Natural Remedies for Migraine Headaches

   If you or someone you know suffer from recurring migraines, then you already know how debilitating and disabling they can be. Some individuals even qualify for social security benefits if their migraines are frequent and severe. But who wants to be disabled? Especially from a health problem that can completely take over your life.

Common medications prescribed for migraines can help some individuals, but they come with side effects and are only effective half the time, and these are some of the latest and greatest medications. [ https://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/news/20030116/migraine-drugs-effects-scare-many-away#1].

 So what else can you do about migraines? Thankfully a lot. Nature and its healing agents have plenty to offer for migraine sufferers. We are going to undertake an extensive search for the best natural remedies for migraines, and I believe that you or someone you know will find a remedy that will provide relief.

Common causes of migraine headache

  Common causes of headaches include stress, food allergies, eye strain, overexertion, caffeine, sugar withdrawal, and dehydration. Natural healers have found other causes that lead to headaches. Headaches are a symptom of a disturbance in some other part of the body. Digestive disorders in the stomach, liver, or bowels can lead to headaches. Misalignment of the cervical spine can cause nerve impingements that can cause headaches. Last but not least, retained waste matter can press and irritate nerves that can lead to headaches. A well- planned herbal cleanse of the major organs of elimination can go a long way in reducing headache pain and frequency.

Natural healing views the body as a whole, and symptoms that develop in one area aren’t necessarily a problem in that particular area. Natural healing takes this into account and works on the entire system. Improving the health of the whole body instead of using a band-aid approach. A holistic approach will lead to optimum health in the long run.

Gastrointestinal problems and headaches

   Research is now showing that individuals who suffer from constipation, acid reflux, diarrhea, and nausea, are more likely to suffer from headaches than individuals that have healthy digestive symptoms. [/www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/migraine-headache/expert-answers/migraines/faq-20058268]. Other digestive diseases like IBS and celiac disease are also known to increase the risk of developing headaches. So what is behind this growing epidemic of digestive diseases?

There are many reasons known and unknown. So what should you focus on? Simply focus on improving the health of your digestive system. An unhealthy digestive system can lead to a multitude of diseases. First you want to look at your stress level. Uncontrolled chronic stress will wreak havoc on your digestive system.

Look for all of the stress triggers in your life and eliminate as many as possible. It is also necessary to find stress- relieving activities. These activities can include meditation, getting a massage, regular exercise, making time for a healthy social life, cuddling with your pet, scheduling one day a week where you relax and only do things that you enjoy.

  The next area you will need to address is your diet. If you are living on microwave dinners and fast food, you already know that you need to improve your diet. A diet rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds will improve the health of your digestive tract by providing nutrients and fiber that feed the good bacteria in your digestive tract. Adding fermented foods like kimchi, yogurt, sauerkraut, and fermented beverages will help to further build your good bacteria. Heavy meat consumption will negatively alter the gut bacteria, so it is wise to limit intake.

Finally, you need to take your bowel movements seriously. No, I’m not obsessed with your bathroom habits, I’m obsessed with teaching you how to become the healthiest version of yourself. And frequent and consistent bowel movements just happen to be a very important factor in your overall health. Infrequent bowel movements can lead to a toxic bowel that reintroduces toxins into your system over and over again, this is because they have nowhere to go.

Another factor is the size of the colon. There is not a lot of room in your abdominopelvic cavity. This cavity contains your stomach, liver, pancreas, spleen, gallbladder, kidneys, and most of your small and large intestines. This is a recipe for malfunction. Waste matter leftover from infrequent bowel movements can cause the colon to swell in certain areas. These swollen areas can press on organs and nerves and lead to numerous pains and illnesses.

  For some, the colon is pressing on nerves that can lead to pain in the head. Numerous individuals have found great relief from headaches by simply getting on a comprehensive health- building program that doesn’t ignore the health of the colon. For most individuals, switching to a whole foods plant-based diet will help the bowels to start working properly again, properly functioning bowels should move 1-3 times per day. If the plant-based diet isn’t enough, some herbs can be added to the program to correct the bowel. Another process that can help a is colonics.

Cayenne pepper

   If you have been reading my articles for a while, you know how I feel about cayenne pepper, the master herb. Cayenne is one of the most powerful ways to improve circulation in the body, but it is also great for pain. Cayenne blocks substance P, a compound involved in the synaptic transmission of pain.

 Cayenne pepper applied inside the nose may help relieve the pain of cluster headaches and reduce recurrences. Another way to use cayenne for migraines is to add a 1/4 tsp in a glass of hot water, let it steep for 10 minutes, and drink. It will be hot, but if it stops migraine pain, it is well worth it. [ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7708405/]. 

Water

  Having clean water to drink is one of the most important steps to building good health, and may even help stave off migraine headaches. A study showed that when patients that are prone to migraine headaches added 6 cups of water per day to their usual intake they reported fewer headaches. So drink up. Just make sure the water is purified, you don’t want to add the toxins found in tap water to your body.

Magnesium

  Magnesium is a very important mineral, over 300 enzymes require the presence of magnesium ions for their catalytic action. Magnesium is known as the relaxation mineral, but at least 80% of people worldwide are deficient in this mineral. Poor diet, soil quality, stress, diabetes, absorption problems, and celiac disease can lead to low magnesium. So what does magnesium have to do with migraine headaches?

   Magnesium deficiency is well known to be a causative factor in migraine headaches. Magnesium deficiency has been linked to the release of substance P, neurotransmitter release, and vasoconstriction. All of these factors have been linked to an increased risk of migraine headaches.

