Thursday, October 24, 2024, 07:04
Solving a situation as common as headaches is a challenge for medicine and for specialists in various fields. The specialist in nutrigenomics (a specialty that studies health from the point of view of personalized nutrition based on the patient’s genetics), Itziar González de Arriba considers that these ailments can be alleviated with an adequate diet since, like back pain, , which “mostly come from internal inflammatory problems that can be regulated with diet.”
Itziar González de Arriba, who has studies in physiotherapy, nutrition, nutrigenomics, immunonutrition, biochemistry, osteopathy or myosfacial therapy, explains that “a migraine is caused by abnormal brain activity, triggered by stress, certain foods, environmental factors or something else.” “Most medical experts believe that the attack actually begins in the brain and involves several nerve pathways and chemicals, changes that affect blood flow in the brain and surrounding tissues,” he adds.
This Irunesa, promoter of Physiogenomics, remembers the main signs before a migraine or severe headache: «alterations in vision or aura are considered a warning sign that a migraine is coming. The aura occurs in both eyes and may involve any of the following: temporary point of blindness, blurred vision, eye pain, seeing stars or zigzag lines, or tunnel vision.
Among the causes of migraines, it includes the following with its recommendations to mitigate them, always keeping in mind that “there is no cure because the causes can be multiple and each person needs a different treatment”:
Recommendations against headaches:
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Mental stress, influence of time or climate, use (abuse) of stimulants (coffee, tea, chocolate, etc.), intake of certain medications: In this case, the nutritional intervention could be to eliminate the stimulants, and even replace them with relaxing foods. such as lime blossom or rich in tryptophan or serotonin such as oats, chicken or yogurt.
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Decrease in melatonin: In these cases it is important to know that caffeine could decrease melatonin levels in the body and that foods rich in serotonin and tryptophan can increase these levels.
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Alteration in the metabolism of prostaglandins and/or leukotrienes: It can be alleviated with magnesium supplements and/or evening primrose oil.
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Influence of estrogen on migraines in women: On a nutritional level, it can be combated by nutrients such as evening primrose oil, which reduces estrogen levels, magnesium or yam, since this type of pain also seems to be caused by an increase of prostaglandins.
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Other causes that seem to be related to headaches without sufficient evidence being found: hypoxia, hypoglycemia or liver dysfunction.
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Intolerance to certain foods: Some chemicals, sensitivity to histamine, tyramine, glutamate, copper or gluten can cause headaches.
Regarding this last point, Itziar González de Arriba points out that “gluten is accused of causing migraines; The journal ‘Neurology’ published a report on patients with headaches and emotional instability. MRIs showed inflammation of the central nervous system. Likewise, ‘antigliadin antibodies’ were detected in the blood and 90% of the patients who followed a gluten-free diet had total or partial relief.
This specialist, who rose to fame for being behind the recoveries of footballers such as Sergio Canales or Dani Carvajal, explains that there is a relationship between diet and the genesis of migraine, citing several studies. However, “even knowing the close association between diet and migraine, in many cases the condition does not disappear when the most problematic foods are stopped, because there are many other factors that trigger it, such as the aforementioned stress, menstruation, fasting , physical exercise, lack of sleep or some medications such as contraceptives.
In any case, González de Arriba does highlight several “problematic foods” that may be behind recurrent headaches:
Disadvised foods
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Biogenic amines: Some foods, such as chocolate, wine, beer or canned fish, have a high concentration of biogenic amines such as histamine, tyramine, phenylethylamine or serotonin. Its excess in the body can cause headaches. On the other hand, taking tyramine together with monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) drugs used in the treatment of depression or anxiety, for example, can trigger a hypertensive crisis characterized by headaches (Maintz, 2007; Hanington, 1967). .
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Phenolic compounds: Present in products such as chocolate, tea or coffee. Some, such as flavonoids, cancel the action of the enzymes that process biogenic amines, resulting in an increase in their level in the body and, consequently, the risk of suffering from migraine (Maintz, 2007).
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Food additives: Monosodium glutamate and aspartame are used to enhance the flavor of foods; the first, as a flavor enhancer and the second as a sweetener. Glutamate and aspartate, chemical components of these additives, are amino acids that act in the body as mediators of inflammation, which would explain the onset of migraine associated with the consumption of products that contain these additives, such as pre-cooked products, sweets or pastry, among others (Koehler, 1988; Lipton, 1988).
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Migraine and food allergy: The association between food allergy and migraine has been investigated for decades. Among the foods identified as most allergenic are milk (Ratner, 1983), eggs, fish, shellfish, nuts, legumes (peanuts and soybeans), and some fruits (peach, apricot, plum, cherry, strawberry and kiwi). Once the food allergy or intolerance has been diagnosed, the migraine can disappear with an exclusion diet, which does not include allergenic foods. And if the person does not have an allergy, but does have hypersensitivity to some food, they would experience a notable improvement with the diet (Grant, 1979; Monro, 1980).
Finally, the expert in nutrition and osteopathy explains that “in all headaches, hepatobiliary health must be taken into account, since a tired and overloaded liver generates a wide variety of physical symptoms; and since the liver is responsible for the formation of albumin and hormones, its malfunction has a direct impact on the immune and hormonal systems.
That said, Itziar González de Arriba recommends a series of foods that, due to their properties, contribute to relieving some of these symptoms and therefore headaches.
Recommended foods to relieve headaches
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Fruits: Although some fruits (very ripe banana or avocado) can exacerbate the headache that accompanies migraines, the truth is that those that have a notable concentration of vitamin C or vitamin B2 (Schoenen, 1998) can exert a analgesic effect.
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Juices: A good grapefruit juice could help relieve a headache.
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Nuts: Their unsaturated fatty acids are beneficial, walnuts and almonds are especially recommended (McCarren, 1985; Glueck, 1986).
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Suitable supplements: ginger, calcium and vitamin D (especially for menstruation-related migraines) (Thys-Jacobs, 1994).
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Foods that benefit liver health: artichoke, thistle, carrot, onion and broccoli.
Having seen that the causes are multiple, his treatment proposal would encompass all the etiologies described, so an improvement or “cure” is expected in most cases of migraines:
– Recommended diet: Eliminate coffee, commercial tea, tobacco, alcohol, chocolate, processed meats, dairy products, nuts, oranges, bananas, strawberries, kiwi, non-fresh fish, peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, potatoes, fried foods, baked flours (cookies, pastries, bread).
– Supplementation: Ergytaurine Detox for 1 month. It would then be changed based on evolution.
If with these modifications there is partial relief “you can try completely eliminating gluten for a few weeks to check if the cause is a gluten intolerance; Once the migraines are controlled, the removed foods are introduced little by little in order to identify those that are really causing the migraine in each person,” explains González de Arriba.