Natural Headache Relief

November 6, 2017

You have a busy day, don’t feel like cooking, so you order some take-out food and the next day you have an excruciating migraine. Every month you get a hormone-related headache, why? Or, maybe you keep getting sinus headaches and can’t find the cause.

There are natural ways to get relief and Nutritional Weight & Wellness has solutions for you!

Podcast Powered by Podbean

Similar Podcast Episodes

Transcript

LEA: Welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition. I am Lea Wetzell. I'm a licensed nutritionist and I'm also a board member of the Minnesota Board of Dietetics and Nutrition practice. This is a board that oversees the practice of all of the nutritionists and dieticians in Minnesota. Each state has their own regulatory board and rules. And in Minnesota we really are a progressive state and require that everyone who is giving nutrition advice to be licensed. I have been licensed since 2011 and I work with clients every week to help them overcome their health problems through eating real food. As many of our listeners know about Nutrition Weight and Wellness, we always start with food first. And personally, I truly understand the power of food because through eating non-inflammatory foods I've been able to put my two auto immune diseases into remission and I am a true believer.

KARA: That's wonderful, Lea. Good morning listeners. My name is Kara Carper and I've been a licensed nutritionist since 2010 and I'll be co-hosting today's show Dishing Up Nutrition with Leah. So, I'm going to ask you a few questions. This is for the listeners, so this may pertain to you. The first question is do you ever get headaches? Second question is do you get headaches weekly? Monthly? Are you getting them several times a year? And then the third question is when do you get headaches? People get them at different times. Sometimes in the fall if there's more mold in the air. It might be when the furnace goes on, the first time that you turn the heat on in the winter, or maybe it's after you've had a cold and you're all clogged up and your sinuses are plugged.

And then we'll be talking about sinus headaches today as well. Are you someone that experiences sinus pain and sinus headaches? So, if you're listening and you answered yes to any of these questions, stay tuned because we're going to cover all of those different scenarios. It’s not one-size-fits-all with this. Actually, it's a pretty complex topic. So, we're going to try to get in as much as we can with at least the sinus headache portion and migraines. We're going to give proven solutions that our clients have found to be very effective.

LEA:  And perhaps you experience migraine-type headaches that relate to your hormonal cycle. For some women, headaches will show up two to three days before their period and turn into full-blown migraines. We call these hormonal headaches. If this sounds like you, be sure to stay tuned because we have natural ways to balance your hormones and eliminate those unbearable headaches.

KARA: So, Lea, here's another type of headache that many people experience. Let's just say it's a weekend night. It's Friday night, for example. You get home from work and you just you look around the kitchen and, if it’s like my kitchen last night, it was a mess. Nothing was thawed out. I'll tell you what I did. I went to Byerly and I got a rotisserie chicken. But I think some people might go get fast food takeout or pizza takeout. The next morning, that person might feel like they're flat on their back. They don't know what hit them. They have an excruciating migraine just after simple takeout pizza or Chinese or something like that.

LEA: Has that ever happened to you? And you're wondering, “How did this scenario happen?”  

KARA: Yeah, there's really a lot of causes and there are just as many solutions. So, we kind of have our work cut out for us today because we want to give you solutions to all these different types of headaches.

LEA: Right. And first let's talk about the sinus headaches, because it's pretty comprehensive. Typically, when you are experiencing a sinus headache, the tissues in the sinuses have become inflamed, which create a pressure, and often result in extreme pain. I explain to my clients that this situation is very similar to having a sprained ankle. When your sinuses get inflamed, the tissues swell up like a sprained ankle. And sometimes, just like a sprained ankle, it can become very painful, and with sinus information, the first step is going to be to get rid of the source of the inflammation and get to the root of it.

KARA: And so, the first thing that we often suggest is to eliminate dairy products from the diet. So, I always encourage my clients to stop drinking milk, also to eliminate things like cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, and ice cream. It's these dairy products that cause a lot of excess mucus. They can also cause dark circles under the eyes. That's an indicator of a food sensitivity. I found that for some of my clients who are eating low-fat ice cream, they probably think maybe that's a better choice. They've heard low-fat is better. Low-fat ice cream contains more sugar, and it has skim milk and so the sugar content is actually higher. And it’s more inflammatory. That's going to lead to more inflammation, more headaches. And similar, a skim milk latte would also cause sinus inflammation. Those are everywhere at the coffee shop. So, it's best to eliminate all dairy products, and people might be shocked to hear that soy is not a great substitution when you're talking about like a latte.

