6 Food Items that Can Trigger Headaches

What foods do you eat? It’s a crucial question to ask yourself because the answer may provide insight into your health problems. For instance, certain foods may frequently result in headaches. Some foods appear to be healthy for the body, yet appearances and flavors can be deceiving. Your favorite cheese or wine may be the source of your headaches.

Uncontrollable elements including changing weather patterns, potent odors, perfumes, and bright lights can occasionally cause headaches. However, you are in charge of what you eat, so consider the list of foods that are known to give people headaches.

1. Red wine

Quantity is important because some people may experience headaches with just one drink. After consuming one, two, or three glasses, some people may have headaches. It seems to be very typical to experience a headache after consuming red wine, according to medicalnewstoday. Despite the numerous ideas surrounding the relationship between red wine and headaches, there is no one reason. Medicalnewstoday states that the culprit is histamine, a substance present in grape skins. Since red wine is produced using the entire grape, including the skin in addition to the juice, it is more common there than in white wine.

Some people may not have enough of an enzyme needed for the small intestine to break down histamine.

The combination may increase the blood levels of histamine because alcohol also inhibits the enzyme. This may widen blood vessels and result in headaches.

2. Cheese

Cheese contains tyramine, which is thought to narrow blood vessels and result in a headache. Tyramine is a vaso-active amino acid that is present in food and, according to medicalnewstoday, causes headaches in some persons.

3. Chocolate

You might not experience a headache after eating just one chocolate. However, due to the presence of tyramine, consuming four to five pieces or a whole box of chocolate may result in a splitting headache, according to medicalnewstoday.

4. Milk

If you have a lactose intolerance, milk frequently brings on headaches. But according to medicalnewstoday, a study was carried out among a significant number of students who were 18 years of age or older to determine the relationship between dairy consumption and primary headaches. Dairy consumption was discovered to be negatively correlated with students’ primary headaches.

5. Citrus fruit

They contain the chemical octopamine, which causes headaches. Sweet lime, oranges, lemons, and grapefruits can also give those who cannot stomach acidic fruits headaches.

6. Artificial sweeteners

Aspartame, a component of artificial sweeteners, lowers dopamine levels and causes headaches.