5 Natural Ways to Prevent Migraine Attacks

Migraine attacks is not the typical headache you may experience with mild neck, head, or face pain. It is a neurological disorder. If we may say, headache is one of the symptoms of migraine and not the other way around.

In other words, a migraine is when you experience pain in a more intense way. This may sometimes cause nausea, sensitivity to light or sound, or unconsciousness of the surrounding. Doctors refer to migraine symptoms as episodes or attacks in which the sufferer would do anything to make them go away.

Some ways of treating migraine may include a lot of medicines, and although they are needed, in the long run, they may cause unpleasant side effects. That is why as you read, we will take you to look at five natural remedies that would help you prevent and manage migraine attacks.

1. Drink Water

We know this is a definitive solution for most of the issues, but it makes sense since water is a cost-effective, non-invasive, and low-risk intervention solvent, and our human bodies comprise 60% of it.
Drinking enough water (8 glasses per day) keeps your body hydrated, essential to digestion, breathing, concentration, and exercise performance.

We lose fluids throughout the day while sweating, breathing, and more, and ensuring that these fluids are replaced, our cells, tissues, and organs function optimally.

2. Eat Fresh For Your Health 

We understand that you love to eat all foods, but only some things we eat are healthy. As a migraine sufferer, you should avoid some food and stick to others.

For example, you must adhere to fresh food, as processed food can be exceptionally high in migraine-triggering substances. That’s because when you make your food from scratch, you can control what goes into each dish and ensure you are eating fresh ingredients.

If you want to prevent migraine attacks, as much as we want you to do, please be careful of the following food:

• Processed meats like hot dogs, sausage, and bacon, which contain nitrites
• Aged cheeses, such as blue cheese, and red wine, which contain tyramine
• Chocolate, which contains beta-phenylethylamine
• The artificial sweeteners aspartame and sucralose

3. Practice Yoga

Yoga is not only about fitness but also the ultimate solution for the soul. It brings peace and calmness to the mind as much as it does to the body. Also, it improves strength, balance, and flexibility because slow movements and deep breathing increase blood flow and warm up muscles.

There is no apparent reason why yoga affects the body and the mind in this manner. However, research started linking yoga practices and effects to the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). The PNS can slow your heart rate and lower your blood pressure, which allows your body to recover after a stressful event. Our article refers to migraine attacks, so give yourself a relaxing break and start practicing yoga.

4. Dim The Lights

I understand you are wondering what the connection between the light and the migraine is. Well, as we said earlier, sometimes migraine sufferers’ are sensitive to light (photophobia – it’s scientific), but why?

Photophobia is in almost all forms of migraine and many neuro-ophthalmic disorders, researchers have found that 80 to 90 % of migraine sufferers have it as a side effect.

This means that the sun or bright indoor light can be uncomfortable, even painful, because there is a connection between cells in your eyes that detect light and a nerve that goes to your head. Therefore, it would make perfect sense to dim the room’s lights or close them once you feel the attack is approaching.

5. Sleep Well

Now, I will give you the final and ultimate solution to all brain issues… GET ENOUGH SLEEP IN YOUR DAY!

It is widely known that too little sleep (sleep deprivation) and too much sleep (hypersomnia) can trigger migraines.

However, people suffer from migraine mostly because they have sleep deprivation. That’s because insufficient sleep and migraines share common brain mechanisms.

According to a case study conducted by a group of researchers in 2016, “the hypothalamus — the part of the brain that regulates sleep and arousal — also contains neurons involved in modulating pain.

The hypothalamus also contains the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which receives signals from our eyes and helps us match our sleeping behaviors to the external cycle of light and darkness outside” (Medicine Baltimore, 2016).

As a result, a damaged SCN can quickly destroy a person’s sleep-wake cycle and, therefore, cause neurologic disorders such as migraine.