LEA: Right. And that's often what is the next go to.

KARA:   People think, “OK, well I'm not going to have dairy,” and then they might go to the coffee shop and order a soy milk latte. Soy is also an inflammatory type of a food and can also cause inflammation in sinus problems, so we would say “Avoid the dairy. Avoid the soy.”

LEA: What would you do alternatively?

KARA: First of all, caffeine itself may be a trigger. If we know that caffeine is not a trigger you could certainly have coffee and I put full fat heavy whipping cream in it. Or you could put coconut oil or MCT oil.

LEA:  Yeah, that's great. And another option maybe would be canned coconut milk.

KARA: And that's a great nondairy substitute. It's also not soy.

LEA: And the next step that the nutritionists at Nutrition Weight & Wellness usually recommend is to replace the inflammatory foods with non-inflammatory foods. So, that means replacing bread, bagels, crackers, cereal, cookies, candies, and cakes with low-sugar fruits such as berries, honeydew, melon, peaches, and, of course, vegetables. A typical meal that I might recommend to you would be maybe having grilled steak and asparagus. And I had winter squash last night with butter, and a half a cup of blueberries rather than a grilled cheese sandwich chips and soda. With these brisk fall temperatures right now, this is a really good time to make soup, right? I mean, get out the crockpot and get soup on the stove. One soup I made this week was the chicken wild rice soup recipe. That's a really great recipe. It's on our website weightandwellness.com, and in our cookbook, too, The Weight & Wellness Way Cookbook I have at home. And, really, this is such a great anti-inflammatory meal. And so filling and hearty in the fall. I love it.

KARA: That sounds great. And I like the idea of the squash as well.

LEA: Oh, it's so simple because you just put it in the oven and bake until you can kind of forget about it.

Well, it's break time. You are listening to Dishing Up Nutrition. When you look in the mirror as you're getting ready for work or for school, what do you see? Do you see a face full of wrinkles or breakouts? What could be causing the wrinkles to appear? Today, we want to give you some simple tips for skin health. When we come back from break, Kara and I will be sharing several possible reasons for wrinkles and some solutions. Now, next week on Dishing Up Nutrition, we have a very important show. We're looking at the relationship of food and nutrition to teenage anxiety and depression. And I encourage parents and grandparents of teens to tune in and take notes. We'll be right back.

BREAK

KARA: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. We are talking about natural solutions for headaches today. I'm Kara Carper and I'm here with Leah Wetzell and we're both licensed nutritionists. Lea, before break, was talking about wrinkles. I just have a question. What are some lifestyle habits that can cause wrinkles? So, one thing that comes to mind is caffeine. If you're getting too much caffeine, whether it's from a coffee, tea, or chocolate, you might be dehydrating your skin, leaving it dry and wrinkled. We would suggest drinking eight to 10 glasses of water per day as part of a wrinkle prevention plan.

LEA:  That’s huge. Hydration. Your skin needs to be well hydrated to look well and to be well. And I think that we all know that smoking leads to wrinkles. Nicotine in cigarettes or even in nicotine gum reduces the blood flow to the skin, destroying the elasticity, which can lead to wrinkles. To help prevent wrinkles from appearing, it’s best to stop smoking and to give up the nicotine gum.

KARA: So, caffeine and nicotine are both culprits for the skin. Jumping back into headaches, we're starting to focus on sinus headaches. We'll be talking about migraines and hormonal headaches. But, for now we're talking about sinus headaches, and they really stem from inflammation. That's the root of it. Yes, whatever headache it is, it stems from inflammation. So, we had discussed getting rid of inflammatory foods for sinus headaches. Now, there’s a step that I recommend to reduce sinus inflammation. It's a great supplement and Lea, I don't know if you knew this, but I don't really get headaches. I'm very fortunate. But I take this supplement called Natural D-Hist, and I've been taking that for about 15 years and it's the only thing that allowed me to get off of my regular use of Claritin.

LEA: And that's the regular over-the-counter anti-histamine, right?

KARA: Yes, and so I was able to stop that because those all have side effects and they're really drying. So now I take this D-Hist, which is a natural anti-histamine. It promotes healthy nasal and sinus passages. It contains quercetin, bromelain, stinging nettles, and N-acetyl cysteine. So these are all great natural anti-histamines and anti-inflammatory herbs that clear nasal passages. So, I just get up in the morning and I take two every day. That's actually a maintenance dose. If I'm having more sinus congestion I take more. I would suggest anyone with sinus issues take a loading dose. And it does have good instructions on the bottle. And I would take six per day. You could take two, three times a day. And then after doing that for about a week or so you can just kind of go back to what I do, like two as maintenance.

