Clean eating vegan - processed food causing headaches!

VeganCoco
VeganCoco Posts: 104 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello all,

Hopefully I'm posting this in the right place!

Anyway I'm vegan (2.5 years) and transitioning to clean eating, I'm not 100% perfect I'd say maybe 50% clean eating but the other 50% is not that terrible either - I'm just falling victim to the odd takeaway or bag of crisps now and then.

But since I transitioned to a cleaner diet and cut out white bread/rice/pasta etc every time I do eat something non-clean I get the worse headache and feel really dizzy and lethargic!

Any ideas what might be causing this and more to the point - is it normal?

Any advice appreciated - I'm hoping it is normal and it's just my body reacting to additives that I usually avoid, it seriously puts me off eating them so it's great for willpower!

Thanks,

Kat

Replies

  • LJSmith1989
    LJSmith1989 Posts: 650
    Hello all,

    Hopefully I'm posting this in the right place!

    Anyway I'm vegan (2.5 years) and transitioning to clean eating, I'm not 100% perfect I'd say maybe 50% clean eating but the other 50% is not that terrible either - I'm just falling victim to the odd takeaway or bag of crisps now and then.

    But since I transitioned to a cleaner diet and cut out white bread/rice/pasta etc every time I do eat something non-clean I get the worse headache and feel really dizzy and lethargic!

    Any ideas what might be causing this and more to the point - is it normal?



    Any advice appreciated - I'm hoping it is normal and it's just my body reacting to additives that I usually avoid, it seriously puts me off eating them so it's great for willpower!

    Thanks,

    Kat

    Maybe your body isn't use to it after you have taken it away?
  • ChristinaK69
    ChristinaK69 Posts: 249
    Since you've been trying to eat cleaner your body will react more to processed foods. I get the same thing. I get to where I have to say..."no thanks, I really don't want a headache today" .. Sometimes it can get to a full blown migraine. All in all I feel like garbage if I don't try to eat clean unprocessed foods
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    You've likely lost your tolerance for all the chemicals and crap. It takes time to build that up.
  • VeganCoco
    VeganCoco Posts: 104 Member
    Argh seriously? At least it's not just me, I just ate some super noodles (stupid 8pm idea) and I feel horrific, even my eyes are aching!

    I've come to the conclusion it must be additives because I ate white rice today at a Thai place and felt fine but the noodles have made me feel terrible.

    I just hope it doesn't last long :(

    Thanks!
  • VeganCoco
    VeganCoco Posts: 104 Member
    Jenilla - As much as I'm not happy right now - this actually makes me feel great! At least what I'm doing is having an effect!
  • sarab99
    sarab99 Posts: 134 Member
    Unfortunately theres a lot of ingredients common to many processed foods. It can take a while to figure out what it is, but is it worth it for you to do that right now? If you've decided to transition to "clean eating" it may make more sense for you to avoid the items that have caused the headaches.
  • thestrawberrysays
    thestrawberrysays Posts: 31 Member
    I'm not vegan but I eat very clean and also react the same way now to processed foods. In fact, there are some foods that I absolutely won't eat, ever because within 30 minutes of consuming them I will have a migraine. I also tend to get bouts of fatigue and depression after eating processed foods. It could be a number of things that our bodies are reacting to, and I really can't say for sure. All I know is that I felt terrible when trying to give them up and now I feel terrible whenever I eat them.
  • LJSmith1989
    LJSmith1989 Posts: 650
    Since you've been trying to eat cleaner your body will react more to processed foods. I get the same thing. I get to where I have to say..."no thanks, I really don't want a headache today" .. Sometimes it can get to a full blown migraine. All in all I feel like garbage if I don't try to eat clean unprocessed foods

    At least you both know what to do when you want to pull a sick day at work :)
  • Willowana
    Willowana Posts: 493 Member
    Yes! It does happen. I remember in my teen years I went vegan, I felt like crap with "clean" eating. It took awhile to adjust. After years of veganism, when I ate meat for the first time.....I felt like crap! There seems to be a transitional period when beginning a clean vegan diet, and also when "coming off" one as well. The body is very resilient. It can grow accustomed to anything you throw at it. But the second you switch it up, you are going to feel the difference!
  • sarab99
    sarab99 Posts: 134 Member
    Argh seriously? At least it's not just me, I just ate some super noodles (stupid 8pm idea) and I feel horrific, even my eyes are aching!

    I've come to the conclusion it must be additives because I ate white rice today at a Thai place and felt fine but the noodles have made me feel terrible.

    I just hope it doesn't last long :(

    Thanks!

    Maybe MSG. Common cause of headaches for many people, and common ingredient as well.
  • brooke_young08
    brooke_young08 Posts: 70
    Yep, it sounds like the chemicals in processed foods are causing the pain. In 2 weeks, I am starting a body cleanse/detox that has me eating totally clean and (after the first couple of days) vegan. I'm super excited about it!!!!! But, I'm coming to realize that I may have to make it a permanent change in my diet, at least!

    Good luck :bigsmile:

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