In a beautiful day surrounded with happiness, love and positivity suddenly the atmosphere changes. For someone dealing with migraine or chronic headache it is just never easy. While there could be many reasons for the headache a few could be summers, winters, Gastric issues, Constipation, empty stomach or even junk food.
Yes, you read that right, junk food! It is one of the reasons for headache because of the extra salt and sugar that spikes the insulin level and attacks the sympathetic nervous system thereby heading to headache.
People who are under medication or opt for medicines also have increased chances of having headaches. Women who intake birth control pills as well face the issue of headache as these pills reduce the absorption of folic acid thereafter the deficiency of the same causes headache. People who have hypertension and take medication for same have increased chances of having headaches as well.
Various other reasons for headaches could as well be insomnia, stress, menses, and exposure to gadgets like laptops, mobile phoneand television. With so many reasons and a very common problem, there are many solutions as well to overcome this problem.
Lavleen Kaur, a well known dietitian in India shares her mantra for a stress free lifestyle. She explains that headache and migraine are two different things with completely different symptoms. Headache is basically when you have pressure that head to neck whereas migraine is specific to any one side or around the eye.
Talking about headache specifically there are two types of headaches, Primary and Secondary. Where primary is not because of any specific disease, the secondaryone is due to some underlying disease or pills.
Migraine is also a primary type of headache. One can go through vomiting, nausea and severe pain that can last from 4 to 72hours.Lavleen says, “Finding the cause of any type of headache can help find solutions as well. There are dietary treatments or simple home remedies that can help prevent it from triggering or reduce its symptoms”. She shares a few dietary suggestions like:
- Intake of Roasted Groundnuts: Handful of roasted groundnuts are rich source of Vitamin B. Deficiency of Vitamin B in the body can cause frequent headaches. All you have to do is have a handful of them one time in a day. Roasted groundnuts are not at all harmful when taken in appropriate quantity.
- Intake of Black Pepper: Soak whole black pepper for 4-5 hours and consume the same with your meal. This remedy helps in easing the nerves of the body.
- Tulsi Ginger water: A lot of people face the problem of headache due to cold weather as well. All you have to do is drink tulsi ginger water with easy preparation. Boil 4-5 leaves of tulsi along with an inch of ginger and drink it just like any tea. This is best consumed in winters.
- Cinnamon & Nutmeg water: If insomnia is the reason of your headaches then you can consume the water of cinnamon and nutmeg. All you have to do is boil them together and drink it like a tea before sleep.
- Lemon and rock salt water: Just like a lot of people face headache issues in winter the same can happen in summers as well due to de hydration in the body. Just a pinch of salt and a lemon in glass full of water can do wonders. Also if heat is the reason of headache then you can consume Lassi or coconut water ½ an hour before stepping out of home.
- Water melon seeds: You can keep a packet of these seeds whenever you step out in summers and keep taking them as and when needed.
- Infused water: Infused water can be consumed both in summers as well as winters thereby showing good results in the body and removing toxins.
- Infused water for Summers: In a bottle along with water put in slices of cucumber, pomegranate and lemon. Keep sipping it the entire day and stay hydrated.
- Infused water for Winter: In a bottle along with water put in some tulsi leaves, an inch of ginger and cinnamon and a nut meg. Keep sipping the water the entire day.
Along with these dietary tips, Kaur suggests that one should have good intake of Vitamin C as it helps the enzymes in relaxing the neuron functioning.
“A lot of people also make caffeine as a stimulator. A skip of cup of tea becomes the reason of headache for them. However this is only because you have made it a stimulator. If the consumption of the same can be reduced by giving no importance so that it doesn’t stimulate the nerves or body then it can do wonders. Caffeine intake can be left and be replaced with water infused drinks that are suggested above” shares Lavleen.
Apart from following dietary habits, change in lifestyle is vital. It is a proven fact that many of us really do not know the exact way of breathing even after so many years of existence. A rhythmic breathing can calm your mind and soul. Proper breathing exercises also help in reducing the headache. All one has to do is inhaling and exhaling exercises.
Before going to bed and after waking up just begin the 6-8-6 breathing technique. Inhale for 6 seconds hold for 8 seconds and exhale for 6 seconds. This will ease the blood circulation of the nerves thereby helping you get rid of the headaches.
Yoga plays an especially important role in the well being of the human body. There are specific asanas that can help in reducing the headaches like boat pose, dhanurasan, spinal twist, tree pose, and toe stand. All these asanas help in better functioning of the neurons when done appropriately.
Change of weather, excess of heat or chills in winter, and deficiency of vitamins are a few common underlying reasons for headache. But we must also remember that gastric issues, acidity or constipation can also trigger headache. Kaur explains “while you experience headache due to gastric issues, keep a hot water bottle on your abdomen, this will help ease the stomach functioning and send soothing and easy signals to the brain. If it is due to constipation, add on fiber content in your diet”
A lot of women experience troublesome days under PMS. If you go through headache during these days, you can intake Kesar water or Raisins early in the morning. To make kesar water all you have to do is soak kesar overnight and next morning, take it with lukewarm water.
Application
A few natural applications that can help you during headache are: –
- Cinnamon paste: Apply the paste on your head while you have headache. This gives soothing effect to the nerves.
- Essential oils: Oils like rosemary, Primerose Oil can help calming the nerves as well. They can be used regularly as well once a week all throughout for better results.
One of the other reasons for many people who experience headache is they take things to heart. “We never see kids from 0-3 yrs having any such problem. The more we are exposed to gadgets, the more we think the chances increase.
So, bringing positivity is particularly important and that is only possible by reducing the intensity of negative thoughts. If something goes wrong during the day kill the topic that very moment, dragging it for 2-3 days will enhance the negativity, elaborates Lavleen Kaur while explaining the reason for headaches.
Slowly reduce the intensity of thinking and see the change in self. Stress cannot be cured with any dietary treatment it has to be from within.
Stay away from negativity embrace positive thoughts eat healthy and stay happy.
Summary:
Many people are dealing with a migraine or chronic headache these days which is never easy. The reasons behind this disturbing pain could be summers, winters, gastric issues, constipation, empty stomach or even junk food. Most probably, junk food can be one of the reasons for a headache because of extra salt and spices. For women, reasons for headaches could be insomnia, stress, menses, and exposure to gadgets like laptops, mobile phone and television. There are many solutions available to reduce this problem. Lavleen Kaur is a reputed dietitian helps people with her mantra for a stress-free lifestyle.