LEA: Exactly. Usually what I recommend for clients who maybe have lots of problems with, maybe fall allergies, or spring allergies, and they have a general time frame. They kind of know when things settle in with their allergies, as if they could do the loading dose maybe a little bit before, like a week or so before, two weeks before, that helps their body build up their strength to help combat histamines in their environment.

KARA:  Just be really proactive and kind of know that it's coming.

LEA: Yes, so then when you get in the swing of the high allergen season, you go to that maintenance dose and that's very supportive and keeps their allergies away. But I love that D-Hist alternative. Some people get stuck on their anti-histamines all year.

KARA: Yes, the Sudafed, the Claritin. I do have a quick testimonial. Actually, my neighbor suffers from chronic sinus headaches so badly that this past year she had a sinus headache so bad that she missed a week of work. And I happened to hear about it and I texted her and I said, “I have this great product” because I keep D-Hist, so I brought some over to her in a Ziploc bag. And I just suggest she take six per day. She is so funny. Right away she took six all at once. She was desperate. I would suggest maybe spreading that out. But, she didn't get sick or anything. And she said, “Oh my gosh, this is the best I've felt all week!” And she was able to go back to work the next day. So, I really highly recommend D-Hist.

LEA: Yes, for a sinus headache that's a great thing to try, especially with allergy-related sinus headaches. Our next recommendation is to add a homeopathic formula called Aqua Flora, which is designed to reduce symptoms of overgrowth of yeast, known as Candida Albican, that can lead to sinus congestion. This is an easy homeopathic remedy to use. We recommend two tablespoons in water before breakfast. I generally start my clients out on the Aqua Flora Phase 1. They have different phases of the Aqua Flora, and that is a great place to start and do that for one month. Then have them follow up with these two for one month. And for most people, the sinus headaches are a thing of the past. However, if you need additional help, one of our nutritionists at Nutrition Weight & Wellness is available by appointment, either in person or also by phone or Skype. No one person is the same, so we're really helpful for finding the individual support.

KARA: Yes, great suggestion. And like you say, if you are not local, we do phone and Skype appointments all the time. So, we're going to go into another area here. Some women, and especially women who are in perimenopause or menopause, experience what are called hormonal headaches or hormonal migraines. This is really a true indicator of a hormonal imbalance. Usually it indicates an excess of the hormone called estrogen. And at the same time it indicates a deficiency of the hormone called progesterone. And it's a well-known fact that when women no longer ovulate, they no longer produce progesterone. And the hormone progesterone is really considered the calming hormone. It's an anti-inflammatory hormone. It's a hormone that aids in sleep. It's very relaxing. On the flip side, the hormone estrogen is more inflammatory. Estrogen can actually create a feeling of being kind of wired. It can cause some restless nights and restless sleep, anxiety, nervous feelings, and migraine headaches, as well.

LEA: That's right. As nutritionists, we know that taking Omega 6 fatty acids in the form of Evening Primrose Oil or GLA can help balance the estrogen:progesterone ratio that often occurs in perimenopause or menopause. And usually when women are experiencing migraines, a more potent intervention may be needing to occur, such as detoxing excess estrogens or adding a supplement of natural progesterone. Usually I recommend both of those things. And we'll talk more about this, too, after we get a break.

You're listening to Dishing Up Nutrition and we're discussing the nutritional ways to reduce frequency of headaches. Whether you are struggling with sinus headaches or hormonal headaches or just getting headaches after eating processed foods containing MSG, nitrates, or food chemicals.

BREAK

KARA: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. So, we've been talking on break about wrinkles. And, if you're trying to avoid wrinkles, we have some additional tips for you. Alcohol can promote wrinkles because alcohol also dehydrates the skin kind of like caffeine, and it increases the risk of developing wrinkles. So, when you drink excessive amounts of alcohol, the blood vessels and capillaries become permanently dilated and they give you kind of a flushed looking face. And after years of drinking, the facial flushing actually doesn't go away.

