The all-natural elixir for halting recurring headaches
If you experience recurring headaches, I’m sure you’ve tried everything to make them go away once and for all. But there’s one highly effective solution you may have overlooked.
This approach is inexpensive, readily available, and has zero side effects.
If that sounds too good to be true, I can assure you — for once, it’s not.
Because Mother Nature has supplied the perfect “elixir” to relieve your aching head: water.
Fewer headaches and less pain
You’ve probably heard that the human body is composed of approximately 60 percent water. But in actuality, it’s probably a little less since most of us don’t replenish our bodies adequately.
If we did, we would likely have fewer headaches. And there’s a good bit of research to back that up.
For instance, when a team of scientists at the Netherlands’ University of Maastricht conducted a urology study, they noted that one of the participants experienced spontaneous relief of regular migraine headaches when he was asked to drink 1.5 liters of water every day in addition to his usual water intake.
When the study was over, he returned to his normal intake and his headaches returned.
Sensing they were on to something, the Maastricht team launched a new study. They recruited 18 people who experienced regular migraine headaches. Half were randomly assigned a placebo medication while the others were asked to increase their water intake by 1.5 liters daily.
According to two-week headache diaries kept by the participants, those in the water group only managed to drink about one additional liter of water per day — a little over a quart.
But even though they fell short of the 1.5-liter mark, they experienced two positive measures:
- Reduction in the total number of hours of headache episodes
- Reduction in the intensity of headaches
Based on this and other research, the Maastricht team believes that some headaches may be nothing more than brain stem dysfunction, triggered by mild dehydration.
Stop a headache in its tracks
In Dr. Fred Pescatore’s Pain-Free Life Protocol, he says he’s been obsessed with hydration for almost as long as he’s been practicing medicine. And he always advises his patients to increase their intake — especially when it comes to headaches.
“In fact,” he says, “dehydration is one of the most common causes of a headache. As soon as you feel one on the way, drink a large glass of water and you may be able to stop it in its tracks.”
In a study that closely parallels the one I described above, Dr. Pescatore notes that volunteers with migraine or tension headaches who drank at least 32 ounces of water every day reported that the cumulative duration of their headaches dropped by more than 10 hours a week. And the intensity of the headaches was lessened as well.
In another study of 34 participants with recurrent headaches, Dr. Pescatore says 22 had “complete relief” within just half an hour of drinking 25 ounces of water. And another 11 said they had relief within 1 to 3 hours.
How much water do you need?
You’ve probably heard the long-standing, one-size-fits-all advice to drink eight glasses of water per day. But according to Dr. Pescatore, that may or may not be enough.
His advice is tailored to your body and activity level.
First, he says, “Every day you should be drinking half your body weight in ounces. So a 150-pound woman would need 75 ounces of water daily, as a rule of thumb.”
And if you exercise, you need to drink more: For every half hour you exercise, add another eight ounces to your daily total.
That might seem like a lot at first, but Dr. Pescatore predicts it won’t take long for you to make a habit of it. And he adds this tip: “Down a full glass first thing in the morning, before each meal, and another one before bed. That will make a big dent in your daily requirement right there.
“You should also keep water with you at all times, or as much as you possibly can. And take a big sip every couple of minutes. Make these simple adjustments to your daily routine, and you’ll meet your daily quota without even thinking about it.”
And of course, if you suffer from recurring headaches or migraines, you can expect to see them start to diminish within just a few days.
For more insights about the type of water to drink, the pros and cons of water bottles, and a special note about caffeinated beverages, refer to Dr. Pescatore’s Pain-Free Life Protocol. You can learn more about it or enroll today by clicking here.
SOURCES
eurekamag.com/research/004/441/004441634.php
Increasing the daily water intake for the prophylactic treatment of headache: a pilot trial.
European Journal of Neurology
September 2005