What Are the Causes of Migraine Headaches & Blood Sugar?

The brain is a major energy user in the human body. When it doesn't have enough sugar to use for energy, you can feel lethargic and mentally foggy as well as get a severe headache. Ironically, eating too much sugar is often what causes the steepest drops in blood sugar that trigger migraines.

Insulin and sugar

• When you eat carbohydrates, such as bread, pasta and cookies, your body breaks them down into glucose, a form of sugar that the body can use. The pancreas secretes the hormone insulin to help the cells use the glucose circulating in the blood stream.

Too Much

• If you consume a lot of sugary foods at one time, say a rich piece of wedding cake, then your pancreas puts out extra doses of insulin to move the glucose into the cells. This extra insulin causes a rapid drop in blood sugar.

Brain Reactions

• When the brain senses this decline in blood sugar, it sends out signals that it wants more food. This is why eating sweets or pasta can cause cravings for more carbohydrate-intensive foods a couple of hours after a meal.

Headaches

• Low blood sugar can make you feel cranky, mentally slow and tired because the brain is deprived of its ideal level of energy. It also wreaks havoc on hormones that control the size of blood vessels in the brain and cause the vessels to swell and contract. These changes in blood vessel size are believed to cause migraine pain.

Fasting

• Logically, fasting causes low blood sugar as well. Some people wake up with migraines because it has been several hours since their last meal. Also, skipping meals can trigger headaches as well.

What to Do

• The brain is happiest when you try to keep your blood sugar levels consistent throughout the day. You can do this by limiting simple sugars, such as soft drinks, and eating more complex carbohydrates, such as whole wheat bread instead of white bread. Eating smaller meals throughout the day and pairing proteins with carbohydrates (milk and nonsugared cereal or cheese and crackers) help as well.