RECENTLY I’ve started waking up with either a splitting headache, or just a really heavy cloggy head. Would changing my diet help?
Julie Walker, by e-mail

Poor you — I see a lot of people with headaches and migraines in my practice and know how debilitating these can be. Of course I always like my patients to check with their doctor to ensure that there’s nothing serious going on. But, assuming that you are otherwise fine, there are plenty of things that you can do to combat headaches and migraine.

First, make sure that you’re avoiding the common trigger foods — herring, offal, mature cheeses, peanuts and peanut butter, chocolate, cured sausages, and sauerkraut. Monosodium glutamate (labelled MSG or E621), found in processed products and in Chinese food, can also be a factor, as can caffeine (coffee, tea, cola or chocolate).

I’d suggest steering clear of caffeine-containing drinks — instead, try drinking room-temperature water or a mug of warm herbal tea. The temperature is important because extremes can also be a trigger; headaches and migraine are often caused by changes in the blood vessels and in blood flow.

This is why a single dose of caffeine can occasionally alleviate a headache — caffeine is a vasodilator, and will help if your headache is linked to constriction in the blood vessels. If you’ve found that this sometimes works for you, it’s best to take your “medicine” in the form of a cup of tea, which is gentler on both head and body than coffee.

The caffeine effect is generally more pronounced in caffeine addicts — but this doesn’t mean that being addicted is a good thing. Indeed, you’ll feel so much better weaned off it (be warned, though, that the first 48 hours may be blighted by a caffeine-withdrawal headache).

Drinking alcohol on an empty stomach, or when dehydrated, exhausted or stressed, can also saddle you with an almighty headache, or migraine, the next day.

Champagne and red wine (both rich in phenolic compounds, which can cause changes in the blood flow) are the worst offenders, with white wine next. Always drink lots of water before, during and after drinking alcohol. If, despite these precautions, you still wake up with a hangover headache, try 350mg of milk thistle, three times a day, as this traditional detox remedy can soon banish it. Sometimes headaches are related to constipation — the build-up means that some substance are reabsorbed, with an effect on the blood flow. This can be avoided by boosting your fibre intake and steadily drinking a daily 2.5 litres of water.

Finally, one of the worst things you can do is to eat very sweet or high GI food on an empty stomach, because this swiftly brings about headache-inducing blood-sugar changes. People sometimes come to see me because they think that they have hypoglycaemia (an abnormally low blood-sugar level) as they feel lousy when they’re hungry and better after they’ve eaten, but they’re then flummoxed when their blood-sugar levels are measured and found to be normal.

The simple explanation is that blood-sugar levels may occasionally either drop a little too low or may drop (or rise) too quickly, all of which can trigger headaches and migraines. If this sounds familiar, but you still want a sweeter snack, try to incorporate more low or medium-GI foods such as pears, dried apricots, plums, grapes, dates, figs or kiwi fruit in your diet.

Snacking on fresh or dried fruits — preferably organic — and eating little and often will keep your blood-sugar levels steady. Another advantage of eating frequent small meals is that this will keep your digestive system functioning smoothly.

DO YOU NEED ADVICE?

Send your nutritional problems to jane.clarke@thetimes.co.uk or to Jane Clarke, times2, 1 Pennington Street, London E98 1TT. Her replies cannot apply to individual cases and should be taken in a general context. Consult your GP with any health or specific conditions. Jane cannot enter into personal correspondence.

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