Last week we discussed the importance of avoiding aspartame and artificial sweeteners due to the numerous deleterious effects on our bodies.   One of the issues we addressed was the potential for headaches due to the use of aspartame.   However, this is only one of the myriad of triggers for headaches.

When addressing headaches, it is important to determine the characteristics of your headaches.  It is crucial to understand dangerous vs. “safe” headaches.   I use safe as a relative term, because all headaches are painful and significantly impact our quality of life, but not all headaches are indications that a serious issue is going on.  Headaches have been classified by the most common constellation of symptoms that occur with each type.

To begin, we will discuss the headaches that require emergent attention.

HEADACHES DUE TO BLEEDING IN THE BRAIN

A sudden onset of a severe headache, often described as “the worst headache of my life” is concerning for possible bleeding in the brain.  These headaches can be associated with nausea, vomiting, visual changes, neurological changes and/or changes in consciousness.   Especially if these headaches occur after a trauma or head injury, it is imperative to go directly to the emergency room for imaging studies to evaluate for any bleeding in the head.  In addition, if you have a family history of individuals having bleeding strokes, you should be evaluated promptly.

Another headache that, if chronic, requires attention is a headache that presents upon waking up.  Infrequent morning headaches are not generally worrisome especially if you have a cause, like a sinus headache, significant tension/stress, or an illness.  However, if you have chronic morning headaches, which actually get better throughout the day it is a good idea to have these headaches evaluated by a health care professional.   Especially if the headaches are associated with progressive neurological symptoms such as, but not limited too, numbness, tingling, weakness, word finding difficulties, visual changes, balance issues, and decreased coordination.

Finally, any headaches associated with fever, chills, light sensitivity, and neck pain should be evaluated promptly as these can be indications of infections in the brain and/or spinal cord.

TENSION HEADACHES

The most common type of benign headaches are TENSION HEADACHES.  These headaches can be described as band-like in nature.   Typically, there is dull aching pain around the temples.  Often there is tightness or pressure in the forehead, sides or back of the head.  In addition, you may have tenderness in the shoulder and neck muscles and even the scalp.  Generally these headaches are brought on by stress and alleviated with stress reduction and relaxation.  Exercise can be helpful to relieve tension headaches.

CLUSTER HEADACHES

These headaches are much less common and not very well understood.  It is hypothesized that they are related to blood flow in the brain.  These headaches by definition occur in groups or clusters.  These headaches are always located only on 1 side of the face.  Usually, they present around the eye but can radiate to the jaw, temporal region or forehead.  They can be associated with symptoms on the side of the headache, such as eye tearing, nasal congestion, sweating, eyelid drooping, and pupil changes.  These headaches can be worsened by alcohol consumption during the time when they are occurring.   In addition, cluster headaches are associated with heavy smoking.   These headaches tend to occur in groups (ranging from 1 time every other day, up to 8 times per day, by definition) and there can be periods of remission.  Cluster headaches are more difficult to treat and require physician supervision for treatment and prevention.

MIGRAINE HEADACHES

Migraine headaches can also be described as the worst headache of ones life and therefore can be confused with headaches due to bleeding in the brain.  Typically, migraine suffers have had a series of migraines and are able to tell the difference.   In general, migraines can occur with or without an aura.  An aura is a constellation of symptoms which presents before the actually headache ensues.  For example, an aura can be visual changes, sensory changes (such as smells, strange lights,)  or hallucinations (confusing thoughts).   Migraines can be associated with nausea, vomiting, visual changes and even neurological symptoms.  In addition, migraines can be associated with hormonal changes.  Like Cluster headaches, Migraine headaches should be managed by your health care professional.

SINUS HEADACHES

These headaches are associated with sinusitis, or an infection/inflammation of your sinuses.   Typically these headaches are associated with facial pressure, pressure above your teeth, congestion, and post-nasal drip.  Treatment of these headaches should be focused on treating the sinusitis.

So what can you do to help alleviate your headache intensity and frequency?

Monitor your diet, because often headache triggers include foods.  The most common offender is dairy.  This can be because dairy leads to sinus congestion. However, other foods, such as alcohol, gluten, chocolate, bananas, sugar and artificial sweeteners can be implicated causes for headaches.

If you suffer from chronic daily headaches, keep a food diary and rotate your foods.  Sometimes, headaches can occur even 1-2 days after eating the offending food.   Try to eliminate foods and then re-introduce one food at a time every 2-3 days to determine if your headaches return.

Daily exercise also helps to alleviate most headaches, though you can get an exercised induced headache if you do heavy lifting, heavy exertion, or especially if you are dehydrated.

A few tips for preventing headaches:

1. Stay hydrated – drink lots of water and eat foods with a high water content such as cucumbers and watermelon
2. Coffee can help with headaches – however, caffeine withdrawal headaches are often a common cause of headaches
3. Foods rich in B vitamins, or the addition of a B complex vitamin to your diet can help prevent headaches. Both vitamin B2 and B3 deficiencies have been implicated in contributing to headaches
4. Foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids help prevent headaches (salmon, flax seed)
5. Bananas and foods rich in potassium are helpful for headache treatment and prevention
6. Magnesium containing foods or supplements are helpful in treatment and prevention of headaches (quinoa, spinach)
7. Co-Enzyme Q10 and Selenium have also been useful for treating headaches (speak to your doctor first before beginning these supplements).

