Hunger Headache

Last night I skip dinner, and eat banana only, it's not because I am on a diet but because during our dinner time I am not hungry, so I decided to skip my meal.

I was in bed watching kdrama at around 10:00 pm, I felt a little headache and I wonder why. There are only two reasons why I sometimes experienced headache. First, too much exposure to sunlight, and second, when I am hungry. Since I didn't went outside, then the reason for my headache was the latter.

It got me curious, why do we experienced headache when we are hungry?

We experienced hunger headache when we haven't had enough to eat, we may not only hear our stomach rumbling but we can also feel the strong headache coming on.

Hunger headache occurs when our blood sugar starts to dip lower than the usual. Being hungry can also trigger migraine headache to some people.

Symptoms

Hunger headache often resembles to tension headache in symptoms. And some of the common symptoms are as follows:

• Feeling as if there is a tight band wrapped in our head

• Dull pain

• Feeling tension in neck and shoulders

• Feeling pressure across forehead or the side of the head

When the blood sugar gets low we might notice these other symptoms:

• Fatigue

• Stomach pain

• Dizziness

• Shakiness

• Feeling cold

These additionally symptoms will appear gradually. It may start with just dull headache but as we delay eating, we may start to notice the other symptoms. Hunger headache symptoms start to resolve within 30 minutes of eating.

Causes

• Dehydration. The thin layers of the tissues in the brain can start to tighten and press on pain receptors if we haven't drink enough water.

• Lack of caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulant the body becomes accustomed to especially if we had three to four cups a day habit. If we haven't enough caffeine in a while, the blood vessels in our brain can enlarge, increasing blood flow to our brain causing headache.

• Skipping meals. The food we eat especially the calories are the measurement of our energy. Our body needs a consistent energy source in the form of food as fuel. If we haven't eating for a while, our blood sugar can drop. In response, our body releases hormone that signal our brain that we are hungry. This same hormone can trigger headache.

Treatment

We can usually relieve hunger headache by eating or drinking. If the caffeine is low, drinking a cup of coffee or tea can help.

I remember, when I was a kid my parents always told me to eat on time and never skip a meal.

Lesson Learned:

NEVER SKIP YOUR MEAL. ~@jabs

Thanks for reading!