Exercise Reduces Headaches, Replacing Acidifying Drugs

Vivian Goldschmidt, MA Exercise

Evidence-Based
5 min Read
exercise headache

Roughly one in seven Americans experience migraines. This severe form of headache can also include a variety of symptoms, including sleep loss, nausea, and even impaired vision.

A new study has found an association between regular exercise and migraine reduction. This information can help migraine sufferers stop migraines before they start, preventing the need to treat symptoms with acidifying drugs.

The study we'll look at today also reveals strategies for improving sleep, reducing stress, and your toxic load. No one wants to experience migraines or their attendant symptoms, and today you'll learn how to minimize your risk while supporting your bone health.

About The Study

For the study, 4,647 participants completed a questionnaire about their migraine characteristics, depression, stress, sleep, and anxiety levels. They also reported how much moderate to vigorous exercise they participated in each week, including activities such as sports and vigorous house cleaning.1

Researchers divided the participants into five groups based on how many minutes of exercise they completed each week, ranging from zero to 150 or more minutes. Then they compared the groups and analyzed the results.

Here are their findings:1

  • 46% of the participants who did not exercise at all reported experiencing depression. Only 25% of participants in the group that exercised the most reported depression.
  • 77% of the no-exercise group reported sleeping problems, compared to 61% of the high-exercise group
  • 39% of the no-exercise group experienced anxiety, but only 28 percent of the high exercise group did.
  • 48% of the no-exercise group had a high frequency of headaches– on more than 25 days each month. In the group that got at least 150 minutes of exercise per week, only 28% had a high headache frequency.

Synopsis

A study with 4,647 participants compared migraine characteristics, depression, stress, sleep, and anxiety levels to each participant’s exercise schedule per week. Those who exercised more experienced less negative symptoms and fewer headaches.

More Exercise Means Fewer Headaches

The most striking link the researchers found was between exercise and the frequency and intensity of headaches. Almost half of the participants in the group who did not exercise at all experienced headaches nearly every day. The participants who exercised the recommended 150 minutes per week had a lower likelihood of high-frequency headaches.1

That makes exercise an effective intervention for reducing the frequency of migraines. The study also demonstrated the impact of regular exercise on related symptoms like anxiety, stress, and sleep loss.

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Study author Mason Dyess, D.O. offered this summation of the study findings:

“Exercise releases natural painkillers called endorphins, helps people sleep better, and reduces stress. But if people with migraines are not exercising, they may not be reaping these benefits.”1

Synopsis

Exercising at least 150 minutes per week can reduce the frequency of headaches, improve sleep, and reduce stress.

Fewer Headaches Means Fewer Reasons For Taking Toxic Drugs

Because the symptoms of migraines are so varied and so severe, sufferers often resort to medications to help manage the pain and to try to get a good night’s sleep. However, those drugs add to the body's toxic load, straining the liver and kidneys, while acidifying the body's pH. This acidification has dire consequences for bone health.

Your body needs to maintain an alkaline pH. If your pH becomes too acidic for too long, the bicarbonate reserves get depleted, and then your body must use the alkalizing minerals in your bones to restore the balance. This loss of bone mass contributes to osteoporosis and increases the risk of fracture.2

Drugs contribute to this acidification. They also increase the toxic load on your body's natural filtration system, which are the liver and the kidneys. Our everyday lives inevitably include exposure to chemical compounds that our liver and kidneys must remove from our system. It's a good idea to lessen their load whenever possible.

One way to do that is through a detoxifying cleanse like the Save Institute's Osteoporosis Fresh Start Cleanse. This healthy cleanse supports the liver and kidneys in recovering from the effects of toxic pills and other acidifying factors, helping you to build bone mass more efficiently.

Based on this study, exercise can often replace acidifying drugs, plus provide numerous benefits to your bones and overall wellness.

Synopsis

Most people take drugs to help handle migraine symptoms, including sleeping pills. But these drugs are acidifying and contribute to bone loss. They also tax the liver and kidneys. Exercise can replace harmful drugs.

What This Means To You

You don't need to take acidifying drugs to reduce headaches, sleep better, or avoid migraine symptoms. Get 150 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous exercise each week to reduce your risk of migraines and improve your sleep quality.

The powerful positive impact of regular exercise is hard to overstate. This research adds yet another study to the stack of research describing how exercise benefits health.

That's why the Save Institute offers SaveTrainer, our breakthrough on-demand bone-building and anti-aging video workout platform.

Whether you’re looking to get fit, reduce headaches, or build stronger and more resilient bones, exercise is a proven effective way to reach those goals.

References

1 https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-02/aaon-dpw021821.php

2 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/4172759/

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