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Can food cause headaches?

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There are certain foods and drinks that can trigger headaches and even migraines. Some have a bigger effect than others. If you experience headaches after eating, it’s most likely down to something you’re unaware of in your diet. So if you wonder if food can cause headaches, the answer is yes. However, there are plenty of reasons why food is causing your symptoms like headaches, bloating, and nausea. Below we explain how foods can cause headaches, Read on to find out some very interesting info.

How can food cause a headache?

There are nitrates that are often found in processed foods that could be causing your headaches or migraines; this is because vessels in the brain expand, causing pain. So if you are ever eating processed foods and suffering from a headache up to 72 hours after, it could be that you are experiencing headaches due to food sensitivity. If this is a serious issue and is happening often, a food sensitivity test would probably be the best course of action. With US Food Intolerance, you could easily find out which food items might be causing your headaches.

Do you have a caffeine intolerance?

Can food cause headaches? More importantly, can caffeine cause headaches? If you’re like us, you’ll rely on caffeine as part of your diet. But it could be part of the problem! If you consume a lot of caffeine, you are likely to experience a headache. If you experience pain after consuming caffeine, try to reduce your daily intake to 200 milligrams, this will ease your symptoms and make you less dependent on caffeine. It has been proved that a small amount of caffeine can actually help an oncoming migraine, but you should only consume it in moderation.

Processed meats can be an issue

As mentioned above, nitrates are found in processed meats to preserve them. Usually, the number of nitrates found in processed meats is low, but some people can be sensitive to a small amount. Eating as little processed meat as possible is recommended as it isn’t good for your body or brain, but try not to be too restrictive. If you do experience headaches after eating processed meat, it’s best to cut it out of your diet.

Aged Cheeses can often cause headaches

A substance called tyramine is found in aged cheese, which forms when proteins are broken down. This chemical has been found to trigger headaches; the more aged the cheese is, the more likely you are to experience a headache because more proteins have been broken down. Whilst aged cheese is very tasty, it shouldn’t be a regular staple of your diet. There are tips you can follow as you try to eliminate foods like aged cheese, dairy, and wheat from your diet. Who knew food could cause headaches? Even aged cheese!

Salty Foods are not always good for you

A lot of salty foods contain preservatives. Preservatives are likely to cause you to have a headache. Salt is also bad for your health as it can increase your blood pressure. Watch out for salty processed foods, as this could be your problem. Even growing up, we are told that salt is bad, but we are often taught that it is bad for our cholesterol, not that it will cause plenty of headaches. Try to avoid consuming too much salt, and your headaches and nausea should slowly slide away.

Chocolate can cause people to suffer from headaches

This may surprise you, but chocolate is the most popular food trigger of a headache. The by-products of nitrates found in chocolate will cause you to experience a migraine. Chocolate is ok to have in moderation but to eliminate your headaches; you need to eliminate chocolate.

What next to avoid symptoms of food intolerance?

Not all of these foods will cause headaches or migraines; everybody is different. However, if you experience a headache after eating any of these trigger foods, it’s best to cut your intake completely. Headaches can range from mild to severe; try to figure out which foods are causing you to have worsened headache symptoms so you know what you need to cut out.

How to stop Diarrhea: Could it be caffeine related?

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Wondering how to stop diarrhea? The simple answer is to change your diet. Diarrhea is often a symptom of a bad diet or food intolerance. Therefore, one of the quickest and easiest ways to stop yourself from suffering this painful and embarrassing symptom is to modify your diet. Diarrhea is often the result of a caffeine intolerance as well. Without going into too much detail, we know what can happen when we have that first cup of coffee in the morning. That is the idea of caffeine, though. It sets your metabolism up for the day. However, it isn’t meant to cause stomach issues and a lot of pain. For some people, having stomach issues and diarrhea is embarrassing, but for others, it can cause a lot of pain and be very destabilizing. This can be mentally distressing if it affects someone’s work life because they are constantly going to the toilet. Here’s a little more about how to stop symptoms like diarrhea and bloating by modifying your diet.

Modifying your diet to stop diarrhea

When identifying how to stop diarrhea, the first thing you can do is discover what is causing your symptom of intolerance. A food sensitivity test will help you to note which items are causing issues. If caffeine, for example, comes up as a potential issue, then you likely have a caffeine intolerance. To act on this, you would need to modify your diet. This would involve removing your morning cup of coffee from your daily routine. If coffee isn’t flagged, but you know you are consuming too much anyway, it is also beneficial to reduce your intake. Caffeine intolerance is a real thing, and it needs to be managed. Even if the item isn’t offensive now, it could be in the future. Too much coffee would result in an intolerance to caffeine.

But why should you remove caffeine anyway? Doesn’t everyone drink tea and coffee? It is a very popular aspect of life for people to drink coffee and tea in the morning. However, that doesn’t mean it is right or normal. Well, caffeine can also cause more issues than it solves. If you are already feeling a high sense of emotion, such as stress or anxiety, then it is likely that caffeine will exacerbate this and make you feel even worse. Particularly if stressed, the default setting is to reach for a cup of coffee to feel a sense of calm. However, this could actually be the worst thing that you are doing. You are more than likely making the problem worse.

