It is very likely that, at some point in our life, we have had a terrible one migraine to not be able to stand up. According to Global Burden of Disease, migraine is the first neurological disease under the age of 50. Women suffer from migraines more than men and it peaks between the ages of 25 and 40. In combination with drug treatment, many studies are focusing on the effects of diet on migraines. So here’s what to eat to relieve migraines and headaches, according to science.
Symptoms of migraine
We commonly call headache “headache”. There are many types of headache and migraine is one of them.
Symptoms that characterize migraines are:
- pain of varying intensity in the head, sometimes throbbing;
- nausea, vomiting;
- photophobia (nuisance of light) and phonophobia (nuisance to sounds).
Headache, and therefore also migraine, can have a strong impact on patients’ quality of life and has recently been recognized as a disabling social disease. It is therefore necessary to contact your doctor for the prescription of specific medications. Headache medications include low-dose anti-inflammatories, pain relievers, or antidepressants. In parallel to the drug treatment, however, much can be done with the diet and the right foods.
Here’s what to eat to relieve migraines and headaches according to science
A very recent study is providing good evidence of the effect of diet on migraine and headache (Ramsden et al., 2021). In particular, it highlights that a diet rich in Omega 3 fatty acids e Omega 6 reduces the frequency of headaches. Omega-3 fatty acids are present in the blue fish and in some nuts and seeds, while Omega-6 fatty acids are present in refined vegetable oils. Both are precursors to pain-regulating molecules and have pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory properties. With this diet, the frequency and intensity of headaches were lower.
So, if we suffer from headaches, a combination of diet and medication could give us great relief.
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