients add magnesium into the mix. I generally recommend Magnesium Glycinate because that is the best for helping to relax muscles. And for some people, if you feel a headache or migraine coming on, you can take some extra magnesium, and for some people, that can help to reduce the severity a little bit.

Melanie: Especially if you get that stiff neck.

Britni: Yep, yep.

Melanie: It'll help relax that muscle in your neck.

Britni: And I have a client, this made such a huge difference in her migraines. I mean, once she consistently takes magnesium at night, she rarely gets a migraine.

Melanie: Wow.

Britni: I know. It's not always that simple, but it is worth a try in addition to the other many benefits of, of magnesium. We, we talk about it all the time for a reason.

Melanie: Another unsung hero is riboflavin or vitamin B2. It's involved in energy production inside our cells, including brain cells, and it does occur naturally in eggs and dairy products and organ meats and some plant foods. It can be in a B complex, but, you can take it in a multivitamin like our NutriKey Twice Per Day multivitamin.

But to target migraines, you're going to need to go a little higher, like 400 milligrams of riboflavin or B2 is kind of the standard. And you have to remember these are supplements. These are not painkillers, so you have to let them titrate up in your system. Magnesium, vitamin B2.

You know, and another common supplement is CoQ10, 400 milligrams of CoQ10 to support energy for brain cells. So that's sort of the supplement cocktail I like is B2, magnesium, and CoQ10. Those kind of are the cocktail that anybody who's got headaches or migraines, I'll start them out on.

Britni: Yeah, it's worth a try. And with the CoQ10, I would take that noon or, or earlier because…

Melanie: It’s a little jazzy.

Britni: Yeah, yeah. It can jazz you up enough to prevent sleep, and we don't want that.

Melanie: It's like caffeine with sleep. Let's just don't add that to the problem.

Wrap up 

Britni: Yep, yep. So let's wrap things up. Remember that migraines are rarely caused by one thing. They're usually the result of multiple factors interacting together, and nutrition is incredibly important in conjunction with all the healthy lifestyle factors that we've talked about today. And these small habits practiced consistently, they make often a bigger difference than dramatic changes that you only do for a short amount of time.

Melanie: Yes. And remember, reoccurring headaches and migraines are your body's way of communicating to you, "Hey, pay attention. Something's not right." Instead of simply covering up the symptoms every time they appear, medications have their own side effects and problems.

Listen to your body as it communicates with you. Every person is different, which is why a healing plan should always be individualized to you. And even if migraines or headaches don't disappear completely, reducing their frequency or their severity or their duration can be an enormous difference in your quality of life.

So if you love someone and they're having headaches, show them that you care. Share the podcast with them. Tell them, "I'm thinking about you. I really want you to get some relief. This might be helpful."

Britni: Thanks for spending time with us today on Dishing Up Nutrition, and remember, we are always here to help you find answers in what is causing your headaches and migraines. To find out more about working with us and if you're covered by insurance, visit us at weightandwellness.com, or you can give us a call at 651-699-3438.

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Mel: Our goal at Nutritional Weight & Wellness is to teach people the power of real food and how life-changing it can be. It's a simple yet powerful message. Thank you for listening, and we will talk to you next time.