Is chocolate to blame for headaches?
Almost all of us will experience a bad headache at some point. A few people...
Print / PDFAlmost all of us will experience a bad headache at some point. A few people...
Print / PDFAlmost all of us will experience a bad headache at some point. A few people are even more unfortunate and suffer from debilitating migraines. And we all want to take steps to alleviate, and avoid, these headaches and migraines.
For example, we can drink water to avoid dehydration, eat a balanced diet, try not to get overtired or become stressed out, etc.
Avoiding certain foods and drinks is another approach. All sorts of foods and drinks have been suggested as ‘triggering’ headaches and migraines. In a few cases, for example, alcohol and coffee, there is overwhelming evidence that these can trigger headaches and migraines (we even have a special word for one example here; “hangovers”). In other cases, for example, processed meats, cheese, MSG, etc. the scientific evidence is far less clean cut.
Chocolate is widely cited as a food that can trigger migraines in self-reported studies. For example, according to the American Migraine Foundation, chocolate is the second most commonly reported trigger at 22%, behind alcohol at 33%. And yet the Foundation (and many others) also note that there are no scientific studies that suggest chocolate is a “smoking gun” that can cause headaches or migraines.
Instead, scientists now believe that a craving for chocolate may be a warning of an incoming headache or migraine. And if you then ‘overdose’ on mass market confectionery that is full of sugar, it can compound the problem and/or trigger a sugar spike induced headache. To quote one leading scientist, Dr. Halker Singh; “maybe the craving for chocolate was actually the start of the migraine (not the cause)”.
So once again; savour some craft chocolate; don’t scoff sugar-laden, mass market chocolate.
Here are some that we think you might like:
A comparison to coffee
The connections between coffee (or rather caffeine) and headaches and migraines is extensively researched and incredibly complex. For some people, caffeine can generate migraines and headaches, yet for others it can alleviate them. And even more confusingly, caffeine can act differently on the same person in different circumstances.
What seems to be happening here is a combination of caffeine’s ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and to then block adenosine receptors (keeping you awake) and also stimulate your central nervous system. So you can become sleep deprived, and this can trigger headaches (and, more controversially, migraines).
Caffeine is also ‘addictive’ so you can suffer from withdrawal symptoms which often take the form of a headache.
Theobromine (the primary stimulant in chocolate) doesn’t cross the blood-brain barrier and isn’t addictive, so it doesn’t cause headaches (the stuff that is highly addictive in mass market confectionery “chocolate” is SUGAR …but this craft chocolate uses sugar far more sparingly, and to enhance flavour not engender bliss point scoffing).
So even though chocolate (especially dark), does contain some caffeine, it is nowhere near the same levels as in coffee. To date, no scientific study has shown that the caffeine in chocolate (nor the likes of tryptophan), make chocolate a trigger for headaches and migraines.
And a comparison to alchohol
Even though we are indebted to alcohol for the discovery of chocolate (through beer), and even though alcohol has clear societal benefits, as any one who has ‘over indulged’ knows; hangovers aren’t much fun!
Drinking chocolate is a far better alternative if you want a good night’s sleep switch your ‘nightcap’ to some craft chocolate based:
Are there substances in chocolate that may cause headaches or migraines?
Over the last few decades, all sorts of substances have been blamed for headaches; the MSG in “Chinese food”, the nitrates in processed meats, the tyramines in some aged cheese, aspartame (an artificial sweetener) in low calorie foods and drinks, etc.
However, even though extensive research has been done, there is no evidence that any of these substances (unlike e.g. alcohol or caffeine) definitively causes headaches or migraines. And the same is true for chocolate.
What adds to the confusion here is that chocolate is also a vasodilator, and vasodilation is often a pre-warning of headaches and migraines.
Migraines and genetic predisposition
Over the last few years, more and more work has been on the role of genetics on propensity for migraines. And it’s increasingly clear that there are some genetic conditions which predispose people to migraines (for example, the incredibly unpleasant ‘familial hemiplegic migraine’). And just over a year ago, Nature published a massive study of over 100,000 migraine sufferers which offered further insight into a number of genetic markers and predispositions.
And if you are unfortunate enough to have these genetic predispositions, be doubly careful, and also be aware that chocolate may provide you with “an early warning signal”…
Chocolate as a pre-warning signal?
Doctors are very clear that stress, lack of sleep, inadequate diet, and hormonal imbalances/changes can provoke migraines and headaches.
For many (most?) of us, chocolate is a comfort food. It’s great as a treat and pick-me-up when you are tired, stressed, irritated, etc.
So various nutritional scientists have suggested that when migraine sufferers report chocolate as a trigger for their headaches, they may be subject to what is called the ‘false cause fallacy’. That is to say, if you are e.g., over-tired, stressed, missed a meal, about to have a period, etc. and feel a craving for some chocolate, this may signal you are about to have a headache or migraine. It isn’t the chocolate that causes the migraine, it’s stress, tiredness, menstrual cycles, etc. that brings on the blinding headaches.
Medical imaging studies, used to track how migraines develop, provide intriguing insights here. These studies have shown that the hypothalamus (a region of the brain that regulates hunger) is activated, causing people to want, and eat, certain foods BEFORE the onset of a migraine. These foods differ by person. To quote Dr Goadsby, professor of neurology at King’s College London and the University of California, Los Angeles, who has led much of this research: “Some people want savory or salty snacks, while others crave sweets and chocolate… and that maybe the craving for chocolate was actually the start of the migraine“. Indeed he goes even further arguing that “the person would have probably gotten a headache whether they ate the chocolate or not… so if you’re craving a treat during the early stages of a headache… it’s fine to enjoy it“.
Or to quote the American Migraine Foundation’s more technical description: “Chocolate craving may be part of a pre-headache warning or prodrome (the first stage of the attack, before an aura or headache). When you satisfy that craving, you may falsely blame the headache on the chocolate“.
Another argument against sugar (and the sugar in mass market confectionery)
As anyone who’s ever seen the way kids (and adults) respond to a sudden excess of sugar knows, a sugar crash is not pleasant. Indeed, sugar spikes (and their crashes) can cause headaches and even migraines. Technically this is known as ‘reactive hypoglycemia’, and along with a headache, you may also feel weak, shaky, tired and or lightheaded.
So if you are going to indulge, please savour some craft chocolate; don’t scoff sugar-laden mass market chocolate where sugar is often over 50% of the ingredients.
Sources and further reading:
https://americanmigrainefoundation.org/resource-library/diet/
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/26/well/eat/carbs-sugar-headaches-migraines.html
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25143767/
https://migrainetrust.org/news/alcohol-as-a-migraine-trigger
https://www.sutterhealth.org/health/migraines-headaches/migraine-food-triggers
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-021-00990-
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9141901/