Several studies have shown that oral supplementation of magnesium can reduce the frequency of migraine headaches in migraine sufferers. The form of magnesium is important, some forms of supplemental magnesium have poor absorption. The forms used in successful studies were magnesium citrate, trimagnesium dicitrate, and magnesium pyrrolidone carbox-ylic acid. The doses in the studies were from 360 - 600mg per day.

Supplemental magnesium is safe for the majority of people. Side effects can include diarrhea and an upset stomach. Another great option is to increase magnesium intake through a wholefoods diet. Good food sources of magnesium are cashews, pumpkin seeds, almonds, spinach, black beans, dark chocolate, peanut butter, avocado, brown rice, oatmeal, bananas, soymilk, kidney beans, cocoa powder, and many more delicious foods. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507271/].

It is best to get your nutrition from whole foods sources if possible. In this way, you prevent getting too much of any one nutrient and not enough of another. Nutritional herbs are another great way to get all of the daily nutrition you need. Magnesium -rich herbs are alfalfa, horsetail, nettle, red clover, allspice, basil, caraway, cumin, dill, fenugreek, ginger, celery seed, mustard seed, and many more.

Vitamin D

  Vitamin D deficiency is another causative factor for some migraine sufferers. Again, getting you vitamin D from a pill isn’t the best way. 10 to 15 minutes of direct sunlight, 3 to 4 days per week, should get your levels up in no time. If this doesn’t work for you, adding foods that are high in vitamin D should be your next step. Mushrooms are a great plant-based source of vitamin D.

Anxiety

   Research suggests that there is a link between anxiety, depression, and migraines. This comes as no surprise, as chronic stress can be a causative factor to many disease processes in the body. The word disease means lack of ease or comfort. Chronic stress reduces the body’s ability to metabolize and detoxify. As if the stress wasn’t bad enough, the more stress we have, the more sensitive the body becomes to stress. For instance, if you suffer some chronic long- term stress, your body can start overreacting to small stressors as if they are life-threatening stressors. For instance, you may be stressed because the barista didn’t put enough cream in your coffee, but if you are sensitized to stress your body could be pumping huge amounts of stress hormones like it would if a tiger was chasing you.

We could talk all day about the many diseases that chronic stress can lead to. But you are reading this article to hopefully find a way to get your headaches under control, and since stress could be contributing to your headaches, it would be more valuable if you look at how to manage your stress. There is already a great page on anxiety and you can find it here

   Exercise

   Exercise truly is a panacea. Exercise therapy can improve any disease, and migraine headaches are on the list. Exercise helps reduce the frequency of headache attacks. Exercise achieves this by a variety of factors. Exercise reduces stress, improves sleep, increases painkilling and mood-elevating endorphins, improvement in these factors can decrease the frequency of headaches.

   There is one caveat with using exercise to combat migraine headaches, you have to start slowly and increase the frequency and intensity of activity over time. If you start a new routine and push yourself hard from the start, you could trigger a migraine headache. So take it slow and pace yourself to reap the benefits that exercise can have for migraine reduction. A great place to start would be a walking routine, start with 5 - 10 minutes of walking a day or every other day, and increase your walking time by 3 - 5 minutes each week. But the most important thing is to listen to your body, it will tell you when to increase exercise and when to back off.

Spinal misalignment

Research shows that headaches are often linked to a misalignment in the atlas vertebrae. Most migraines originate where the cervical spine joins the skull. Chiropractors look at this type of misalignment as a kink in a hose, it can raise the internal pressure in the skull, altering the normal flow of blood or spinal fluid resulting in an increased risk of headache.

If you decide to look for a chiropractor to determine if you suffer from this type of misalignment, try to find an atlas chiropractor. While any chiropractor should be able to help, an atlas chiropractor specializes in this type of misalignment.

Feverfew

  Feverfew is a medicinal herb that was traditionally used to prevent and stop migraine headaches. Mechanisms by which feverfew achieves migraine prevention and relief are inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis, a decrease of vascular smooth muscle contraction, and blockage of platelet granule secretion.

Feverfew brings great benefit to some migraine sufferers and does little to nothing for others. Feverfew is a remedy to try if other modalities are offering little help. Feverfew does have a rebound effect for some individuals that have stopped taking it cold turkey after being on it for several years. In those cases, there was a return to the previous level of migraines along with other symptoms such as nausea, anxiety, and insomnia. So it is best to slowly wean yourself off feverfew if you decide to quit taking it. Feverfew works better for some individuals when combined with the herb butterbur. This supplement has helped many find relief from their migraines

   The plant-based approach

  Of course, if you have read my work you know that I just have to mention food. Why? Because the food that you put in your body has a huge impact on your overall health. Max Gerson was a doctor that practiced in the 1930s and 40s. He was known as an expert on migraine headaches. Guess how he figured out how to cure them? A diet high in fresh raw juices and organic vegan meals, and of course a little targeted detoxification. You see the doctor himself suffered from terrible migraines, and he finally cured himself following this program. The program is known today as Gerson Therapy.

Of course, when someone follows a program of raw food and juices combined with herbs, other health conditions they suffer from usually go away as well. This is the basis of true natural healing, stop treating symptoms and treat the whole body. The goal of natural healing isn’t to treat the disease, the goal is to improve the health and resilience of the body. When the body reaches a certain level of health, it will reverse disease processes and regain homeostasis.

So give it a try, start small if you have to. Once you are predominantly feeding your body with the highest vibrational foods that you can get your hands on, you won’t believe how good you will start feeling! Raw fruits and vegetables, raw juices, lightly steamed vegetables, raw nuts and seeds, and low heated whole grains are some of the most powerful medicinal foods on the planet. The human body was designed to thrive and heal on plant foods.