As always, if you suffer from chronic daily headaches, address these with your healthcare provider for optimal treatment and prevention.

Disclaimer. The information provided here is not intended to substitute for medical care and should not be used for treatment or diagnosis. If you have, or suspect you have a problem concerning your health please consult with a licensed healthcare professional.

Tips for staying compliant over July 4^th weekend!!!

Summer is finally here!   There is nothing like relaxing and enjoying the July 4^th weekend with family and friends.  To those of us who have committed to lifestyle changes, a weekend of abandonment can have quite devastating effects on our weeks of hard work.

Fortunately, there are some simple choices and substitutions that we can make to help alleviate the negative effects of glutinous consumption during a holiday weekend.  The issue with July 4^th weekend, is that it is just that, “a weekend” instead of a simple cheat meal.  To properly stay complaint with the MAX diet, you should select the event that tempts you most and use that as your cheat meal and otherwise stuck to the diet.

However, for a lot of us, we have multiple events throughout the weekend, all of which are tempting.   So below I have listed just a few tips to help you make better choices that do not cause you to spiral out of control.

1. Eat at home before you go.

This way you will be less tempted to eat junk food while you are out and about.   Limit the amount of carbs you eat at home before your activity and add in some extra good fats like grass fed butter, olive oil, avocado, eggs etc.  This extra fat will stimulate your satiety center and will keep you feeling full and satisfied.

2. Really try to keep the simple carbs to a minimum

‘We all know that eating simple carbs such as cakes, candies, chips, pretzels, M&M’s etc are devastating to you diet, but do we know the reason?  According to Dr. David Ludwig, MD, PhD, an Endocrinologist and researcher at Boston Children’s Hospital, eating sugar actually activates the very same centers in the brain that are activated by using cocaine and heroin.  Sugar is unbelievably addictive.  Eating simple carbs that quickly turn into sugar makes you hungrier and does not turn on your satiety center.   Once the sugar “high wears off”, you feel hungry and start to look for more simple carbs for a quick fix.  This becomes a negative cycle that spiral downward can derail any diet very quickly.

3. If you do need something crunchy and are not in the mood for raw veggies – skip the pretzels and pita chips.

Instead eat a handful of potato chips. While this sounds counter-intuitive it’s because most pretzels and pita chips contain gluten and are highly processed carbs.  Many people are intolerant of gluten, which is why it is eliminated in later phases of the diet.  In addition, eating gluten can cause you to hold onto water weight.  Potato chips (especially baked or those cooked in olive oil) contain some fat in addition to the carbs.  The addition of fat helps to curb your appetite.   Most potato chips are made with inflammatory omega-6 fats so are not a great choice routinely, but in this case a few won’t hurt.

4. Skip the diet soda (and the regular soda)

Diet soda is one of the worst choices you can make because it has artificial sweetener, which reeks havoc on the bacteria in your gut.  In addition, the artificial sweetener tricks your body into thinking it is getting calories.  However, when the calories do not accompany the sweetener, the body craves it.   This will make you more ravenous. In addition, artificial sweeteners negatively effect the bodies ability to respond properly to insulin.

5. Feel free to drink some alcohol, but be selective in what you drink.

Skip the beer and sweetened mixed drinks and instead reach for a glass of red or white wine, or Vodka with club soda/fruit flavored seltzers (no artificial sweeteners).  Steer clear of mixers such as Crystal Light as that contains aspartame or sucralose (Splenda) and will cause the issues just listed above.

Most beer contains gluten and can pack on the calories,  therefore avoiding beer will help in reducing calorie intake and prevent the negative effects of gluten containing foods, such as bloating, fatigue and weight gain due to water weight.

6. Use lettuce wraps as a bun or put the burgers over a salad.
7. Lettuce provides fiber, has negligible calories and is more filling without all the negatives of bread.    In addition, use condiments but avoid those with corn syrup and lots of added sugars (i.e regular Ketchup).  Heinz makes a simply Heinz Ketchup without all the additives found in regular Ketchup.   Also, feel free to use the sauerkraut and pickles for the probiotics they contain as long as they are not overly processed or loaded with additives.

7. Although in MAX dairy is usually eliminated, if you are going to have dessert, your best bet is fresh fruit or frozen fruit smoothies (without added sugar). However, if you are craving something sweet, go for the 5 ingredient full fat ice cream. Avoid the processed ice creams and desserts with lots of additives and indulge in real ice cream.  The high fat content in this case is combined with a fair amount of sugar, so you may not turn on your satiety center.  That being said, you are much better off choosing real, non-processed, not artificially sweetened foods over the low fat, high sugar, highly processed desserts.

