Can Consumption Of Too Painful Food Cause Headaches?

JAKARTA - Minerals in the blood or also known as electrolytes are important for health. However, consistency must be balanced.

Any disturbance in the electrolyte balance can cause headaches, said Michael Doerrler, DO, a headache specialist at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago.

Sodium is a mineral that is always associated with the cause of headaches. And sodium is the main ingredient of table salt other than chloride minerals. Research results also show that oversamed foods can cause headaches. In addition, sodium is also associated with triggering high blood pressure, a condition related to headaches.

"Sodium can cause high blood pressure or worsen its condition," says Dr. Doerrrler, assistant professor of neurology at Loyola University Medical Center.

High blood pressure can trigger headaches and headaches can trigger blood pressure. This could be a vicious circle, continued Doerrrler.

The relationship between sodium foods and high blood pressure is very strong. Sodium is a mineral that draws water on itself. When you have too much sodium in the blood, it draws water from your body into your blood vessels. The effect is like what happens when you raise the water in the garden hose: The pressure rises. But this time the cause is your blood pressure.

Headaches due to high blood pressure can occur if your blood pressure rate is higher than 180 above 110. The first figure is the systolic pressure, which is the pressure in the blood vessels when the heart beats. The second figure is the diastolic stress, when your heart relaxes between the heartbeats.

However, numbers that can cause headaches show extraordinary high blood pressure. This means that high blood pressure due to too much sodium is not the common cause of headaches.

However, if you do suffer from headaches due to high blood pressure, you may feel like there is a tight bond around your head. If you experience headaches caused by high blood pressure, you need to consult a doctor to control your blood pressure.

A study from Johns Hopkins University shows that too much salt in food can cause headaches. Even if you don't have high blood pressure.

Research published in December 2014 in the medical journal BMJ Open, found that a third of people who consume a lot of salt will suffer from pain compared to those who consume less salt, as the National Headache Foundation shows.

The study found that the increase in headaches was directly related to the amount of salt and was not in demand whether participants had high blood pressure or not. The researchers note that reducing salt in foods can help prevent headaches.

In the BMJ Open study, the high salt group consumes about 8 grams of salt every day during the study. Meanwhile, the recommended daily healthy consumption limit is 5 grams or 1 teaspoon.

If you can control the amount of salt in food, then headaches can be reduced. However, to achieve this, you need to read the food label carefully, check the sodium content, and hold back the desire to give salt to food.

"Reducing salt can indeed reduce headaches, but also provide other great benefits, such as reducing the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and kidney disease," said Dr. Doerrrler.

"If you have a headache three times a week, you have to go to a doctor," he said.

You may need to have blood pressure checked. Although blood pressure is fine, talk to the doctor to find out whether it is necessary to reduce the amount of salt in the food or not.