If you suffer from migraines you will appreciate how debilitating they are. They can take you out for days leaving you worn out and weak.
Women are twice as likely as men to suffer from migraines. Interestingly young children of both sexes can equally suffer from headaches but in puberty the frequency in females rapidly increases.
Headaches including migraines are caused by a variety of reasons. There is always a root cause, but some perhaps are not so obvious:
- Allergies
- Stress (causing a surge in serotonin)
- Hormone fluctuations
- PMT
- Magnesium deficiency
- Wine, especially with sulphites
- Poor sleep
- Lack of food and water
- Nerve pain
- Poor food combining
- Chocolate
- Oranges
- Artificial sweeteners
- MSG
- Gluten
The Best Ways to Prevent a Migraine
- Adequate levels of magnesium – a large body of evidence shows it to be an in-expensive option for migraine prevention – the American Migraine Prevention Society recommends between 400mg and 600mg per day
- Consume easy to digest foods
- Support metabolism with high quality protein, saturated fats and good quality sugars
- Reduce stress and consider the adrenal cocktail and adaptogenic herbs like Ashwagandha
- Eat enough! A blood sugar crash may be the culprit and sometimes a sweet drink can help
- Avoid triggers by keeping a food diary
- Chaste tree (Vitex, Agnus castus) the hormone regulator herb – In one study, women prone to migraines given Vitex daily for three months reduced the number of headaches they experienced during their menstrual cycles by 66 percent
- Milk thistle – due to the liver’s role in detoxification and regulating hormones Milk thistle (the liver herb) has been found to reduce the number of migraine attacks
- Saffron – a study found that taking 15mg saffron powder capsules twice per day reduced PMS headaches, pain, and boosted mood.
- Acupuncture – feedback from our customers and studies show this to be an effective treatment
As explained the causes of migraine headaches are multi-factoral but there are many solutions to be considered.