Have you ever wondered which foods might be causing your headaches? Although there are many causes of headaches, many can be induced by the chemicals you’re eating or drinking every day. This episode will explore obvious culprits like hydration, but also dives into which specific foods to be aware of, and exactly what you can do today to decrease the frequency, duration and intensity of your headaches.

Welcome to Your Living Health, the podcast where we talk about real life strategies to reduce chronic inflammation. Each episode will uncover tools for you to lose weight and achieve optimal health. I’m your host, Carly Lucchesi, I’m a UC Davis trained registered dietitian and I’m also a life coach. Together let’s coach through the science of inflammation, but in a way that is simple, purposeful and fun.

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Hey there! Today’s episode is going to focus on the frequent headaches that seem to plague many of you. There are many things that cause headaches, and many different types of headaches. There are tension, migraine, ocular, cluster, and other types that seem to be a little less common. However, there are many triggers and causes of headaches within the umbrella of inflammation, foods, hydration and nutrients. So today, my goal is to help you better understand what may be causing your daily headaches, and exactly what steps you can try to get rid of them for good. AND… although we will be focusing A LOT on ACTION, I never want you to forget about what drives your action. Remember, it’s likely you already know what to do, but the problem may be an inability to consistently show up for yourself in the way you want to.

The perfect example of this surrounds the most common headache trigger, and that is dehydration. This just seems so obvious that why am I even bringing it up, right? Well, because this is a big factor with many of my clients. And the problem never is that they don’t know they should be drinking water. Everyone knows they should be drinking more water. But the problem is always in lack of follow through. What is standing in the way of your hydration? I know you have all the excuses in the book, I’ve heard them all. I don’t like the taste of water, I just forget, I don’t have time to pee all day, water is boring, and so on.

Let’s observe this daily need a little closer. How is the way you’re thinking about your water consumption? And knowing that our thoughts create our feelings which drive our action, observe what those thoughts may be generating in your life. Even those thoughts that seem factual, might need to be observed. “I need to drink more…” “I don’t like the taste of water”… “I don’t have time to pee all day” What is the result of thinking these thoughts? Is it serving you? What energy might need to be generated instead in order to create the result of more water in your day? Even a simple shift from I need to drink water TO I want or get to drink water may be more useful. Or a shift to “Sometimes I forget to drink water, but not always” might help your brain to remember this more during the day. Emotions that might serve you better might be determination, or acceptance or desire. What thoughts would you need to think to generate those emotions?

Or more importantly, consider asking your brain the question, “Why am I choosing to remain dehydrated?” And just be curious what your brain reveals to you.

So in summary, dehydration can cause lack of fluid volume in your body leading to undue pressure on your nerves, especially in your head. Boom… headache. But now let’s discuss more food related triggers.

There are many chemical compounds within certain foods that can effect how big or how small your blood vessels are. This is called either vasoconstriction or vasodilation.  Your body is generally pretty sensitive to changes in your blood vessel diameter, so even a slight change here might trigger a headache or migraine, however some are more sensitive than others. Some of you might trigger to a very small dose, but others might take a ton. This needs to be explored more on an individual basis once the sensitivity is uncovered.

Chemicals that can cause a narrowing of your blood vessels (or vasoconstriction) include tyramine, phenylethylamine, tyrame, caffeine or sodium.

Tyramine and phenylethylamine are both naturally occurring chemical compounds found in aged, fermented or spoiled foods. Examples include cured meats, aged cheeses, fermented foods, wine, beers, kombuchas, or any food that is allowed to over-ripen or over-age. All of you chartacuterie entertainers, or wine and cheese indulgers might need to question this food relationship if you get frequent headaches.

The main chemicals that might cause a widening of your blood vessels (vasodilation) leading to headache or migraine include nitrates/nitrates and alcohol at low to moderate doses. Nitrates are found in many lunchmeats, but there are many lunchmeats now that don’t have these added for a preservative. Meats can also be cured with different salts such as celery salt. With alcohol, you have to watch out for more than one reason.  Not only does alcohol dilate, but it also is a diuretic causing you to lose fluids. It has a double edged knife to your head of messing with your blood vessel circumference AND your fluid volume. So much headache potential.

And then there is a large group of chemicals that can cause headaches simply by triggered your body to feel threatened, therefore initiating the inflammatory response. This response will lead to vasoconstriction because literally the vascular walls can become inflamed. Amazing, right?

These chemicals include histamines, MSG, emulsifiers such as lecithin and preservatives such as sulfites or sorbic acid. Histamines include many different foods, and will get a whole episode to themselves. These foods can include seafood, citrus, tomatoes, berries or fermented and aged products.

But a little easier to avoid is your anti-fungals or more chemical based preservatives or emulsifiers. These products are found in all of those processed foods we’ve grown so used to. A good rule of thumb to avoid most of these products is to stick with foods that you either prepare fresh, or have ingredients of fewer than 5 on the nutrition label. That way you know it’s fresh, and minimally processed.

And lastly, the other foods you will need to be aware of are the unique and random foods that your body might feel threatened by. There isn’t really a rhyme or reason to why your body might develop an intolerance or sensitivity to various foods, but this is a common occurrence. But when your body feels threatened, the release of the chemical warfare meant to protect you can also trigger headaches as a symptom.

But as always, I want to discuss actions you can take today to either avoid or get you out of your current headache. I threw a lot of information at you, and I want you to leave here today knowing exactly where you should start. First, I would start by drinking your fluids. In my experience, carbonated water will not suffice. If you are hydrated, and still having frequent headaches, be suspicious of your caffeine amount, and the histamines you’re being exposed to. Next are those chemicals meant to preserve foods, so focus on whole and unprocessed foods for a bit and see if that alleviates the frequency or intensity. And finally, if you are deep in the throws of a headache and seeking relief, avoid the use of traditional pain killers like ibuprofen or Tylenol. Often your body will release more headache inducing chemical warfare when exposed to these medications, and cause a longer headache duration. The best remedy will be water with some electrolytes, and maybe some B vitamins or a high quality Omega 3 supplements.

In summary, headaches are not fun, and can be an annoying burden many of you face every day. There are many triggers of headaches, from dehydration to your own naturally occurring defense chemicals. Rest assured that the source of your headaches can absolutely be pinpointed, and to date 100% of my clients no longer experience headaches after completing their program with me. But this process takes a willingness to be the scientist of your body, and truly listen to the unique language it speaks in. Thank you for your interest in today’s episode, and I’ll talk to you next week!

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