Are nutrition labels inaccurate? The food labeling regulations from the FDA allow for a 20% margin of error. For anything that says there is a certain amount of carbs, calories, or sugars in it, there could be up to 20% more.

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Online shopping is more popular than ever these days, and Americans continue to spend a substantial amount of money on groceries. A recent survey found that the average American adult goes to the grocery store 1.6 times per week. Although that doesn’t seem like a high number, frequenting the grocery store means that you may have some things to learn about supermarket shopping. That’s especially true if your goal is to save a little money. 

Grocery shopping is a relatively simple task: you select items off the shelf, pay for them, and take them home. That act of grocery shopping is not the issue; rather, the issue is what you do in the store. You might be making a series of inadvertent mistakes that can cost you time, money, and your health. To help you become a better grocery shopper, we have outlined common mistakes people make in the supermarket. Avoid these traps and you’ll be much better off. 

You Don’t Have A Grocery Shopping App

There’s an app for everything these days. If you care about conserving cash, especially when your dollar doesn’t go as far in the supermarket as it used to, you’ll want an app. A recent report found that food prices increased 9.5% since February 2022, and the USDA estimates an additional 7.5% increase in the coming year. A simple way to save money on groceries is by using the store’s app. You can clip digital coupons or take advantage of weekly deals, which you may not get as a regular rewards member or general shopper. 

You Don’t Buy Seasonal Produce

One of the best things about buying seasonal produce items, besides the fact that they are more affordable, is that they taste the freshest. Seasonal produce tends to be riper, fresher, and tastier because of the availability amid peak harvest. There are more strawberries in July than in December because of seasonal availability. Buying produce out of season is possible, but it tends to be more expensive. You can look up seasonal produce guides, or visit local farmer’s markets, to find out what’s in season in your area. 

You Don’t Read Food Labels 

Before you slide a food item with a label in your shopping cart, go ahead and give it a spin to read that nutritional label. Yes, we are even referring to packaging that uses trendy words like “healthy” or “low-fat.” The nutritional label tells the truth! Pay attention to saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars, as you want to limit your consumption of those. Look to see how much dietary fiber, iron, calcium, vitamin D, and potassium the food provides. Additionally, make sure to take note of the serving size, because there may be more than one serving in the package. Click here to learn more about nutritional labels and how to read them.

You Ignore The Frozen Food Aisle

Now, before you jump to any conclusions, we do not advocate buying TV dinners or pre-made lasagna dishes. Those food items are incredibly rich in sodium and preservatives. We are referring to frozen produce, including peas, broccoli, vegetable medleys, and frozen fruit varieties. Produce is frozen at peak freshness, making nutrients more accessible and available to your body. Just make sure that you don’t see any added sugars on the nutritional label! 

You Only Shop The Perimeter

When it comes to the raw vegan diet that accompanies our cleanses, we advocate shopping the perimeter of the store. That’s where you find the fresh produce and raw nuts and seeds. Although the middle aisles contain a huge collection of unhealthy foods, you can still find some gems within them. You miss out on lentils, beans, chickpeas, wild rice, quinoa, brown rice, oats, and more if you skip the middle aisles. As long as you stick to your shopping list, you can avoid the bad stuff!

You Don’t Make A List

Speaking of lists, entering the grocery store without a list is a recipe for impulse buying. When you have a plan in place, you are much less likely to add things like packaged cookies and other unhealthy foods to your cart. Shopping without a list typically makes you spend more money as well. Your list is your game plan and following it can help you succeed in the grocery store.

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If you’re trying to eat healthier, that means you are probably paying closer attention to nutrition labels and ingredients. Nutrition labels are not entirely user-friendly, which is why many people don’t read them correctly. Certain terms, values, or serving sizes may be unrecognizable, especially if you don’t know what you’re looking for. One could argue that deciphering a nutrition label is like trying to make sense of a college calculus textbook. 

