No I haven’t lost my mind. As painful as it might be, a headache truly is a gift. It’s your body’s way of talking to you, telling you that something is off, and that it’s in need of something.

Up until recently, I was getting debilitating headaches more and more often. It started out randomly, and then monthly, and then twice per month to the point where I just couldn’t bare the pain and had to take Tylenol or Advil to function normally and be able to fall sleep.

I knew I had to get to the bottom of my headaches because:

1) regular use of over-the-counter pain meds are VERY harsh on the gut lining and with regular use (I’m talking more than once per month) can lead to intestinal permeability (a.k.a. leaky gut), mucosal erosions, ulcerations – even with low-dose, short-term use!

And THIS my friends can set us up for future downstream consequences like food sensitivities, inflammation, immune/allergy issues, etc.
Who wants that right?

And 2) I knew that taking pain meds wasn’t addressing the real problem. It was simply masking and numbing the pain – as most of us probably do thanks to Big Pharma and their endless supply of pills for every possible symptom right?

So what do we do instead?

We decide to stop self-medicating with pain meds, caffeine, and comfort food, and learn how to listen and decipher our body’s signals instead.
I knew that if I kept ignoring the “why” that things would only get worse and I’d probably develop more of these little “gifts” in time.

It took a bit of trial and error over a few months, but I’m happy to report that I’m headache-free again.

Troubleshooting Headaches

There are so many different scenarios to consider like the location, timing, circumstance, and frequency of headaches, so my goal is to try to give you the most common reasons with some practical solutions. Deal?

1️⃣ Persistent/frequent headaches are usually due to:

-insufficient magnesium (check my magnesium post here). Eat more leafy greens, take an Epsom salt bath, and/or supplement with magnesium glycinate.

-too much stress. Reduce it! Go for a walk, do yoga, meditate, gratitude journal, etc & help calm your body with l-theanine found in organic green tea for example.

-dehydration. Drink more clean, filtered water – and not from plastic bottles!

2️⃣ Monthly, cyclical headaches usually indicate hormonal imbalances:

I love the Dutch testhttps://dutchtest.com/ to get a full picture of what is going on hormonally.

Ladies, chase tree berry (aka Vitex or Agnus-Cactus) & 2 Tbsp ground flax seeds taken daily 1-2 weeks before your period can help.

3️⃣ Irregular headaches can often indicate a food sensitivity/intolerance:

The biggest culprits are caffeine, histamine (cheese, yogurt, cured meats, vinegar & pickled veggies..), sulfites (dried fruits, wine..), aspartame (sugar-free foods, diet sodas) and tyramine (cured meats, certain beer, aged cheeses..).

It can also be something else entirely. Log your food daily to help find a connection and know that a headache can develop 1 to 5 days after eating the offending food.

4️⃣ A headache located over the eyes tends to be connected to liver & gallbladder health:

Reduce the burden on the liver (i.e. reduce/eliminate caffeine, alcohol, toxins, over-the-counter pain meds, choose organic foods, etc) and help support the gallbladder with therapeutic foods like artichoke and beet root for example. My fave is a fresh beet, carrot & ginger juice with lemon.

5️⃣ A headache at the base of your skull or when out in the hot sun tends to indicate a fatty acid deficiency.

Increase those omega-3’s and again work on liver/gallbladder health to ensure you’re able to digest those healthy fats!

Organic wild salmon, avocado, different nuts & seeds, olives are some examples.

You can also consider an omega-3 supplement (find my favorite anti inflammatory foods here) or cod liver oil. But remember, quality & traceability is SUPER important so do your research. I use Biotics Research for my omegas and you can access them through my dispensary here.

6️⃣ Morning and afternoon headaches, after exercise or when meals are missed, tend to be related to blood sugar dysregulation / adrenal and thyroid health:

Of course if you eat lots of desserts and refined foods, start crowding those out by adding in more veggies. Like half your plate!

A diet that has a high carb ratio – even if it’s from “healthy” sources like gluten-free bread/pasta or fruits, honey and other natural sweeteners, quinoa, oats, brown rice, etc – can still be an issue.

Don’t avoid these foods, just make sure you’re eating enough proteins and healthy fats to balance it out, and yes, do reduce/eliminate refined sugar as much as possible!

I hope this was a helpful start. If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave them below.