How to Prevent and Treat Headaches While Intermittent Fasting

Understanding and Preventing Headaches While Fasting

Intermittent fasting continues to grow in popularity thanks to a myriad of health benefits like improved blood sugar control, heart health, brain function and increased weight loss. However, making the switch to routine fasting comes with a transitional period where the body adapts to using fat stores for energy instead of frequent calories.

During this fasting adjustment period, headaches are a common side effect. Luckily, with a bit of preparation, there are several ways to help avoid headaches while fasting to make the experience more comfortable.

What Causes Headaches During Fasting?

Before exploring how to prevent intermittent fasting headaches, it helps to understand what triggers them in the first place. Here are a few of the most common culprits:

• Caffeine Withdrawal - For regular coffee or tea drinkers, abstaining from caffeinated beverages on empty stomachs can trigger withdrawal headaches.
• Dehydration - Inadequate water intake is a common fasting mistake, often resulting in dehydration and subsequent headaches.
• Hunger Pangs - Its not unusual to get hunger-related headaches as your body adjusts to going longer periods without food.
• Blood Sugar Changes - The metabolic shift associated with intermittent fasting can cause blood sugar spikes and drops, sometimes triggering headaches.

8 Tips to Avoid Fasting Headaches

Luckily, most common intermittent fasting headaches can be avoided from the start - or easily treated - with a few simple habits:

1. Stay Hydrated

Dehydration is a frequent cause of fasting headaches. Thats why sufficient water intake should be your main priority, especially in the first week of a new fasting protocol. Herbal teas, bone broth and electrolyte beverages can also prevent dehydration. Tracking daily water consumption helps ensure you meet hydration needs.

2. Get Plenty of Sleep

Not getting enough sleep negatively affects everything from metabolism and blood sugar to stress, all of which may exacerbate fasting headaches. Make getting 7-9 hours of quality sleep per night a key part of your intermittent fasting routine for optimal health and headache prevention.

3. Limit Caffeine

Caffeine consumption directly correlates with intermittent fasting headaches among regular coffee and tea drinkers. Avoid excessive amounts, slowly taper intake before fasting periods, or switch to lower-caffeine teas like green tea. Be mindful of withdrawal.

4. Take Electrolytes

Supplementing with electrolytes like sodium, potassium and magnesium helps counteract deficiencies that often contribute to intermittent fasting headaches. Bouillon cubes, bone broth, electrolyte powders or mineral-rich foods are smart ways to get enough.

5. Break Fasts Slowly

Spiking blood sugar too rapidly when breaking fasts sparks headaches for some intermittent fasters. Prevent this by breaking fasts slowly with a small snack or meal 20-30 minutes before eating a regular post-fast meal. Taking a walk before eating also stabilizes blood sugar.

6. Manage Stress

Stress directly impacts headaches, compounding the intensity of fasting-related ones. Be proactive by practicing meditation, going for walks outdoors, trying calming supplements, or using stress management strategies when fasting.

7. Consider Supplements

Targeted over-the-counter supplements like magnesium, CoQ10, riboflavin (B2), butterbur, feverfew and melatonin help prevent headaches among chronic sufferers. Discuss options with your doctor to identify supplements suitable for your needs while fasting.

8. Extend Your Eating Window

If you experience recurring headaches when starting intermittent fasting, it may be wise to gradually work up to longer fasting periods. Start with 12-14 hours fasts, slowly extending weekly until 16+ hour fasts are comfortable without headaches.

Common Causes of Intermittent Fasting Headaches

As outlined briefly above, headaches while fasting generally come down to just a handful of culprits - mainly hydration status, blood sugar changes, hunger, caffeine intake, electrolyte balance and adjusting to metabolic shifts.

To avoid painful how to avoid headaches while fasting, it pays to understand exactly why and how these factors trigger headaches so action can be taken:

Dehydration Headaches

Going even just 1-2% below optimal hydration levels causes headaches in some intermittent fasters. Unfortunately fasting directly impacts hydration needs and status, thanks to fluid loss from respiration, sweat and urination.

