Toxic Headache vs. Migraine Headache ” Which one do I have?
I have written extensively about Migraine headaches and one topic that is hard to ignore is the effect of diet on food. I’ve also written about certain foods to avoid but recent research into food toxins and their affect on health in general really produced some interesting results.
Researchers will tell you to avoid certain foods such as: Aged cheese, citrus fruits, chocolate, nuts, cured meats, fatty foods, fried foods, ice cream, yogurt, sour cream, pork, seafood, seafood, alcohol -especially red wine, food additives such as MSG, asparatame, and caffeine. Some say these are to be avoided as triggers, while others believe the same foods are toxic to the system for certain people.
This can be confusing since there is such a thing as toxic headache. This is considered a type of vascular headache (headaches that involve an abnormality of the arteries in the brain in which they constrict and dilate rapidly and pain is the result) like migraine headache, which the cause can be conclusively traced to some type of food poisoning whether a bacterial infection or an environmental toxin (e.g., pesticide, breathing car fumes).
This type of headache is not by definition a migraine (it usually involves a fever), many of the symptoms are the same including nausea, vomiting and headache. With migraine, however, the headache is unilateral (one side) and throbbing.
Symptoms typically unique to food poisoning and not migraine include abdominal cramping, diarrhea and muscle pain. Symptoms can appear a few hours after ingesting the toxin up to three days later.
It may seem like it would be easy to distinguish between food poisoning and migraine headache would be easy, this is not always the case. Yes, one could say that the odds are against eating the same food over and over and developing food poisoning; however, what if your food preparation habits need examining e.g., consistently under cooking certain fish or poultry, or you work in an environment where you are consistently breathing in the same toxic fumes?
Food poisoning causing toxins can be especially harmful to ones health if you already have a medical condition affecting one of the major organs, an already weakened immune system or if you travel frequently to areas where contamination to food is more likely to occur.
In order to avoid certain food toxins make sure you are thoroughly rinsing your fruits and vegetables (even bagged lettuce), especially if you are susceptible to food poisoning. This will help eliminate fertilizers or pesticides which likely havent been cleaned before packaging. Keep in mind that there are risks when eating out, even in nice restaurants. Even though I love to go out to eat either with my wife or with friends, I know that I cannot completely trust the hygiene or health of the person preparing my food.
I highly recommend you try my Migraine and Headache program, if migraine or tension headache is the cause of your distress. It will help no matter what’s the cause of your headache and the results are amazing.
EL331004
Christian Goodman is a well known health researcher and author of many revolutionary natural health alternatives. One of his very effective programs is his natural migraine headache treatment.You can learn more about Christian on his Natural Health Alternative Blog.
Tags: Alternative Medicine, health, migraine headache, migraine headaches, toxic headache, toxic headaches
September 14 2009 06:45 am | Alternative Medicine