cases the underlying disorder must be healed before the headache disappears for good. 12 What follows is a much simpler way to consider headaches, one that I have found to be extremely effective as a first attempt to deal with them. According to medical science, headaches can only be caused by( a) expansion of the blood vessels in the head; or( b) tension or strain of the muscles in the neck, scalp, or face. The first kind are called vascular headaches; the second, tension headaches. I have found it most useful to classify most simple headaches into those of expansion and those of contraction, with side categories for“ liver” headaches, caffeine-withdrawal headaches, and others. Expansion headaches are usually the result of too much
• Liquid of any kind, including fruit juice
• Alcohol
• Ice cream and other cold and highly sugared foods Remedies for these should take effect in two to fifteen minutes and will be found among contractive foods, especially salty ones:
• Gomasio( sesame salt)( this page)
• Umeboshi plums or brine-cured olives( this page) Contraction headaches are usually the result of
• Tension, overwork
• Heat
• Meats and salty foods( especially on an empty stomach)
• Lack of food and / or fluids
• Excess mental concentration or physical activity in addition to the above Remedies for these should work in five minutes to twenty-four hours and consist of something cool and liquid, sweet or sour, such as
• Apple or apricot juice( this page)
• Cold unsweetened applesauce or other cooked fruit Liver headaches are similar to contractive headaches, but stronger, more painful, and harder to turn around. They have also been called migraines. They arise two, four, even eight hours after the unbalancing food has been consumed and therefore are rarely linked to it. Usually, they are the result of consuming fatty foods on an empty stomach, including fried eggs or cheese for breakfast, fried tofu or tempeh, salads with oily dressings, avocados, and tempura. Remedies for these are the same as those for headaches of contraction, and in addition
• Lemon tea
• Five-Phase Drink
• If all else fails, sleep( you can also cleanse the liver with a few days of juice fasting, followed by several days of fat-free vegetarian food) Caffeine-withdrawal headaches, which occur within a day of giving up coffee, tea, or chocolate, can range from a mild background ache to a full-fledged migraine. Treat them as contraction headaches; however, sometimes they do not respond. That is the time to go back to bed and wait till they go away— which they eventually do. Try the“ hair of the dog” method— one sip— if it’ s really bad. In some cases, people with allergies will respond with a headache to allergenic substances. The most common of these are wheat, corn, milk and milk products, chocolate, tomatoes; household chemicals and exhaust fumes run a close second. This kind of condition is best diagnosed by a clinical nutritionist or allergist and treated by metabolic-strengthening therapies and withdrawal of the offending substances. To find out which kind of headache you have, you can:
• Make a list of what you’ ve eaten in the past six hours or so and see if it’ s expansive, contractive, or fatty.
• Have a tiny bite of umeboshi plum if you can’ t figure it out. If you remain the same, or get better, you have an expansive headache. If you get worse, you have a contractive or a liver headache. Chronic headaches can be associated with a number of illnesses, organ malfunctions, and accumulations; if you have frequent headaches, and if all the aforementioned treatments fail, you can assume that there is an underlying disorder and that it is essential that you get a professional diagnosis. Fevers For thousands of years, an elevation in body temperature was considered beneficial; it was thought to speed up the disease process and help the disease condition clear up. But for the past eighty years or so,