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By The Skanner News | The Skanner News
Published: 31 May 2012

Technically: headaches are the response of nociceptive areas of scalp and brain to a stimulus, however there are thousands of causes of such stimuli. Most foods seem to have some medicinal property as well as just having energy. In connection with headaches various foods have eff­ects that have now been re­searched by chemistry.

Headache-Fighting Foods

1. Hydration by eating water-rich foods like watermelon will counteract dehydration , a major cause of headaches. And just drinking more water fixes that too.
2. Foods rich in magnesium relax blood vessels: spinach, oatmeal, wheat, garlic; almonds, bananas, dried apricots, avocados, almonds, cashews, brown rice, legumes and seeds.
3. Foods can help raise serotonin levels to remove headaches. Your body makes serotonin from tryptophan which is found in turkey, black eyed-peas, English walnuts, almonds, sesame or pumpkin seeds, whole grains like rice and in a glass of warm milk,
4. Foods rich in calcium are needed for your brain to function efficiently: spinach, broccoli, kale; fat-free plain yogurt with beneficial probiotics and no added sugars.
5. Spicy food, if your ache is from sinus congestion, help open the airways and decrease pressure: try cayenne pepper, ginger, salsa and hot peppers.
6. Sesame Seeds are rich in vitamin E which helps to stabilize estrogen levels, improves circulation. Also Sesame is rich in magnesium, a headache-preventing element.
7. Spinach helps decrease blood pressure, try using spinach leaves instead of lettuce in salads.
8. Caffeine is a vasoconstrictor: it will reduce the size of those blood vessels that you expanded last night with alcohol! However too much coffee makes matters worse since it is also a diuretic, increasing dehydration.
9. And foods rich in potassium can help alleviate hangover headaches: a baked potato with the skin left on contains 721 mg potassium. A banana is 467 mg potassium.

Headache from Missing Foods

A low-carbohydrate diet depletes glycogen the main source of brain energy, and also causes fluid loss by dehydration. So fix that with the healthy carbohydrates in whole-wheat bread, oatmeal, fruit or yogurt.
Skipping meals and fasting are headache triggers because falling blood sugar levels may contribute to symptoms. So avoid drastic changes in your diet. Whatever you try, ease into it.

Headache Triggering Foods

a. Foods containing tyramine can trigger headaches: a­ged and smoked products like aged cheese. salami, sauerkraut and pickles. Fermented soy products like soy sauce and MSG contain tyramine. It is also present in nuts, and beans like peanuts, fava beans, broad or Italian green beans.
b. Foods with tannins can bring on headaches: red wine, black walnuts, chocolate, vanilla and raspberries. Even black tea if you don't put milk in it.





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