Headaches: The Wrong Proportion of Key Minerals?

Minerals are essential for a wide range of metabolic functions throughout your body. Imbalances can play an important role in the development of headaches.

Chronic headaches may be an early symptom of heavy metal toxicity in the body. When we are exposed to toxins over a long period of time, they build up inside our brain, kidney, immune system, and other body tissues, causing a wide range of symptoms.

Long-term exposure to mercury is known to trigger headaches. Mercury is commonly found in amalgam fillings, fish and shellfish, and even drinking water. Arsenic and lead can also cause headaches. Traces of arsenic are sometimes found in well water. Lead is a particularly troublesome toxin that's difficult to get rid of. In fact, more than 600,000 tons of lead are released into the environment every year in the U.S. alone. Even though we no longer use leaded gasoline, contaminated soil from previous car exhaust remains toxic years afterward. Lead can enter our system through direct contact with soil or through eating vegetables grown on contaminated soil.

For these reasons, experts have suggested that heavy metal exposure be considered a possible systemic cause when treating patients with headaches. But how the body reacts to toxins, and the severity of headache symptoms, is also affected by your body's nutrient balance.

Numerous clinical studies show that magnesium deficiencies play a crucial role in the development of migraines. Low levels of the magnesium are associated with neural stimulation in the brain, and are believed to make migraine sufferers more vulnerable to a migraine attack.

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References:

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