9 Foods That Can Help Prevent a Headaches and Migraines

Some people rarely get headaches, and if one strikes, just popping an aspirin will put a stop to the pain. But for other folks — especially those dealing with chronic migraines — finding relief is a lot trickier. Fortunately, when and what you eat can have a big impact on the frequency and severity of headaches. “Migraine is a disease. It’s there every day, whether or not someone has an attack,” says Simy Parikh, M.D., an assistant professor of neurology at the Jefferson Headache Center at Thomas Jefferson University. “So when we talk about food, it’s usually more along the lines of preventive care.”

Dr. Parikh says certain brain structures that are involved in migraine (such as the hypothalamus) are also involved in regulating your body’s natural daily rhythm. As a result, sticking to a regular schedule, and eating and sleeping at the same times every day — not skipping meals or sleeping in late — can go a long way in averting pain.

“In terms of food itself, there’s not a lot of research on which specific foods will be really helpful, but we do know that there are certain vitamins and minerals and things like that that could be helpful in prevention,” explains Dr. Parikh. “A lot of times they’re taken as supplements, but people can have a diet rich in some of these things and that can hopefully prevent a migraine attack from happening.”

Unfortunately, there’s no magical food you can eat to immediately feel better when your head is throbbing, but eating more of the foods below might up your chance of relief and lower the likelihood of future headaches.