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Until I started focusing on headaches, I focused on Intuitive Eating as a nutritionist. I was (and am!) strongly anti-diet. In my opinion, dieting is not only incredibly bad for your body, but also for your mental health. Unfortunately, this is still not widely accepted and doctors are the first to come up with the solution “just lose weight” when you come to them with headaches. As a result, many women desperately try to lose weight just to get rid of their headaches, only to find that their headaches only get worse. In this blog I’ll explain why this happens and why weight loss is therefore not the ultimate solution to get rid of your headaches.

Quick results.

If you finally have the courage to go to the doctor after years of headaches and you are then advised to lose weight, you also want to lose weight as quickly as possible. After all, you want to get rid of your headache as quickly as possible.

Dieting is often promoted as THE solution to achieve quick results, so resorting to a diet seems the most obvious solution. But to make things easier for you, they choose to ignore the negative effects of dieting.

In addition, I also think it is quite generalizing and lazy of doctors to immediately throw the weight card on the table. Yes, indeed, if you have an unhealthy weight, the chance of high blood pressure is greater. And with high blood pressure you are more likely to get headaches. But it is simply not true that every type of headache is caused by high blood pressure. And it is therefore not true that losing weight is the solution for every type of headache.

When it comes to headaches, you may want a quick fix. Who doesn’t want to get rid of their headaches quickly? But just like with losing weight, it is better to go for a sustainable result than for a quick result.

Quick fix.
The problem with dieting to lose weight.

The problem with dieting to lose weight.

I just said it: diets are seen and promoted as THE way to lose weight. Various (mostly American) influencers are launching one new trendy diet after another into the world.

This started in the 60s, but reached a new peak in the 70s with, among others, the Atkins diet, followed in the 80s and 90s by, among others, diets such as Montignac and the South Beach Diet. Nowadays, we ban carbohydrates again, we do Intermittent Fasting or we use diabetes medication to lose weight quickly.

Diets have always been around, but although they always promise nice results, they also entail many health risks.

  • Blood sugar fluctuations:
    Most diets focus on severely restricting your calorie intake. They do this by prescribing low-calorie foods, skipping meals, or making you eat very small portions. This drastic reduction in your calorie intake can cause your blood sugar to fluctuate considerably, which can cause headaches.
  • Nutrient deficiencies:
    Many diets are so focused on restricting your calorie intake that you miss out on important nutrients. The deficiency of essential vitamins and minerals can not only cause headaches, but also several other long-term health problems.
  • Muscle loss:
    By dieting severely and therefore severely restricting your calorie intake, you not only lose fat, but also muscle mass in the long run. This lowers your metabolism, which only harms your health in the long run.

Why dieting gives you headaches.

Many diets used to lose weight cause headaches. Diet headaches are a sign that your body is out of balance. This can be caused by:

  • Dehydration:
    Some diets, especially those that restrict carbohydrate intake, actually only cause fluid loss. When you eat carbohydrates, which is what you should do according to a healthy diet, you retain 3 grams of fluid for every gram of carbohydrates you consume. This means that the moment you stop eating carbohydrates, you lose all that fluid again at a rapid pace.

    But your body does need that fluid. If you have a fluid deficiency, you get a headache. That is common knowledge.
  • Loss of electrolytes:
    With all that fluid, you also lose important minerals such as potassium and sodium. A deficiency of these minerals can cause symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, muscle weakness or cramps, confusion, loss of concentration, increased risk of falling and heart rhythm disorders.
  • Fuel deficiency
    Your brain needs continuous fuel to function. If you follow a diet that severely restricts calorie intake, you disrupt that fuel supply. A lack of fuel for your brain can lead to symptoms such as headaches, loss of concentration and panic attacks.
  • Stress and tension:
    Following a diet can be a stressful experience. Constantly monitoring your nutrition, counting calories, feeling restricted in your actions can lead to tension and stress-related headaches.
Headaches because of dieting
The yo-yo effect

The dangers of the yo-yo effect.

Many people who follow strict diets experience the infamous yo-yo effect. They lose weight quickly and easily on the diet, but gain it back just as quickly when they stop. Often, when they stop dieting, they even become heavier than when they started the diet.

This only leads to more dieting, more weight gain, more dieting, etc. You end up in a vicious circle of endless dieting without lasting results. And you cannot break this circle with the next diet. You can only break it by stopping with dieting all together and adopting a healthy eating pattern and a healthy relationship with food.

The yo-yo effect is not only frustrating, but it is also very bad for your hormone balance, your metabolism and actually your overall health. These constant changes in your body can eventually lead to chronic headaches.

So what does work?

It’s simple: choose a sustainable, healthy lifestyle. Instead of choosing the next trendy diet you see on TikTok, it’s much healthier and more useful to choose a healthy and balanced lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle focuses on long-term healthy habits that only benefit your physical and mental health.

  • Eat a varied and balanced diet:
    Instead of focusing on calories, choose a wide range of different foods so that you get the right amount of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, fibers, vitamins and minerals every day. Preferably choose natural and unprocessed products such as vegetables, fruit, whole grains and healthy fats.
  • Stay hydrated
    Make sure you drink enough every day. On average, our body consists of 70% water. Some of that water is in our blood, is intercellular. The rest is needed for the functioning of our organs. In addition, 90% of the brain, 79% of the heart and lungs, 76% of the muscles, 70% of the liver, 22% of the bones and even 10% of the teeth consist of water

    Water is therefore essential for the functioning of our body and to prevent headaches.
  • Listen to your body:
    Instead of following strict eating rules, it is better to listen to your body. Eat when you are hungry, stop eating when you are full. Feel what your body needs, instead of eating something ‘because that’s how it should be’. By applying the principles of Intuitive Eating, you ensure that your body remains in balance. Do you find it difficult to determine what your body wants to tell you? Then my Intuitive Body Scan is for you!
  • Exercise:
    Exercise should be fun, that’s the only way you can keep it up. Don’t exercise to obsessively burn calories, but choose a regular form of exercise that you enjoy. This can be anything. Even a daily walk is a form of exercise

    Regular exercise not only helps you lose weight, it is also very good for your mood and works very well against stress. And that is good for (or against) your headache.
  • Get enough sleep:
    A lack of sleep can cause headaches and other health problems. But so can sleeping too much. In this, it is also important to learn to listen to your body. What is enough sleep for one person can be too much or too little for another. Make sure you develop a sleep pattern that supports you physically and mentally.
A healthy lifestyle

Are you curious after reading this blog whether and how I could help you? Then send me a message on Instagram. Or contact me via the contact form.

Every month I raffle 2 free headache sessions. During this free session I will look at your headache and its cause with you. I will look at the limiting beliefs that are lurking under the surface and resolve them for you. In addition, I will give you some tips and advice that you can immediately start using to experience less headaches immediately after the session.

My client Karin said about this session: “Immediately after the session I already experienced much less headaches”.

Do you want a chance to win one of those sessions? Then fill in the form here to participate.

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