8. Try to get in at least 20-30 minutes of exercise at least once or twice during the three-day weekend. Take your family for a walk, a bike ride, a walk on the boardwalk, or play sports.  Make sure to do whatever it takes to be active.    This will release endorphins and help elevate your mood, but also allow for positive social interactions and help to instill the importance of exercise in your family members.

Most importantly don’t beat yourself up if you slip up a bit.  The MAX challenge is a 10- week program that gives you the tools to live a better, healthier and more fulfilling life.  While it is phases are broken up into 10-week cycles, the idea behind the MAX and the diet are meant to be lifestyle changes.  Making small changes each challenge will have lasting effects and over time become big changes.

Disclaimer. The information provided here is not intended to substitute for medical care and should not be used for treatment or diagnosis. If you have, or suspect you have a problem concerning your health please consult with a licensed healthcare professional.

Fatty acids have many important uses in our bodies. Fatty acids come in different shapes and sizes, and are named based on their size and chemical structure. Omega-3 fatty acids are a specific class of fatty acids that are utilized by our bodies and are used as the precursors for anti-inflammatory compounds.

Essential Fatty Acids are those that cannot be made by our bodies and must be consumed as part of our diet. The name Omega -3 Fatty acid describes a class of different length fatty acids which all contain a similar chemical structure.

The most well-known Omega 3 fatty acids are ALA (alpha linolenic acid), EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid).

ALA is found in
Flaxseed
English walnuts
Brussel sprouts
Salmon
Sardines
Chia
Hemp
Tofu
Spinach
Other plant foods

The body in theory has the ability to convert ALA into DHA and EPA. However, this pathway is influenced by dietary intake and does not work optimally in all people. Therefore, it is often helpful to consume foods with DHA and EPA in case the body is unable to make these compounds in the needed amounts. There are multiple studies that have shown the health benefits of DHA and EPA and I will describe these in more detail later in this article.

EPA and DHA are more difficult to obtain with a strict vegetarian diet. Sea plants and certain fermented foods do contain small amounts of DHA, but DHA is not found in land based plants. DHA makes up about 20% of the brain by weight, and is found in most fish, eggs, and milk and cheeses obtained from grass fed animals. EPA is found in most fish, especially salmon and sardines. The amount of EPA and DHA in fish is dependent on their diet. Farmed fish are sometimes supplemented with processed Omega-3 fatty acids to increase the concentration found in these fish.

Multiple studies have demonstrated the beneficial effects of Omega-3 fatty acids, specifically EPA and DHA, for our general health and well-being. Below is a summary of my review of the literature, and the findings in various studies:

– Fish oils lower blood sugar and decrease liver fat stores
– Increasing DHA and EPA decreases the incidence of metabolic syndrome by 20%
– EPA and DHA supplementation helps to lower blood pressure (at approx. 1gm/day)
– In obese patients, insulin sensitivity is improved with supplementation of EPA and DHA (at approx. 1 gm/day)
– Higher levels of EPA consumption lower risk of CHF (congestive heart failure) and increase survival in patients with heart failure by 35% – thought to be because of the effect on the heart muscle pumping ability
– Omega-3 fatty acids improve exercise-induced asthma and increase pulmonary function 5-fold based on pulmonary function tests
– Fish oils help to slow neuro-inflammation and may slow progression of neuro-degenerative disorders (eg. Alzheimers, Parkinson’s)
– Mild cognitive dementia improves with supplementation of 900mg of DHA
– Omega-3 Fatty acids may slow or reverse nerve damage from diabetes

So what should you do? All fish oils are not created equally. Fish oil in its natural state obtained directly from the diet is probably best, but it is difficult to eat the amount needed by our bodies. The next best option is supplementing our diet with at least 2.5 grams/day of EPA and DHA in the form of a pharmaceutical grade, highly refined Omega-3 fatty acid supplement (if ok with your doctor). Unrefined fish oils can have many contaminants such as PCBs and Mercury. Most fish oils sold over the counter have a very low concentration of EPA and DHA and contain “other Omega-3 fatty acids” which require our bodies to convert them into an active form. As was stated earlier, ALA intake is important, but this needs to be converted into DHA and EPA in order to be effectively utilized in the anti-inflammatory pathway.

One final note is that while Omega-3 fatty acids such as ALA, EPA, and DHA are the precursors of anti-inflammatory mediators in our body, Omega-6 fatty acids such as AA (arachidonic acid) are the precursors of the pro-inflammatory mediators in our body. Omega-6 fatty acids are found in many cooking oils such as corn, palm, sunflower, safflower and soybean oil. The western diet is very high in omega-6 fatty acids and relatively low in omega-3 fatty acids. By increasing the amount of omega-3 fatty acid consumption and decreasing omega-6 fatty acid consumption, the inflammatory state of the body is improved. This is thought to have a beneficial effect of chronic inflammatory disease states such as arthritis.

Disclaimer. The information provided here is not intended to substitute for medical care and should not be used for treatment or diagnosis. If you have, or suspect you have a problem concerning your health please consult with a licensed healthcare professional.