Health Articles

If you are a regular headache sufferer, you know how debilitating it can be in your daily life. Headaches are this country’s number one pain problem and are one of the most common reasons why patients visit physicians. Headaches are so widespread that many people consider them a normal occurrence of human existence.

There are two types of headaches: (1) tension and (2) migraine. The tension type or muscle-contraction headache is generally less severe than a migraine. They are both experienced after stressful periods have ended, and the body attempts to repair and detoxify.

The major cause of both tension headaches and migraines is the retention of toxins or tissue irritants within the central nervous system. Headaches are a signal that something is wrong. The pain usually begins when the body attempts to mobilize and remove the toxic agents. It is when you stop drinking coffee that the headache comes. It is when you stop consuming toxic food that the headache begins. It marks an effort of the body to dilute and remove the injurious agent. Drinking more coffee, eating more toxic food or taking drugs may offer some temporary relief, but eventually they will turn an occasional episode into a deep, seated chronic problem. Medications may make you temporarily feel better, but they halt the detoxification process, thus allowing the storage of tissue irritants. Inevitably, when the body has the chance, it will attempt to mobilize and remove these irritants, initiating another round of pain. You will be trapped with rebound headaches in a vicious cycle of pain the rest of your life.

Many factors may trigger or aggravate an attack of migraine. Common precipitating factors include physical activity, menstruation, alcohol consumption, too little or too much sleep, a missed meal or a change in the weather. A high protein diet is one of the most common reasons people suffer from chronic migraines. Protein breakdown and digestion causes the production of multiple toxins, especially nitrogenous wastes that can cross over the blood-brain barrier.

Certain foods and food allergies can also trigger migraine in many patients. Salted foods are frequently noted as a trigger, as are chocolate, cheese, ice cream, nuts, eggs, banana, herring, fatty foods, citrus fruits, NutraSweet® (aspertame), MSG, nitrates and concentrated sweets.

The use of medication can be the cause of a chronic daily headache syndrome. Likewise, other unhealthful practices, such as drinking coffee and soft drinks, eating sweets and other foods devoid of nutrition, contribute to the problem.

Removing the cause and letting the body accomplish its self-cleansing tasks can result in a migraine-free life, without the need for medication ever again. When these metabolic waste products are eliminated, people can regain their long-sought-after freedom from pain. If you suffer with headaches do not despair. It will not be difficult to resolve your pain. The prescription is nutrition, because food can truly help heal the pain.