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When your head hurts at work, it is even to some extent natural and not offensive. But when she starts to get sick at a concert or on vacation, it’s pretty upsetting. We all know that migraine triggers are stress, bright lights and wine, but there are far less obvious causes of headaches.
1. Aged cheeses
It’s still unclear why they cause migraines, but tyramine, a compound found in aged cheeses, can trigger headaches. Fortunately, their use does not guarantee that a migraine will follow. It is likely that the pleasure of taste will be stronger.
2. Travel and jet lag
A long-awaited vacation at sea, a meeting with friends or just a trip is sometimes overshadowed by the fact that your head suddenly starts to hurt. No matter which class or airline you fly, cabin pressure causes vasodilation, and all of this, along with the noise and stress of takeoffs and landings, can trigger headaches.
Especially often a headache occurs in the first days of travel. If you have already encountered this, it will be useful the next time, going to a mountain resort or distant islands, to know in advance not only the air and water temperature, but also the atmospheric pressure – it can differ significantly from what you are used to.
3. Capers, caviar, shrimps and seafood
Everything that we love the local cuisine for when traveling is either salty or well-done and flavored with lots of pepper and spices. Salty foods directly affect blood pressure. It increases the amount of sodium in the blood and prevents the kidneys from removing water. The body responds by increasing pressure, which in turn sets the stage for migraines, especially in those who have experienced them before, explains Ilan Danan, a neuroscientist at the Center for Sports Neurology in Los Angeles.
Gatherings in a coffee shop during lunch and long feasts are, of course, pleasant, but all this is by no means about regular meals. If you skip a meal, blood glucose levels drop, and this is another cause of headaches.
5. Change of weather
When the weather changes for the better, atmospheric pressure changes, and if this happens abruptly, you should not be surprised at the headache. At times when an atmospheric cyclone brings warming, our body reacts to weather fluctuations, and as a result, migraines often occur.
6. Hormonal birth control pills
The ability to control the onset of pregnancy in this series was not accidental: in women, headaches are often directly related to a drop in estrogen levels in the body, says Brinder Vij, associate director of the Center for Head and Facial Pain at the University of Cincinnati.
Does all this mean that we should travel less, give up gatherings with friends and favorite foods? Of course not. But, knowing that all these seemingly harmless factors can become migraine triggers, we can better plan our free time. Forewarned is forearmed.