Transcripts

David Buchholz, M.D.:
The figures say that about 45 million Americans have enough headaches to be labeled as headache sufferers.

Dr. David Buchholz author of the book Heal Your Headache.

And I would say that the 45 million who are said to have headache problems, they're just the ones who stand out from the crowd. And a lot of people suffer from headaches that they just figure are a fact of life. I would argue that it's not a necessary fact of life. If you want to control your headaches, you can. It starts with dietary modification.

Dr. Buchholz says you may not realize that there are things you eat that will trigger headaches.

One reason we don't easily recognize dietary triggers is that they often act on a delayed basis. And the culprits include not only caffeine, but also chocolate, nuts, aged cheese, alcohol, processed meats with nitrites, monosodium glutamate, Nutra-Sweet. And here are some surprises, how about citrus fruits and juices, bananas, yogurt. Lots of seemingly healthy foods can be powerful headache triggers.

And headache medications that contain caffeine are actually part of the problem.

These drugs cause a rebound effect so that you're more likely to get your next headache after you take the drug and perhaps get some temporary relief. The big culprits are caffeine-containing things that you can buy over the counter like Excedrin, Anacin and others. Also, over-the-counter sinus medications that have decongestant ingredients.

For transcripts, visit our website, somethingyoushouldknow.net. I'm Mike Carruthers and that's "Something You Should Know."