Clean Eating causing migraines??

ellebish

Hi everyone,

I have recently started eating clean, it has been a couple weeks and while I would not say 100% of my diet is clean (still have my cheat meal, at most once a week) a good percentage is, I have had a steady headache for a couple weeks now, it comes and goes but has been lingering for almost two weeks,

I know I am eating enough and still have coffee (caff withdrawal can be a trigger for me) so I am not sure if the headache is related to the change in my eating.

Any thoughts??

Thanks,

medicalstudent

Maybe you are allergic to gluten or artificial sugars like splenda, sweetnlow , aspartame type products. Try relieving the migrane with holistic herbs or even products from the healthfood store like some options are; feverfew, peppermint, ginkgo,passionflower, cayenne (peppers), meadow sweet, chamomile, vallerian, skull cap, and even butterbur extract has been in many pharmaceuticals. Hope you feel better! PS they say that changing your eating can be a psychological 'withdrawel' from carbs

Springfield_Rocks

Make sure you are not cutting out too many calories or complex carbs. Drink lots of water. Hope this helps.

Congrats on treating yourself to a healthier life!!

:flowerforyou:

WickedGarden

I would think you are having 'withdraws' from all the chemicals and additives in the processed foods you were eating before. It will take your body some time to get used to properly digesting *real* foods.

I do remember being crabby and feeling bloated when I stopped eating all the processed foods and going out for fast food.

Also, I agree with the 'drink plenty of water', you want to flush out the bad stuff!

wftiger

Yes, and it is rarely the carbs that you need to keep. Many people are allergic to just those. Cut the grain carbs out and up your protein and see where that gets you. Probably feeling much better.

skonly

I take magnesium every day to keep my cluster headaches under control. Have you added in any new foods that may be a trigger. Dairy and anything with msg are the most common. Is it an actual migraine or a severe headache? You may need to see a Dr and figure it out. I've had allergy headaches that lasted for days and were similar to a migraine. I didn't even realize I had allergies because my only symptom was the headache.

Hope you get it figured out and feel better soon.

ellebish

Maybe you are allergic to gluten or artificial sugars like splenda, sweetnlow , aspartame type products. Try relieving the migrane with holistic herbs or even products from the healthfood store like some options are; feverfew, peppermint, ginkgo,passionflower, cayenne (peppers), meadow sweet, chamomile, vallerian, skull cap, and even butterbur extract has been in many pharmaceuticals. Hope you feel better! PS they say that changing your eating can be a psychological 'withdrawel' from carbs

I don't use any artificial sweeteners, I would rather have sugar and then work the excess calories off, not really a sweets person I will def look into a couple of the holistic approaches you suggested.

Sorry for the late response - was in bed most of the day yesterday with my migraine!!

Thanks

ellebish

I would think you are having 'withdraws' from all the chemicals and additives in the processed foods you were eating before. It will take your body some time to get used to properly digesting *real* foods.

I do remember being crabby and feeling bloated when I stopped eating all the processed foods and going out for fast food.

Also, I agree with the 'drink plenty of water', you want to flush out the bad stuff!

thanks, it is a little more reassuring to hear that others that made this change reacted. and I do drink lots of water, usually between 2-4 litres a day

Sorry for the late response - was in bed most of the day yesterday with my migraine!!

ellebish

Yes, and it is rarely the carbs that you need to keep. Many people are allergic to just those. Cut the grain carbs out and up your protein and see where that gets you. Probably feeling much better.

thanks for the suggestion!!

Rhea30

Maybe you are allergic to gluten or artificial sugars like splenda, sweetnlow , aspartame type products. Try relieving the migrane with holistic herbs or even products from the healthfood store like some options are; feverfew, peppermint, ginkgo,passionflower, cayenne (peppers), meadow sweet, chamomile, vallerian, skull cap, and even butterbur extract has been in many pharmaceuticals. Hope you feel better! PS they say that changing your eating can be a psychological 'withdrawel' from carbs

I don't use any artificial sweeteners, I would rather have sugar and then work the excess calories off, not really a sweets person I will def look into a couple of the holistic approaches you suggested.

Sorry for the late response - was in bed most of the day yesterday with my migraine!!

Thanks

Are there any new kinds of food you have added since you started to eat clean? One of them might be a migraine trigger and as someone else had stated make sure you are not cutting out to many calories or complex carbs. When I had tried to limit my sugar and carbs it seemed to had instantly trigger my migraine.

jcpmoore

I had a similar reaction and checked with my doc. She said based on the kinds of things we cut out when we go clean, it's not uncommon for this kind of headache to hit and stick around for a couple of of weeks. Give it a few more days. If it doesn't get better, call your doc. Make sure to bring your food diary if you have to go so they can see what you are eating.

HTH

runforyourlyfe

The same thing happened to me!! It was gone in a few weeks though, so I hope it stops soon for you as well!:happy:

secretlobster

It's chemical withdrawal... It should go away.

Jeneba

DOn't have time to go through the entire thread right now, so please forgive me if I am repeating what someone else has said.... There are many healthy foods that can be migraine triggers - whole grains, especially wheat, avocado, citrus, etc.

beckajw

Hi everyone,

I have recently started eating clean, it has been a couple weeks and while I would not say 100% of my diet is clean (still have my cheat meal, at most once a week) a good percentage is, I have had a steady headache for a couple weeks now, it comes and goes but has been lingering for almost two weeks,

I know I am eating enough and still have coffee (caff withdrawal can be a trigger for me) so I am not sure if the headache is related to the change in my eating.

Any thoughts??

Thanks,

I'm not sure what you're eating, but if you have cut out a lot of complex carbs from your diet, you may be experiencing low sugars. That will give you terrible headaches.

WhatDoesLisa

I don't know. Personally, when I hit 40, I started getting intense migraines for about two years. Maybe it is due to a hormonal shift? The doctor recommended changes in my diet such as getting rid of sugar, artificial colors, sweetners, etc but it was just hormones. Something to think about!

ellebish

Make sure you are not cutting out too many calories or complex carbs. Drink lots of water. Hope this helps.

Congrats on treating yourself to a healthier life!!

:flowerforyou:

thanks for the suggestions!! I drink a lot of water most days and tried not to cut my carbs too much.

ellebish

I take magnesium every day to keep my cluster headaches under control. Have you added in any new foods that may be a trigger. Dairy and anything with msg are the most common. Is it an actual migraine or a severe headache? You may need to see a Dr and figure it out. I've had allergy headaches that lasted for days and were similar to a migraine. I didn't even realize I had allergies because my only symptom was the headache.

Hope you get it figured out and feel better soon.

I am going to try the magnesium, I think I have some at home. and they are migraines, been a sufferer for years but haven't had anything this bad in a couple years.

ellebish

DOn't have time to go through the entire thread right now, so please forgive me if I am repeating what someone else has said.... There are many healthy foods that can be migraine triggers - whole grains, especially wheat, avocado, citrus, etc.

Thanks for this!! I will do some research as I didn't realize that wheat could be a trigger.

ellebish

Thanks for all the responses - it is a little reassuring to know that other people reacted to the change in diet. My migraine is still here but a little less throbbing then previously, hopefully it subsides soom/

Jeneba

Poor You! My migraines almost disappeared when I gave up gluten. Once I found feverfew, they disappeared completely. Feel better!