Your Headaches could be a Sign of Poor Gut Health

Suffering from headaches can greatly disrupt your every day life, and often it can feel like there is no relief without medication. There can be many causes of headaches, but did you know that some headaches can be caused by poor gut health? Food sensitivities, depleted gut flora, and other GI issues can in fact lead to headaches—and improving your gut health could help to provide relief from painful headache symptoms. Rather than simply treating your headaches, finding and treating the root of the problem can improve your health and well being in the long term. Examining your gut health could be the first step in this process.

The Gut-Brain Connection

It may be hard to believe that gut health could be contributing to headaches. However, the complex system called the “gut-brain axis” actually allows the gastrointestinal tract and the brain to communicate with each other. Consider the last time you felt nervous, frightened, or excited… were these feelings accompanied by roiling in your stomach, or “butterflies?” This is due to the nervous system’s connections between your brain and GI tract, triggered by your fight or flight instincts.

If your body is in fight or flight more too often—usually due to high levels of stress—it can affect your digestive system and cause gut problems including altered bowel movements and effects on the body’s microbiome. Many studies suggest that this connection can affect the body in other ways, and may play a role in depression, anxiety, and other mental conditions.

The Connection to Headaches

Similarly, an imbalance in the gut can lead headaches though the gut-brain connection. Often, those who experience migraines suffer from gastrointestinal symptoms including nausea and vomiting. Conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel disease, and celiac disease have also been connected to migraine and headache symptoms. Studies indicate that gut bacteria and inflammatory mediators may affect the gut-brain axis, and that diet and weight can further influence these effects. In order to minimize headache symptoms, gut health should be restored, allowing you to determine if a GI imbalance is a contributor to your headaches.

Improving your Gut Health

In order to improve your gut health—and determine if headache symptoms are connected—many natural treatment options are available. Often, however, you can improve your gut health by changing your diet.

First, you should determine if you have any food sensitivities. One major culprit could be celiac disease, which prevents the body from properly processing gluten. Even if you do not have celiac disease, a gluten sensitivity could be causing harm to your GI tract. Try eliminating foods containing gluten from your diet to see if this improves your symptoms. This strategy of elimination can also be used with other foods in order to determine various food sensitivities. For a structured program to determine if you are sensitive to any foods, contact Dr Cecilia Ho for information on her Digestion Restoration Program.

Diet is important to gut health, and alongside determining food sensitivities you should eat a diet rich in fiber, focus on foods with a low glycemic index (such as fruits, vegetables, and legumes), and supplement your diet with sources of vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids, and probiotics.

Headaches can cause disruptions to your life, but there can be relief. Gut health may be overlooked as a contributor to headaches, and focusing on returning balance to your GI tract could help minimize your symptoms. Not only can a healthy GI tract improve headache symptoms, but also it can help contribute to a healthier, happier life.

To determine how to best improve your gut health, consult with your naturopathic doctor. If you live in the Pickering region and are looking for additional help you can contact Dr. Cecilia Ho to book an appointment! Call 905-492-8688 today to join Dr. Cecilia Ho’s Digestion Restoration Program.