What is the link between caffeine and anxiety? (and therefore diarrhea)

There is a strong link between caffeine and anxiety. Caffeine is a psychoactive drug that can cause or exacerbate anxiety and other stress-related signs and symptoms in many ways. Anxiety can also lead to symptoms of intolerance, such as diarrhea, bloating, and constipation. So it does feel like a simple solution, doesn’t it? Simply remove caffeine from your diet, which can help you stop diarrhea. It’s not always easy for some, though, as caffeine can be quite addictive. This, in turn, can often cause more stress as people don’t think they can kick the addiction. And what do stress and anxiety lead to? Usually, it leads to stomach issues such as bloating, diarrhea and flatulence, as well as bloating. There’s enough research and science to suggest this is definitely the case.

So one way to stop diarrhea is certainly to try and remove caffeine from your diet. We know it won’t be easy, but many find it easier to try decaffeinated coffee or simply reduce their intake. There are others who have tried switching to herbal teas or juices to get their energy intake. This isn’t always easy, as getting out of a routine is hard. But it does help with removing intolerance symptoms.

How to stop diarrhea

So, how can you stop diarrhea? To stop diarrhea, you need to manage your diet. It won’t always be down to caffeine intake, but it will likely be the result of food intolerance. The common causes of these sorts of symptoms include meat, dairy, wheat, gluten, and the aforementioned caffeine. A food sensitivity test would be able to help you identify if any of these are causing you issues like flatulence and bloating. You can order a sensitivity test from US Food Intolerance if you want to do stop experiencing these embarrassing and painful symptoms. But there are more ways that would help you stop experiencing diarrhea, including an elimination diet and finding alternative foods. These include goat and soya milk as an alternative to cow’s milk, for example. There is also the option of finding gluten-free desserts. All of these actions would go a long way to helping you to stop diarrhea.

Interested?

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Dealing with Headaches Linked to Food Sensitivity: A Practical Approach

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Most people are aware that headaches and diet are closely linked. Not eating enough, eating too much sugar, poor nutrition, etc., can all trigger headaches and have us reaching for painkillers. But it’s a less well-known fact that food sensitivities could also be the reason behind a throbbing head. In this blog, we discuss why headaches can be a symptom of food sensitivity, share a practical approach on how to deal with them and why food intolerance tests can help improve your health.

Why are headaches a symptom of food sensitivity?

If you have food sensitivity, your body has difficulty digesting a specific item, and you experience a physical reaction. Common symptoms of food sensitivities include stomach complaints like bloating and diarrhoea, fatigue, itching and headaches. It can be difficult to pinpoint the ingredient responsible for the onset of symptoms because they usually kick in hours or even days after you’ve eaten. What’s more, the reactions can easily be mistaken for other health complaints. For example, if you regularly experience headaches, you could put them down to being tired, not getting enough sleep, or feeling anxious. However, in one study, researchers found that those who suffered from migraines on a regular basis were more likely to have a reaction to common foods. So, if you find yourself reaching for painkillers on a regular basis, it’s the perfect time to reassess your diet.

Could changing your lifestyle help your headaches?

As much as making changes to your lifestyle can be a good thing for your overall health, you need to focus on your diet to reduce symptoms of food sensitivity. Prioritising good sleep hygiene, drinking more water and reducing screen time, for instance, will always benefit your well-being and energy levels. But if your headaches occur because you are sensitive to something you’re eating, spending less time on your laptop won’t solve the issue. To get to the root of the problem, you need to investigate the relationship between the foods you put into your body and the way your body reacts to them. If you have a vague idea of the ingredient that triggers your symptoms, it’s a good idea to eliminate it from your diet straight away. But if you’re unsure as to whether your headaches are food related, there are ways to find out.

Food elimination diets can be time-consuming and inaccurate

An elimination diet is one way to identify whether your body’s reaction to a food is causing your headaches. This is where you remove the foods you suspect are causing your symptoms from your diet for 2-4 weeks. After this time, you can reintroduce them to your meals one at a time and see if your symptoms reoccur. While this is simple enough, it’s a long-winded approach, and you could avoid foods you enjoy that aren’t causing a reaction. The fact we often experience health complaints that are similar to food sensitivity symptoms further complicates matters. For example, you could easily confuse a headache caused by dehydration with one triggered by a food you find hard to digest, making the elimination diet an even longer process.

A food intolerance test is easy to do with fast results

US Food Intolerance tests are a simple and efficient way to find out whether your body has difficulty digesting certain ingredients. They work by testing cells of your hair to see how they would respond to up to 900 different food and non-food items. Simply send off four-five strands of hair with a submission form, and your results will be emailed to you within three working days of them arriving at our lab. The report you receive will give you a complete breakdown of how reactive your body is to the items your hair cells have been tested against. We advise that you eliminate the items you are sensitive to from your diet for a period of 4-6 weeks to give your body a chance to repair and reset itself. After this time, you can either reintroduce them gradually or continue to avoid them if you feel better about making changes to your diet.

Check a food sensitivity isn’t causing headaches

Whichever option you choose, by taking a food intolerance test, you’ll have a better understanding of your body and the way it reacts to the meals you eat. You can order a food intolerance test from our website, or if you have a question you’d like us to answer, you can send an email to [email protected] or fill out our contact form. Please remember that if you’re concerned about any symptoms you have or would like nutritional advice, you should always speak to a doctor or health professional.