Your food choices may be contributing to your head pain.
What you eat and drink throughout the day may contribute to your head pain. In fact, a National Headache Foundation survey found that 30 percent of migraine sufferers report that their diet may be related to their migraine attacks.1 Below, read about common foods and beverages that may cause headaches. Figuring out which foods might be contributing to your headaches may be a key step to managing them.
Alcohol
Alcohol affects people differently, and that’s particularly true of headache sufferers, as certain types of headaches are more likely to be triggered by alcohol than others.2 For instance, alcohol is more likely to trigger a migraine than a tension headache. Alcohol is also a possible trigger for cluster headaches, but usually only during an ongoing episode.
Furthermore, red wine in particular may be more prone to triggering headaches in some people, thanks in part to the fact that it contains histamines.
Diet soda
While you may feel that diet soda instead of regular soda is a way to avoid excess sugar and calories, they typically contain aspartame as an artificial sweetener, which has been reported as a potential headache or migraine trigger.3
Aged cheeses
Aged cheeses such as brie, blue cheese, and cheddar are a commonly reported headache trigger. That’s because the aging process results in a high level of tyramine, which can cause headaches in some people. Consider reaching for fresh feta, American and ricotta instead of aged varieties.