LEA: You know what else causes wrinkles to appear on your face? A poor diet. Some people who follow a low fat and low protein diet often experience poor skin health and more wrinkles. One sure way to see more wrinkles on your face is when you cut beneficial fats out of your diet, because you are following a low-fat diet. A low-fat diet will lead to dry skin and wrinkles because your skin needs beneficial fat to be healthy. Most people need at least a tablespoon of good fat at every meal and snack. Good examples of fat that supports your skin and health are butter, coconut oil, olive oil, olives, avocados, nuts, and nut butters. Your skin cells renew about every 30 days. And to help regenerate your skin cells, you need sufficient protein, good fats, and a variety of vegetables.

KARA: So, if somebody is eating low-fat, essentially, they could start eating healthy fats and within a month, notice a difference, just from hydrating and eating healthy fats. But also eating too many sweets, too many processed carbohydrates, can cause wrinkles. The average person eats one and a half pounds of candy around Halloween. And after eating all that candy and all those sugary treats and processed carbohydrates-- this isn't going to happen just after one Halloween, but over time people start to notice they're having more wrinkles, they're having more acne.

LEA:  Yeah. And another thing is drinking soda, fruit juice drinks, energy drinks, or chocolate milk may cause wrinkles. The best drink for good skin health and to avoid wrinkles is water. Again, water is so important for skin. We can't emphasize that enough. So, drink eight to 10 glasses of filtered water every day.

KARA: Lastly, when you're not sleeping enough, your skin really misses out on that important rejuvenation process that occurs from sleeping. And a lack of sleep, we know that that can lead to bags under the eyes, but also an increase in wrinkles. So, bottom line is we have to have hydration, good nutrition, and sleep to have great skin.

LEA: That's right. Well, we have a few callers on the line. We'll take Cathy. Cathy, thanks for calling in Dishing Up Nutrition. You have a question for us today?

CALLER: I do have a question. So, I'm new to the program and it was saying something about healthy fats and like butter and things like that, and I'm trying to switch to that. But then I hear sometimes to get rid of milk, but milk makes butter. So, I’m confused on that.

LEA: Right. So, when we look at the dairy products, when we look at the least inflammatory, that would be butter. Butter is just pretty much that dietary fat. So, unlike milk, it doesn't have a lot of the high inflammatory proteins like casein or milk sugars like lactose. And, so even people that are sensitive to dairy, like myself, can tolerate a good quality. I usually go for like a good grass-fed butter and it works really well. And it's a great, great fat.

CALLER:OK. So, butter is ok, but also, I switched to whole milk instead of the low-fat because you guys said there's more sugar in that.

LEA: Yes, that's the best if it comes as an organic whole fat.

CALLER: So, it’s OK, because if I'm just drinking water, milk, then I'm OK. I don't seem to have any sensitivity to it.

LEA:  If you don't have any sensitivity, I would say that. When I said “organic,” the reason why is because we want a whole fat. When we have fat in a milk product, the way the animal was raised, so if we had residues of antibiotics or hormones, it gets in the fat. And so, if we could do hormone-free or, ideally, organic, whole milk, if you do like a cup of that day I think it would be fine if you don't have any dairy sensitivities.

CALLER: Okay, perfect. Well thank you so much.

LEA: Thanks for calling. Have a great day. All right, one more caller. Jen, thanks for calling in to Dishing Up Nutrition. You have a question today for us?

CALLER: Yes, I do. I'm a 50-year-old woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer a year ago and I've completed my chemo and radiation and my particular cancer is what they call triple positive. And one of the requirements that they've provided to me is I can't have estrogen. So now I'm obviously going through menopause and I can't use the estrogen replacements or even some of the natural replacements. So, I am having hot flashes during the day more than night time. But I am having a hard time sleeping as well. So, I was wondering, are there any natural things I can take that don't contain estrogen that could help with some of these symptoms? Or any foods that you suggest that could help with some of these symptoms?

LEA:  I'm really glad that you called today. Number one I would say for sleep, and especially if we want to avoid anything, any sort of hormone replacement, I really like magnesium. Magnesium glycinate is the mineral that helps our bodies relax, and it's involved in a lot of different processes internally, and one is to help our body relax and sleep. It can also be very helpful for regulating hot flashes and blood sugar. And so, generally where I start people off with a good quality magnesium glycinate is 200 to 400 milligrams and you can even go up higher. Some people need to take 600+ and Dar will put people on 800 or more. They need to. But the diet-- maybe Kara can talk a little bit about this-- the diet can also be a huge place of support, naturally.