You don’t have to experience confusion every time you read a nutrition label. These labels have a lot of useful information, and you really only need to pay attention to a few key things. As a general rule of thumb, if you see ingredients that you cannot pronounce, the food is most likely processed or ultra-processed. The packaged food items are harmful to your health, but healthier foods also have nutrition labels. This guide aims to help you read your way to a healthier lifestyle. But first, here are a few nutrition terms to understand:

• Calorie-free: 5 calories or less per serving
• Low calorie: 40 calories or less per serving
• Reduced calorie/fat: At least 25% less calories/fat than the original product
• Low fat: 3 grams (g) or less of fat per serving
• Fat-free: Less than 0.5 g of fat per serving
• Low-sodium: 140 milligrams (mg) or less of sodium per serving
• Very low sodium: 35 mg or less of sodium per serving
• Low cholesterol: 20 mg or less of cholesterol per serving
• Sugar-free: less than 0.5 g of sugar per serving
• High fiber: Contains 20% or more of the recommended daily value (DV) of fiber per serving

The Serving Size

This is where your health journey begins. Before you dive into a bag of chips or open a carton of orange juice, take a close look at how many servings exist in the food you’re eating. The rest of the information, i.e. calories, cholesterol, fat, sugars, and protein, will pertain to the serving size. Single-serving packages are easy to understand, but multi-serving packages require a bit more attention to detail. If you take a large bag of potato chips, for example, there are probably 14 servings or more in the entire bag. That’s bad news if you eat the entire bag in one sitting. Most of the time, serving sizes are measured out in cups, tablespoons, or ounces. 

Calories

This is the biggest number you’ll see on a nutrition label, and it’s the first number as well. Many people only pay attention to this number, disregarding the rest of the nutrition label. The number of calories matters, but where the calories come from is of more importance. A healthy snack bar may have as many calories as a candy bar, but the sugar is lower and the fats are healthier. Pay close attention to the calories in relation to the serving size as well, because eating two or three servings from a multi-serving food item doubles or triples your caloric intake of that food. 

Percent Daily Value

The daily value (DV) indicates how much of your total allotment of that particular nutrient you get per serving. If a serving of unsalted nuts contains 20% of the DV of fat, then you know how much more fat your body needs for the rest of the day. As a general rule of thumb, 5% or less is low and 20% or more is high. 

Fats

Most nutrition labels list total fat, saturated fat, and trans fat. Ideally, you want to make sure that you eat foods that are low, or completely free, of trans fats and saturated fats. Trans fat is added to processed, packaged foods like cookies and crackers. It is an artificial fat that makes snack foods taste good, but it also extends their shelf life. Saturated fat exists in hot dogs, burgers or whole milk. Eating foods that are high in saturated fat can increase your risk for heart disease. You want to focus on healthier, monounsaturated fats!

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a fatty substance that comes from foods like shellfish, butter, meat, whole milk, and egg yolks. The body requires some cholesterol to make hormones and vitamin D, but eating too much of it can cause plaque to build-up in your arterial walls, increasing your risk for heart disease. Always aim low when looking at the cholesterol on nutritional labels. 

Sodium

Most American adults exceed the DV of sodium by about 1,000 to 1,500 mg. Current guidelines state that you should consume less than 2,300 mg of sodium per day, which equates to about one teaspoon of salt. A lot of the sodium you eat comes from packaged and processed foods like pretzels, chips, frozen pizza, and jarred sauces and dressings. Keep salt levels under control by making sure you have less than 300 mg of sodium per serving. 

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates (carbs) exist on nutrition labels in three forms: sugar, starch, and fiber. The first two elevate blood sugar, while the third does not. If you are counting carbs, you most likely need to watch out for refined carbs, which tend to come from white foods like pasta, bread, etc. Complex carbs from whole grains and vegetables, for example, are much healthier and better for your diet. In fact, most dietitians say that complex carbs should comprise 50% of your daily caloric intake!

Fiber 

When you eat more fiber, you can stay fuller for longer and avoid blood sugar spikes. That means that you’re less likely to crave unhealthy snacks between meals. The American Heart Association recommends that you eat at least 25 g of fiber per day, but this may depend on specific dietary needs. A good rule of thumb is to eat about four g of fiber per serving for grains and three g of fiber for packaged foods and bread. 

Sugars

Finally, we’ve reached sugar. Sugar can have several names on an ingredient list, including high fructose corn syrup, cane sugar, sucralose, fructose, and glucose. Due to the recent nutritional label update, you can easily spot the total sugar and added sugars in a given food product. It also included the percent DV of added sugars per serving. You should aim for most of the sugar you eat to come from natural sources like fruit, as opposed to processed foods. And while artificial sweeteners are zero-calorie, they are highly sweet and don’t get included in the total sugar count. Try to limit your sugar consumption to no more than 10% of your daily caloric intake.

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On the latest episode of Vegan101, we’ll go over going over reading the nutritional labels correctly on the vegan diet.

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Brace yourselves because the Nutrition Facts label on all packaged foods and drinks are changing. This is the first change in 20 years, and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did this to help people understand the nutritional value of these foods more easily. 

