Tuesday 10 March 2009

useful advice on migraine

MIGRAINE PREVENTION

Requires Acid-Alkaline Balance

(It Is Not As Difficult As It Sounds)

MIGRAINE IS ONE OF THE SYMPTOMS OF YOUR BODY BEING TOO ACID. However, you can change your pH (a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of your body) through what you eat and how you respond to situations. This will take you a long way toward migraine prevention.



What Does Being Acid Mean?
(It Is NOT About Stomach Acid)

Your body contains about ten gallons of fluid, so all your cells are swimming in a 'sea' that can be alkaline, neutral, or acid. However, the systems in your body (enzyme, immune, and repair mechanisms) work best when their environment is very slightly alkaline. (Note: on the pH scale of 0 to 14, 7 is neutral; below 7 is acid; above 7 is alkaline.) Migraine prevention is a by-product of your body operating at an optimal pH.



Where Does The Acid Come From?
(What Does It Take To Get Rid Of It?)

Acid comes from cell metabolism and from food metabolism. Cell metabolism (cells convert into energy the small food units produced by your digestion system) produces a weak acid, which can be eliminated by breathing.

Food metabolism results in a residue (often called an 'ash') which can be alkaline or acid, depending on the minerals in the residue. (When the residue is predominantly calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium, the food is considered alkaline-forming. Acid-forming foods leave residues that are predominantly sulfur, phosphorous, and chlorine.) The acid from food metabolism is strong and needs to be buffered (combined with something alkaline) before it is eliminated. Clearly, migraine prevention would include increasing the amount of alkaline-forming foods in your diet.



The Body Needs To Be Alkaline On Balance
(Guess How Long People Go Without Eating Anything Alkaline-Forming?)

While leaning too much to either the alkaline or acid side isn't good, the problem with most people in our culture today is being overly acid. Most of the food eaten every day is acid-forming -- pizza, burgers, french fries, soft drinks, fried chicken, donuts, potato chips, pretzels, candy, etc. In fact, studies show that many people may not eat anything alkaline-producing for up to 14 days at a stretch. Migraine prevention seems to be the last consideration when choosing what to eat.



Where Do The Buffering Alkaline Minerals Come From?
(Wherever Your Body Can Find Them)

If you are healthy, you have an alkaline reserve in your tissues. If you don't have these reserves, your body will take alkaline minerals from your bones or muscles. Your body literally eats itself up from the inside. At this point, migraine prevention is not the main concern of your body -- survival is!

(In fact, osteoporosis is more a problem of overacidity than a lack of calcium. When your body is too acidic and can't buffer the acid any other way, it leaches alkaline minerals -- like calcium -- from your bones.)



How Bad Can It Get?
(Fat And Acid -- A Double Whammy)

If your body can't excrete all the acid it needs to get rid of, it will store the acid in your tissues. Acid will get stored everywhere from the heart to the brain. (Sometimes your body will produce fat in which to store the acid. This is why, as you become acid-alkaline balanced, you often lose weight.)

High acid levels in tissues lead to irritation and inflammation, which your body translates into pain. Like a migraine. Low acid levels in your tissues equate to migraine prevention.



How Do You Know If You Are Overly Acid?
(There Are Easy Ways To Measure It)

Use pH paper -- available inexpensively from many online supplement stores -- to test your saliva (or urine.) Checking it regularly will help you with migraine prevention. Why? You will know when you need to add more alkaline-forming foods to your diet. Steady alkaline saliva pH readings indicate overall well-being and good health.



How Do You Become More Alkaline?
(Fruits And Vegetables Give You A Boost)

Eat more alkaline-forming foods. You can check online for detailed charts of these foods, but in general: fruits and vegetables are alkaline forming; grains, grain products, and all meats and fishes are acid-forming. You can test your saliva with pH paper to measure your progress, but you will also know you are improving because you feel better.

Note: Acid-forming foods are not necessarily 'bad.' Many contain nutrients that you must have for migraine prevention. The point is to strike the right balance -- usually about 70% to 80% alkaline-forming foods and 30% to 20% acid-forming foods -- so that your body stays very slightly alkaline.



Your Emotions Are a Big Contributor to Your Body's pH
(As Much Or More Than Food)

Migraine prevention is not just a food issue. Emotions can be toxic to your body; these include anger, fear, and jealousy. Stress is the greatest acidifying factor. You can eat the best alkaline diet and wipe out its good effects with a very stressful episode.

Sometimes the best thing you can do to help yourself is finding ways to keep your emotions on a fairly even keel. Not only will you feel good, but you will help to provide your body with an alkaline 'cushion' for the stresses and variations in diet encountered in daily life.



Being Balanced Feels Great

Acid-Alkaline balance helps you to feel more comfortable, physically and emotionally.


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Writer Sandra S. Feder had migraines for years. She found 5 areas of imbalance that were connected to her headaches. Stop Migraine Symptoms Naturally is the book she wrote, describing step by step how she stopped her headaches. Read about this book, or sign up for her FREE e-course: 6 Nuggets Of Migraine Help at the website: http://www.avoidamigraine.com

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