Headaches can be really painful, but something that most of us will suffer from at some point. One thing that is never thought about a lot is how headaches could be connected with diet. It’s not something that most of us think about, other than say when we get dehydrated or we’re having withdrawals from caffeine.

Something I haven’t really given much thought to until now, but I’ve only had one headache that lasted for a day in the past two years of eating healthy and being on a CR diet. Although I did initially have one long-lasting headache when I began the diet.

There seems to be a connection with diet and reducing the number of headaches. I guess a lot of headaches maybe down to glucose spikes and dips from eating foods high in sugar? Not only that, who knows all the chemicals, additives that are present in processed foods.

I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that since I’ve been eating healthily, my headaches have totally gone away. I’d definitely like to find out whether or not other people on this diet have experienced the diet thing with regards to their diet and headaches.

This study suggests that changing the diet can help with migraines. A low-calorie, ketogenic diet was able to reduce the frequency: 5.11 days vs 9.91 days after treatment. A low-calorie diet by itself was also effective at reducing the frequency, but not as effective as when combined with a keto diet.

It’s interesting because of one or two other people on the CR diet have reported that their migraines have been eliminated since starting CR.

There should definitely be more research done into this, as it could be an effective strategy for those people who regularly suffer from these horrible headaches.

Types of headaches

There are many different types of headaches you can experience. Not all of them are related to diet, so it’s important to see your doctor if you are having them often!

• Migraines
• A tension headache
• A cluster headache

These three types of headaches are the most common and may have different causes.  Food or stress is often the cause for one or more of these types of headaches, so identifying the trigger is important in preventing them in the future.

Foods which can trigger headaches

Below is a list of foods which you might want to avoid if you are prone to developing migraines

• Chocolate
• Cheddar cheese
• Pickled foods
• Alcohol
• Too much coffee or tea
• Nuts
• Citrus fruits

These are just a few of the common foods, but there can be many others. The best thing you can do is to keep a diary of the foods you eat and then see if the symptoms correlate with developing a headache.

You can read more on the connection between diet and headaches here.

Conclusion

Headaches are usually benign and go away on their own without treatment, but they are uncomfortable while you have one. Eating a healthy diet, especially a low-calorie diet may have some benefit in reducing the likelihood of developing migraines and maybe other types of headaches, but more research needs to be done.

If you have found that eating healthy or being on CR has helped reduce headaches, let me know in the comment section below!

Reviewed and updated: February 2019