The new Nutrition Facts labels have updated nutritional information to correspond with new nutritional data and scientific information. The FDA announced its program for the new labels in 2016, and it has finally come to fruition; although, companies have until to July 2021 to comply with new changes. 

Why Did Nutrition Facts Labels Change?

A poor diet is the common denominator for many of the chronic conditions that plague the American population. These conditions include type 2 diabetes, obesity, and heart disease, so the addition of certain sections on the Nutrition Facts aim to paint a more realistic picture about the way people eat today. This will hopefully help consumers make more informed dietary decisions. 

What’s Different On The New Label?

Serving Size

Let’s address this because the serving size is at the very top of the label, just above calories. The serving size now has to be in bold font, but the amount of servings per container, which sits right above the serving size, is not in bold. The serving sizes have actually increased to reflect the amount of food Americans eat. This isn’t necessarily a good thing, especially when you consider the obesity epidemic in America, but it does paint an accurate description of how much people typically eat. The FDA used ice cream as an example. The serving size used to be half a cup, but now it is two-thirds of a cup, because that’s the realistic serving size for Americans. The FDA stated that serving sizes have to be based on how much people eat, not how much people should eat; thus, explaining the larger serving sizes. 

Added Sugars

Food manufactures now have to include the added sugars on the Nutrition Facts label. The previous label only required the total percentage of sugar in the food, accounting for natural or added sugars. Added sugars are the sugars that manufacturers add to foods during processing. These typically include high fructose corn syrup, brown sugar, honey, or malt syrup. Added sugars should only comprise 10% of your daily caloric intake, but most people exceed that percentage. The primary culprits for added sugars in the Standard American Diet are sweetened beverages and snacks/sweets, which include candy and packaged desserts. 

Calories

This is a simple change and it reflects the serving size. The main difference is that the calories section is much larger and bolder than before. Lots of people debate calorie counting, but there are people who want to know how many calories they consume per day. Now it’s easier to see the amount of calories per serving.

Fats

To piggyback on the updated calories section, the fats section also has updated information. The old Nutrition Facts label stated the calories from fat, but nutritional science is more concerned with the types of fat people consume. The new labels don’t have “calories from fat,” but they still show the amounts and recommended daily intake of the different fats (trans, saturated, and total fat) per serving. 

Micronutrients

This is a not a new section, but the nutrients are new. On the old labels, manufacturers listed the amounts of vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron present in the foods. Now, the labels include vitamin D, calcium, iron, and potassium. The reason for the addition of vitamin D and potassium is because most Americans are deficient in these nutrients. Vitamin D is an essential vitamin that helps to support immune function, reduce inflammation, and maintain bone strength, among other things. The best way to obtain vitamin D is via direct sun exposure because it isn’t available in food sources, which explains the deficiency in America. Potassium is an essential mineral that can help regulate blood pressure and blood sugar levels. Roughly 3% of American adults meet the recommended daily intake of potassium. Unlike vitamin D, potassium is readily available in many food sources. 

Footnote

The final update to the Nutrition Facts label comes at the bottom in the footnote. The wording is updated to explain the meaning of “percent daily value.” The percent daily value (%DV) explains how much of a nutrient (e.g. fats, potassium, sugars, or sodium) in a serving of food contributes to the average daily diet. These percentages are still based on the 2,000 calorie per day diet. You may need a different %DV based on your caloric needs. 

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When most people are looking to improve their health, they often latch on to the latest health or fitness trends without doing a lot of research. Some people look at getting calorie counting apps, shopping at health food stores, or joining a local crossfit or boot camp class. We aren’t discounting diet and exercise (because they are important!), but one of the best ways to quickly improve your health is by learning how to read nutrition labels.

Every packaged food product in the United States has to have a nutrition label. Knowing how to read the information on these labels could save your life, and ignoring this information could increase your risk of heart disease, diabetes, or cancer. These labels don’t contain complex scientific information or difficult mathematical equations. They are not that scary, and we are going to teach you how to decipher them in order to become a healthier person.

Serving Size

This information is always found at the top of the nutrition label. Be mindful of the serving size and the amount of servings per package. For instance, a bag of chips may have a serving size of 14 chips, but there are four servings in the package. Eating the whole package, then, increases your intake of every other item on the label.

