Cutting Salt Consumption May Stop Your Headache

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend limiting sodium to less than 2,300 mg a day - or 1,500 mg if you're age 51 or older, or if you are black, or if you have high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney disease.Could too much salt be causing your headache? Researchers at Mary University, London and World Action on Salt and Health (WASH) have found that cutting salt from your diet could help to lower blood and pulse pressure that's oftentimes related to headaches.

For the study, researchers examined close to 400 people who were randomly assigned either to a low-fat diet that was rich in fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products or a typical Western diet.

Participants were asked to record any side-effects, including headache, dry mouth, bloating, excessive thirst, fatigue or low energy via a questionnaire.

Findings revealed that cutting salt helped to reduce headache by about 31 percent. Researchers did this by halving many of the participants' salt intake from nine grams a day to just about three grams or the equivalent of a single teaspoon.

"A reduced sodium intake was associated with a significantly lower risk of headache, while dietary patterns had no effect on the risk of headaches in adults," said Lawrence Appel, of John Hopkins University, via the Daily Mail. "Reduced dietary sodium intake offers a novel approach to prevent headaches."

"We have long suspected that reducing salt intakes reduces the number of people developing headaches, and this study confirms our suspicions," he concluded. "Blood pressure drugs do reduce headaches, various studies and anecdotal evidence shows. Clearly reducing blood pressure and pulse pressure does lower headaches, even if blood pressure is already in the normal range."

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend limiting sodium to less than 2,300 mg per day. If you are older than 51 or of African American decent, 1,500 mg may be a better option.

For more informaiton regarding the study, click here. 

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