Lockdowns, physical distancing, mask-wearing, and a whole lot of those health protocols have added to the things that you may have already been dealing with pre-COVID, causing undue headaches amid a stressful environment. While your hands may be tied right now, especially when it comes to following these reminders, there might be something that you can do to ease that bothersome throbbing pain. One secret, as shared by experts, is avoiding certain foods.
A study which looked into the role of diet in getting rid of chronic headaches was published in the U.S. National Library of Medicine National INstitutes of Health. It underscored how a histamine-free diet could help free you from the pain and sometimes debilitating headache.
So why histamine-free diet? According to the researchers, foods that are rich in red wine or histamine can lead to allergy-like symptoms like skin itching, flush, sneezing, shortness of breath or diarrhea. Histamine has long been touted as a migraine trigger.
Some of the foods that were tagged as headache-causing foods because of their histamine-content include:
- Fermented beverages and alcohol
- Dairy products and fermented foods
- Eggplant
- Avocadoes
- Spinach
- Aged cheese and shellfish
Aside from avoiding histamine-rich foods to get rid of headache, there are also foods that could actually trigger a release of histamine in the body. These foods include bananas, tomatoes, alcohol, beans, papaya, chocolate, nuts, and even citrus fruits.
By avoiding the abovementioned foods, you may be steering clear of an unexpected and dreaded attacks of cluster headaches. The National Headache Foundation also referred to these headaches as histamine headache, cephalalgia, red migraine or Horton's headache.
What makes these cluster headaches worse is that they could last from several weeks or months. Before you would even take notice, they can disappear as quickly as they appeared. There are instances when you would enjoy pain-free intervals, which could be months or years without having to deal with them.
Aside from avoiding the foods that could trigger a headache, it must also be noted that substances, which could cause the blood vessels to swell must be avoided as they can even provoke a headache attack during a series.
Some of the activities or substances that you need to avoid would include nitroglycerin, minimal amounts of alcohol, and smoking. Avoid too much caffeine as it has also been shown that too much of this in a food or drink could also cause migraines. Also, remember to maintain good sleeping habits. A good night's sleep helps relieve stress and could effectively keep those nasty headaches at bay.