Nutritional Facts

Everything that is inside the black lines (calories, sugars, protein, sodium, fats, etc.) is representative of one serving. That is the most important thing to understand! If one serving has 200 calories, but there are 2.5 servings in the container, eating the whole container means that you consume 500 calories. It’s a clever marketing trick because people commonly overlook that the ingredients represent one serving.

The Fats

There are several numbers and names that you must pay attention to on nutrition labels. A product that says it is 99% fat free should theoretically contain 1% fat. This is most often representative of the weight of the product. Fats are listed multiple ways, with multiple values, in one area on the label. This is confusing! Dressings, condiments, soups, or canned foods can all be diluted with water, which increases the weight but not the fat. Companies can sell a product that is 90% fat by diluting it, seasoning it, and marketing it as 98% fat free.

This isn’t to say that all fats are bad for you. Nuts and seeds, coconut oil, olive oil, avocados, and other plant-based foods contain beneficial, heart-healthy fats. On nutrition labels, you have to look out for and avoid trans fats and saturated fats, both of which can contribute to heart disease.

Cholesterol & Sodium

The goal should be to limit your consumption of both of these ingredients. Excessively consuming both of these can lead to high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Again, pay attention to the serving size and amount of servings per container, because you might be consuming 500 milligrams of sodium, when you think you are only consuming 150 milligrams.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are the breads, grains, fibers, and sugars in foods. Dietary fiber is integral for a healthy digestive system and can keep you satiated between meals. You have to watch out for sugars because, like trans fats, they have been linked to a host of health problems. The types of carbohydrates should also be of major concern. Foods like breads, pastas, or chips are often low in fiber and high in carbohydrates. While these foods may not contain a lot of sugars, the carbohydrates will operate similarly in your bloodstream. They are simple carbs. You want to focus on complex carbs from foods like broccoli, pears, carrots, sweet potatoes, bananas, quinoa, buckwheat, whole oats, and apples.

Vitamins & Minerals

Truth be told, you shouldn’t pay any attention to the vitamins in a packaged food product. These numbers are notoriously low and you should focus on fresh fruits and vegetables to obtain a wide variety of vitamins and minerals.

The Percentages

On the right side of the nutrition label, you will notice different percentage values that correlate to the fats, sodium, sugars, and protein. The percentages are based on a 2,000-calorie per day diet. Keep in mind that if there are 2.5 servings in a certain food and one serving satisfies 20% of your daily sodium intake, you could be at 50% by just eating one snack.

Now you know how to read nutrition labels! There’s no need to be afraid, and there’s no reason to think something is healthy when you can clearly read that it isn’t. Lastly, don’t forget to read the actual ingredients. Remember that the ingredients are listed in order of the amount. If high fructose corn syrup is first on the list, you can bank on that food product being high in calories with minimal nutritional value, if any. Additionally, the longer the ingredient list, the worse the food is for you. While this information is beneficial for your health, the best way to remain healthy is to focus on foods that don’t have nutrition labels. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, and whole grains can help you remain on the healthy path.

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A lot of people are under the impression that animal protein is better than plant-based protein. This relates to protein powders and general protein sources alike. The reason people believe that animal protein is superior probably has something to do with the fact that plants don’t seem as strong as a big animal. Well, we need not forget that most of those big animals (e.g. elephants, giraffes, cows, buffalo, horses, and rhinos) only eat plants.

People don’t take into account that vegan protein powders help you achieve your desired results better than animal protein powders. Here are some interesting facts about vegan protein powders.

Here Are Some Pros

High Fiber

Vegan protein powders are typically rich in fiber because they are derived from plants. Fiber is essential for maintaining a healthy digestive system. Non-vegan based protein powders can often cause digestive discomfort and require added fiber to help smooth out digestion or relieve constipation.

Easily Digested

To stay in the digestion vein, vegan protein powders are easily digested and absorbed by the body. Animal-based protein powders can often bring about digestive consequences, so make it easy on your body and switch to vegan protein powders.

It Is Complete Protein

Incomplete protein powders do not carry the nine essential amino acids, which the body cannot make on its own; complete proteins do have those amino acids. Vegan protein powders often get viewed as incomplete, but almost all of them are complete and contain those nine amino acids in varying levels. Not every vegan protein powder is comprised of complete protein, so make sure you are avidly reading ingredient lists when you buy your protein.

Healthy Fats

Animal-based protein powders often have extra calories and added fats, whereas vegan protein powders have healthy fats that assist bodily functions. Vegan protein powders are usually rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which are important for cardiovascular and brain health.

