A Simple Headache Diet

In my last post, I talked about why we get headaches and the kinds of foods we can avoid to help us overcome our headaches.  This includes processed foods like chocolate, vinegar, pizza, salted or pickled foods, MSG, nuts, food additives, yeast, hydrolyzed protein, baked goods, smoked meats, dairy, coffee, tea, soda, energy drinks and other caffeinated beverages, and alcohol.  We should not drown our headaches in drugs (like codeine, Tylenol, barbituates, and ergotamines). These can cause rebound headaches.  Even aspirin can cause a daily headache. 

So now we know what not to do. What can we eat? Dr. Joel Fuhrman, in his book, “Fasting and Eating for Health” has prepared a sample diet for migraine patients:

Breakfast

A small piece of melon

Oatmeal or other whole grain hot cereal or yeast-free whole grain bread

Lunch

A large green salad (no dressing except 1 t. olive oil permitted)

Corn, sweet potato, white potato, brown rice, steamed carrots

A Bunch of grapes

Dinner

A small salad

Steamed green vegetables such as broccoli, artichoke, kale, cabbage, or asparagus

A starchy vegetable or grain (such as butternut or acorn squash, baked potato, corn, millet, quinoa, rice, or pasta). Tomato sauce made without salt is okay. 

This type of diet should clean out most of the toxins in the body in a few days.  You can eat this simple type of diet for up to a month.  Then begin adding one new food at a time back into the diet. Begin with fresh fruits. Next, include legumes, nuts, or seeds.  Try not to swing back into your former eating habits of highly processed, salty, and high-protein, animal based foods.  If you keep doing what you have been doing, you will keep getting what you have been getting. You will invariably end up with headaches again. 

The main risk with home detoxification is when there is withdrawal from long-acting or potent drugs.  These can cause seizures or other difficult withdrawal symptoms.  Often behavioral modification is needed to help patients break their daily, even hourly, medication habit. There may also be co-existing conditions, which worsen during the detoxification process (e.g. depression, anxiety).  In this circumstance medical support is necessary. 

Our bodies are amazing machines.  If given proper clean food, sleep, fresh air, sunlight, and exercise, we will heal naturally. The most efficient cleansing occurs during sleep.  Take advantage of this and make sure to get 12 full hours a day (during sleep time) to rest the body from any food.  This will allow it to devote its efforts to the elimination of wastes. Remember that when we are on a clean diet like this one, we may at first experience some discomfort.  You may have cravings for your favorite sugary or salty foods.  You may still have headaches.  You may feel lethargic and even weak.  But soon those symptoms will go away.  Then you know that the body has finished detoxing.  You will feel light and energetic and Happily Free of your Headaches.