Without sufficient water intake, dehydration ensues, the brain shrinks and pulls on the pain-sensitive meninges surrounding it. This typical fasting headache feels like an all-over tightening. Dehydration also triggers headaches by causing electrolyte disturbances.

Hunger Headaches

Ghrelin, the "hunger hormone, triggers hunger pangs as fasting periods progress. While harmless, these pangs emanate from the empty stomach near the same nerves that relay head pain.

So while not directly causing headaches, feeling empty and hungry while fasting seems to crank up headache intensity for those predisposed - likely due to shared nerve pathways. Hunger pangs typically peak within the first 72 hours of fasting before subsiding.

Caffeine Withdrawal Headaches

Coffee and tea make fasting more comfortable for many people thanks to a caffeine boost. But for regular caffeine consumers, abstaining for extended fasts often causes withdrawal.

Caffeine constricts blood vessels in the brain. When halted abruptly, these vessels dilate and swell, stretching nerves and causing terrible headaches. Weaning off caffeine slowly before fasting avoids this. Withdrawal usually peaks by 20-48 hours.

Low Blood Sugar Headaches

Initially, intermittent fasting triggers insulin levels to fall and blood sugar to lower. Then, fasting facilitates metabolic flexibility to burn fat rather than sugar for fuel through ketosis. But the transition can be rocky.

As the body adapts, blood sugar falls too rapidly at times, triggering headaches. In contrast, breaking fast incorrectly spike blood sugar also sparks headaches via an insulin crash. Stabilizing blood sugar prevents this.

Electrolyte Imbalance Headaches

Electrolytes like sodium, potassium and magnesium are essential for proper nerve conduction, muscle contraction, hydration and blood flow - making balanced levels vital for headache prevention.

But fasting stresses electrolyte status between fluid shifts and using stores for energy. Deficiencies develop quickly, disrupting neurological function and vascular constriction, causing painful headaches.

Strategies for Coping with Headaches During Fasts

Despite best efforts at prevention, intermittent fasting headaches still occasionally occur as the body adapts metabolically. When they do strike, having go-to coping strategies helps power through with less misery.

If you develop a how to avoid headaches while fasting that over-the-counter pain medications dont touch, try one of these methods to find relief:

Break Your Fast

If a headache comes on fast and furious, breaking your fast is the simplest and most effective way to get quick relief. Drink water first then have a small snack like nuts or yogurt. Retrying a shorter fast may be wise.

Use Electrolytes

Replenishing depleted electrolyte stores with bone broth, salted nuts or electrolyte supplements like Nuun tablets often alleviates fasting headaches within 30 minutes by improving hydration.

Exercise

Going for a short walk, trying yoga stretches or doing other light activity you can tolerate boosts blood flow, releases endorphins to relieve pain and takes the mind off a headaches intensity. This strategy works for some.

Massage Pressure Points

Ancient healing arts like acupressure target pressure points to relieve headaches by improving circulation and blood flow. Press into hollows around temples, below collar bones or between thumb and forefinger to ease intermittent fasting headaches.

Wait It Out

When all else fails, sometimes just waiting out a severe intermittent fasting headache is the only choice - knowing it will pass as the body adapts. Rest in a cool, dark room, applying a cold compress to make waiting as comfortable as possible.

Avoiding Future Headaches While Fasting

Once you pinpoint the trigger behind your intermittent fasting headaches, prevention becomes much simpler for subsequent fasts. Refer to the headache causes and remedies outlined above to continually improve your fasting routine.

Troubleshooting fasting headaches might mean slowly easing into longer fasts, taking electrolytes preventatively, staying very hydrated, getting 7+ hours of sleep or managing caffeine better. Customizing an approach that works for your body and lifestyle lessens headaches moving forward.

And when all else fails, dont hesitate to speak to your doctor about prescription interventions to make intermittent fasting comfortable long-term. There are always new tactics to try that can help avoid problematic how to avoid headaches while fasting.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new treatment regimen.