Here Are Some Cons

Some Contain A Lot Of Sugar

People occasionally buy plant-based protein powders without reading the nutrition labels. Getting the right flavor profile can be tricky when using plant-based foods. For instance, you might have an easier time achieving a vanilla flavor when using sweeteners, syrups, “natural flavors,” or concentrates. It is also easy to achieve these flavors by using a lot of sugar and added flavors. We aren’t saying that plant-based protein powders should taste bad, but we are saying that the “natural flavors” you read on the nutrition label may not be all that natural.

Some Contain Maltodextrin

A lot of protein companies use this common, highly processed food additive. It is primarily made from genetically modified corn and it is put in protein powders to help them mix easier.

High Heat Method

Not every plant-based protein company uses this method to make protein powders, but some do. Certain high temperature processing methods essentially destroy the nutrients in plants and make it difficult for your body to process the protein powder.

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2016 was a tough year. From the deaths of many inspirational musicians to the election of Donald Trump, this year wasn’t the best for many people. There were also health trends, and false information about health, that should be left behind as we ready ourselves for 2017.

“Healthy” is a word that gets thrown around left and right. It’s hard to know how to be healthy if lots of people misunderstand the definition. There were lots of developments in the health world this year that were unfortunate, for example, labeling processed foods as healthy or even trying new diets that didn’t emphasize the importance of fresh produce.

Not every health trend that arose in 2016 was bad, though. There were many positive developments in the health world! To start 2017 off right, we’ve compiled a list of 5 “healthy” things we need to forget about 2016.

#1: Processed Foods With Healthy Labels

Certain companies like KIND labeled their products as healthy. People sometimes latch on to the word healthy and don’t bother to look at the ingredients. Since the FDA hasn’t given a definitive answer on the word, it’s always best to read the labels. Stay away from hydrogenated oils, trans fats, and ingredients you can’t pronounce. Leave these “healthy” foods behind and start 2017 off with actual healthy foods like fresh fruits and vegetables!

#2: Don’t Bash Meditation

Do you ever notice that people who meditate seem to have more control over their lives? Well, they do. We should all take the time in 2017 to be more mindful, and we can do this by taking 10 minutes out of each day to sit in a comfortable space and think about nothing. Focusing on your breath can help you decrease stress and promote positivity.

#3: Fitness Membership Hikes

Gym memberships seem to skyrocket in the New Year. They want to capitalize on everyone’s desire to start the year off healthily. We are here to say that you don’t need a gym membership to be fit. You can buy a couple free weights, resistance bands, or kettle bells to train with at home. Walking, jogging, or this at home workout routine can help whip you into shape too!

#4: Don’t Discriminate Against Carbs

Not all carbs are created equal and it’s acceptable to indulge in them. Some of the healthiest people in the world eat carbs. Enjoy your bagel or sautéed potatoes. Don’t forget to eat fresh fruits and vegetables and cut out those processed foods & added sugars, and limit your dairy and meat consumption. Statistically, Japanese people have the third highest life-expectancy rate and their diets and they have grain-based diets.

We are starting 2017 in a healthy way. Foods that contain GMOs have to be labeled (thanks Obama!); alternative remedies are becoming more popular; and people are constantly discovering new ways to ensure a healthier future. Here’s to 2017!

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The nutrition labels on food packages are getting a makeover. The FDA is redesigning the labels to make the caloric content and added sugars more prevalent than the fat content. And the serving sizes are changing too! Is this really what America needs?

Michelle Obama helped announce the new look for food labels as part of her “Let’s Move” campaign, which aims to combat child obesity. Is changing the labels and serving sizes a good idea to remedy the growing obesity rate in America? The recalibration of serving sizes is, according to the FDA, designed to be a reality check to reflect how much Americans actually eat. This seems like a backwards plan because the larger serving sizes make it seem acceptable to consume the increased amount. The increased serving sizes will only enable the country’s portion distortion mentality.

A serving size of ice cream will now be 2/3 of a cup instead of a half-cup. Products that are between one and two servings will now be considered one serving. A 15oz can of soup, for instance, will now be one serving. Since most Americans drink a 20oz soda bottle in one sitting, it will now be one serving. Does this actually aid or guide the consumer’s nutritional thought in a positive way?

The argument behind making the “calorie section” more prominent than the “fat section” on the labels is that most people resort to diets that focus on counting calories when they are trying to lose weight. The calories per serving on labels are based on the average 2,000-calorie per day diet of Americans. Anyone who is trying to lose weight needs to consume about 1,500 calories a day or less. If unhealthy food is being consumed, then the calories are probably not a concern.