KARA: Yeah, definitely. So, Jen, sorry to hear about your diagnosis. First of all, I think if you haven't already made an appointment we could really help you just tackle this and put together a meal plan for you that would support your symptoms. But, just keep in mind that high carbohydrate foods like sugars, pasta, bagels, things like that. Alcohol, caffeine, those things are all going to increase hot flashes and night sweats. So, you really want to have a balanced diet of good quality proteins and healthy fats and mostly vegetable carbohydrates ,some fruits, and be eating frequently. And unless you're already doing exactly that, I think if you get to that point that will help you decrease your night sweats and hot flashes.

CALLER: Well, what I did notice during treatment is I was following a lot of those suggestions where I started drinking water like it was my job. I cut out the pop and coffee because it just didn’t sound good. And now that things have kind of calmed down with the treatments, it's easy to fall back into old patterns. And I think you guys are right on the money because I’ve noticed a big difference.

KARA: Yeah, we probably have more tools in the toolbox as well, like I think some natural liver support could help you detox to some of the toxic estrogens.

LEA: Those are things we can to look at individually. I have had clients who have noticed a huge difference with dietary changes and maybe low magnesium. So that's where I would focus.

Thank you so much for calling! Alright, should we get back and talk about the hormonal migraines as what we left off with?

KARA: Lea, you had mentioned that, this is kind of timely after her call, is detoxing excess estrogens. She called about breast cancer, but that condition is also excess-estrogen related. So, these hormonal migraines can be excess estrogen related, so we had mentioned adding in natural progesterone cream at the same time as detoxing estrogens. We're getting into more about some tools for that. But if you have either stopped ovulating, or you’re ovulating just a few times a year, biochemically you're no longer making progesterone. So, I would have a client in this category of perimenopause or menopause take a quarter to a half teaspoon of natural progesterone cream at bedtime. Progesterone is that calming, relaxing hormone. And by using this, many women will no longer have hormonal migraines. It can be that simple for some women.

There are times when we need to use progesterone cream, and at the same time support the liver in detoxifying the extra estrogens. And I don't know if we have time to talk about this now, but after break let's pick that up to talk more about excess estrogens and where they're coming from.

BREAK

KARA: Welcome back. You're listening to Dishing Up Nutrition. During today's show we've been talking about lifestyle habits that can cause wrinkles. This is what we were talking about on break. Our topic is headaches, but here is just a recap of solutions to help you have healthy, wrinkle-free skin. Drink water. Eight to 10 glasses per day. Really eat those healthy fats: butter, olive oil, coconut oil, avocados, nuts, nut butter. You want to be getting that healthy protein. Three to four ounces for at least four times per day. Eggs, salmon, beef, chicken, turkey. Take those essential fatty acids like evening primrose oil or GLA to keep that skin hydrated. Another essential fatty acid would be omega-3 fish oil to reduce inflammation. And we talk about a lot of this in our Nutrition 4 Weight Loss series as well and people have great results from taking our Nutrition 4 Weight Loss with their skin. They say it helps everything including their skin.

LEA: That's great advice. Thanks Kara. We have a really patient caller on the line. Donna, thanks for calling Dishing Up Nutrition. You have a question about MSG?

CALLER: Yeah, I was in a restaurant last night and I thought I was eating healthy. I got a fajita and the vegetables, and then I got home and my mouth felt terrible. My question is, do restaurants have to tell you if they are putting MSG in things or can you ask or how does that work?

LEA: You can ask. I don't know if they're going to outright tell you. It definitely will be labeled on anything probably. But I ask when I go in. Typically, if I'm in in that type of situation I steer towards, if possible, to do like a stir fry because that can be freshly made away from MSG. And MSG was a really important topic today as it can be a trigger for inflammation and some people have allergic reactions and/or get migraines from MSG. And I specifically ask, “Can this be made without MSG?” or I sometimes will ask, “What on your menu can be made or is made without MSG?” And a lot of restaurants now around the Twin Cities will be able to direct you somewhere. It's unfortunate, but we kind of have to be our own detectives on those menus.

CALLER: But legally do they have to tell you if you ask?

LEA:  I don't know the legality behind that. But it's something that people can have serious allergic reactions to. So, I think that a lot of them are mindful and aware of that and hopefully helpful in directing you to other choices.

CALLER: Thank you so much.

LEA: Yeah, thank you for calling.

KARA: All right, so should we get into just briefly talking about what environmental estrogens are? Because that's something we are saying that could lead to this whole excess estrogen situation. So, in addition to using progesterone cream to kind of offset excess estrogen, we really want to detox those estrogens. They’re coming from the environment. So, I'm just going to give a couple examples. When we say environmental estrogens, that's kind of a confusing term. But, that can be from pesticides in our food. Or cosmetics or personal care products, they might contain parabens, for example. It could be the plastic water bottles that contain BPA. It’s good to get away from plastics in general.

