Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Headaches: Hints to Head Off pain


Cook Up Some Migraine Relief







Migraines affect up to 18% of women and 6% of men. The pounding pain, which often sends you straight to bed, can also make you nauseous, irritable and overly sensitive to light and sound.

Though some foods can trigger a migraine, plenty of others help you heal.

Salmon. This fish is loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, which help control inflammation. These helpful fats can cut some migraines off before they even start.

Fish oil capsules are an easy way to get your omega-3, an even better way is from natural sources. Look for omega-3 in cold-water fish like salmon, tuna, mackerel and sardines. It's also found in flaxseed and wheat germ.

Ginger. If you want milder and less frequent migraines, this is the rhizome for you.

Ginger, often taken to ease motion sickness, may also calm the nausea that frequently accompanies migraines.

To reap the benefits of ginger, you have to eat 2 to 4 grams a day. You can either eat the root raw with your food, steep several slices in a pot of tea, or get it in capsule form. Add ginger to your diet gradually, it can cause a burning sensation in your mouth or stomach.

Spinach. If you suffer from migraines, chances are you don't have enough magnesium in your system. This might explain why nearly 80% of 3,000 migraine sufferers reported migraine relief after taking 200 milligrams of magnesium a day. You can get plenty of magnesium in foods like spinach, potatoes, fish and shellfish, beans and cereal. If you choose to use supplements, don't take more than 500mg a day.

Mushrooms. These fleshy buttons have relatively high levels of riboflavin or vitamin B2. In one three-month study, people who took 400 mg of vitamin B2 a day had 37% fewer migraines than those given a placebo. While you can purchase riboflavin supplements in health food stores, you can also get modest amounts of vitamin B2 from spinach, cereals, liver, yogurt, milk and cottage cheese.

Fortified milk. Milk is rich in both calcium and vitamin D - a combination that may keep migraines few and far between. Two women with severe migraines took megadoses of vitamin d and calcium and noticed their headaches came dramatically less often. Doctors think that low levels of these nutrients can bring on migraines. high doses of vitamin d can be dangerous, but you can get moderate amounts from milk products, greens, broccoli and oysters.

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