The only thing that is great about the new nutritional labels is that they will have a separate line showing the amount of added sugars. This will indicate how much sugar has been added to each food and in turn will show the consumer how many grams of total sugar he/she is ingesting. A 20oz. bottle of Coke will show that it has 65g of added sugar on the label (that’s 130% above the daily recommended intake). Does the average person know the recommended amount of sugar he/she shouldn’t exceed each day (37g for men and 25g for women, by the way)? Our guess is no.

Most food companies have until July 2018 to change the nutrition labels. Will this change the way people think about food? Hopefully it makes the nation a bit more health conscious and doesn’t further distort correct portion sizes. Let us know what you think about this new law.

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Over 12 million people in the US suffer from chronic headaches, a condition that has many causes and many triggers. While there are several over-the-counter medicines and prescriptions available to provide temporary relief, lasting freedom from headaches requires a little patience and a little experimentation. See, the triggers that cause headaches are different from person to person. Because of this, figuring out the source of your headaches –– and then what to do about it — is going to require a little experimentation.

In no particular order, here are the most common causes of headaches:

• Excessive caffeine.
• Excessive alcohol.
• The wrong kind of alcohol.
• Excessive sugar.
• Poor diet
• Problems sleeping.
• Stress.
• Lack of exercise.

As you can see, some of the causes are broad like having a poor diet, while others are more specific, like having too much caffeine. Headache sufferers should start with the specific triggers and work their way out to more dramatic lifestyle changes.

Step 1. Eliminate Caffeine

Caffeine is the first thing you should eliminate from your diet to see if it is the cause of your headaches. There are a few reasons for this. For one, caffeine isn’t everywhere like sugar is, so it’s a little bit easier to take control of your caffeine consumption than that of some of the other things on this list. More importantly, however, caffeine is a very frequent cause of headaches, so it’s a great place to start.

The goal here is to eliminate caffeine completely from your body for 2-3 weeks and then see how you feel.  For most of us, our caffeine addictions are real and intense, so if you’re currently drinking a lot of coffee every day, taper down to decaf before going cold turkey. When you finally do go cold turkey, pay attention to how your head feels.

If your headaches are…

• GONE. You’re done! You’ve found your trigger. No more caffeine for you.
• BETTER: You’re on your way. Caffeine is one of your triggers but there are others at play.
• STILL BAD: Caffeine is not one of your triggers. Keep looking and go to Starbucks.

Step 2. Eliminate Alcohol

Next, eliminate alcohol from your system in the same way you eliminated caffeine. Stop drinking for 2-3 weeks and see how you feel. Again, if your headaches are…

• GONE. You’re done! You’ve found your triggers. No more caffeine nor alcohol for you.
• EVEN BETTER BUT NOT PERFECT. Alcohol is another one of your triggers. Keep searching. There may be others.
• JUST AS BAD: Alcohol isn’t a trigger. Take a shot to celebrate.

PS. If you discovered alcohol is one of your triggers, don’t worry, you might not have to eliminate drinking completely. Alcohol is a big category that contains lots of different drinks with different ingredients. To identify which of these are the problems, choose one type— say red wine or beer — and stick to it exclusively for a week to see how it affects your body. Try the others. Eventually, you may discover that some types of alcohol have no effect on your headaches, while others make them worse.

Step 3. Eliminate Sugar

Eliminating sugar from the American diet isn’t exactly easy. There’s sugar in so many things and in so many forms that you’ve really got to check the labels and be careful. The easiest way to eliminate sugar from your diet is to eliminate bread and to check labels for sugar words that end in “ose” like: glucose, sucrose, fructose, and so forth. Mainly, you should be eating vegetables and healthful proteins.

Again, after 2-3 weeks of no-sugar experimentation, you can slowly reintroduce sugar back into your diet and see how you feel.

Step 4. Exercise

Exercise is such an excellent way to eliminate your headaches that neurologist Carolyn Bernstein told NPR that she prescribes exercise as often as she prescribes medicine. Exercise has a great impact on your circulatory system, which, in turn, has an affect on how often you experience headaches. Exercise also relieves stress and helps with sleep, two factors that also exacerbate headaches. Most doctors recommend 30 minutes a day. Jogging is better than walking. But walking is better than nothing.

Step 5. Take Herbal Supplements

A variety of herbal remedies have been known to promote natural healing of headaches and migraines. But, naturally healing your headaches takes time. Plan to take these supplements for more than 3 months to start seeing results.

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