LEA: Or things like dryer sheets or detergents for our clothes.

KARA: How about that fertilizer that gets sprayed on the lawn?

LEA: We're really all exposed on some levels to some form of these, what we call xenoestrogens or environmental estrogens.

KARA: So, it's those things. Also, birth control pill, hormone replacement therapy, and of course eating too much sugar and too many unhealthy fats and oils. So, Lea, what would help in getting rid of excess estrogens caused from all those things we just mentioned?

LEA: Surprisingly, vegetables really help the liver detox these excess estrogens. Especially the cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, spinach, and beet greens really also help detoxify the liver and we really encourage you to eat one of those vegetables at each meal and let the natural process of detoxing occur, especially for our caller around recovery from breast cancer. Great suggestions for her. When we talked about those vegetables to support her body and recover, these are the ones we really want to eat a lot of. Spinach sautéed in olive oil and butter with a couple of eggs and a half a cup of sweet potato really would be an excellent estrogen-detoxing breakfast. And we have a great protein shake recipe at Nutrition Weight and Wellness. It's on our website, weightandwellness.com. And it contains protein powder, coconut milk-- the full fat milk in the can, and another ingredient is NutriDyn Fruits & Greens. And it's a greens drink. It contains the equivalent of 20 servings of fruits and vegetables. As far as, like, anti-oxidants. So, that's a great just gentle, natural way to detox excess estrogen with the diet. It’s like a shake for breakfast.

LEA: Yes, that's great. Another recommendation we often give is a supplement from Metagenics called EstroFactors. This supplement was designed to support the liver's ability to detox estrogens. I suggest taking one tablet with each meal for a few months. When detoxing excess estrogens, it's really best to work in person or via phone or Skype with a nutritionist. Most of our clients are free of hormonal migraines within one or two months. Definitely well worth the effort of changing your nutrition to change your life.

KARA: And if you're experiencing a migraine after eating Chinese takeout, it’s a very timely call. I know all about MSG because we were going to talk about that today anyway. So, you would find MSG, which is monosodium glutamate, and that's actually a flavor enhancer that's used in a lot of processed foods for restaurant foods. So, things like frozen meals, canned soup, a lot of the boxed meals, things like that. Even commercially-made salad dressing.

LEA: Some blended seasonings, too. So, you want to know those hidden words for MSG. There are a lot of different ones. You can look it up online.

KARA: Like natural flavors, for example, could be MSG. When we look at the research about migraines and MSG, some research shows that MSG can cause migraines. Other research is not as conclusive. So, what would you say, Lea?

LEA: Well, I think this is a great reference. Dr. Vincent Martin, the professor of the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, says that a trigger for migraines is MSG. He also says that the other triggers could be nitrates, alcohol, especially wine with sulfites, and even coffee.

KARA: So, nitrates is a meat preservative, commonly in bacon, sausage, hotdogs, deli meat, unless you find nitrate-free. That's available in lot of places. So, if you really want to get rid of your migraines, which I'm sure you do if you're listening, we encourage you to be cooking real food at home, avoiding the sulfites in wine, avoiding the nitrates in processed meats, avoiding the MSG and other processed foods.

LEA:  When you cook at home, you know what you're having, right?

KARA: Right. And we understand that all those ingredients: sulfites in wine, nitrates in MSG, may be a problem for some people, but we're not saying it's a problem for everyone. Research actually finds that these things can be more of a problem for women. And I suspect that this is due to the fact that women have more estrogen than men. And so, there's just more inflammation with the already existing estrogen.

LEA: Yeah, that's right. And so, we really help support our clients for helping their bodies heal, and really what helps their body recover in cases like this when you're really sensitive is supporting the digestive system. And we often recommend bifido bacteria several times a day to really help people become less reactive to these foods. And gluten and dairy, people oftentimes will have sensitivities to those foods. To be on the safe side I usually recommend bifido bacteria two to three times a day and avoiding all processed foods.

KARA: Well, I wish I had more time to talk about this.

LEA: I know! Our goal at Nutrition Weight & Wellness is to help each and every person experience better health through eating real food. It is a simple, yet powerful message. Eating real food is life-changing. Thank you everyone today for tuning in.

KARA: Be sure to tune in next week when we talk about anxiety in teens and I'll be back on with Shelby. So everyone have a great week.

Back To Top