The keto diet is everything you dreamed it would be. You’ve lost weight, you’re much less hungry, your blood sugar and blood pressure are getting closer to normal, and brain fog is gone. But what about those headaches?!
What causes headaches on keto? What can you do about them?
1. Sodium
This isn’t a strictly scientific number, but I would say that about 90% of headaches on keto can be cured rapidly with one thing: salt. The main cause of headaches on keto is inadequate sodium intake.
So, if a headache hits you, give yourself a quick infusion of sodium, either by using an electrolyte supplement in water (or your preferred beverage), or by making a cup of broth using a bouillon cube. (If you use homemade bone broth, be sure to add a very generous pinch of salt to it—broth isn’t naturally high in sodium.)
You could also keep it ultra-simple: just down a quick cup of saltwater. Yep—just salt in water. Bouillon and flavored electrolytes are tastier options, but plain salt will work just as well. You don’t need to use any particular kind of salt—pink, gray, Himalayan, Celtic, etc. What your body needs is sodium, and that’s in all kinds of salt, so use whichever kind you like best or whatever happens to be handy.
2. Magnesium
If your sodium intake is squared away but headaches still plague you on a keto diet, supplementing with magnesium might be helpful.
(When I say “squared away” with regard to your sodium intake, that might mean getting much more sodium or salt than you’re used to. Don’t worry—sodium isn’t the dietary evil we’ve been led to believe it is. As is true for red meat and saturated fat—which have been part of the human diet for millennia—sodium isn’t a cause of modern chronic metabolic diseases. If you have high blood pressure, though, pay special attention to the section below, about medication.)
Many people benefit from magnesium supplementation on keto because it helps with constipation. But that’s not the only thing magnesium is good for. Inadequate magnesium may be a cause for headaches on any way of eating (not just keto), so supplementing with this essential mineral can help ensure that you’re getting enough.
Magnesium supplementation might be especially helpful for people with migraines, tension headaches and cluster headaches.
3. Medication
If you take any prescription medication, see if headaches are listed as a possible side-effect. Don’t be surprised if headaches are listed and you’ve been taking the medicine for years but never experienced headaches from it before you went keto.
Keto alters your metabolism so powerfully that it’s not uncommon for drugs to induce side-effects that you didn’t have when you were on a higher carb diet. This is a good sign! It could be time to talk to your doctor about reducing your dose or stopping the medicine altogether. (Being able to decrease or eliminate meds is one of the best reasons to go keto!)
Blood pressure medication
Many different kinds of medication can cause headaches, but headaches might be especially common on blood pressure meds. This is because many drugs that lower blood pressure work by altering your body’s electrolyte status, often through causing your body to excrete more sodium.
If you have hypertension or heart failure, don’t increase your salt (sodium) intake without talking to your licensed medical professional, but it’s important that you’re aware that headaches can be caused by your medication.
(It’s also important to know that for many people, it’s not actually sodium that causes hypertension, but rather, chronically elevated insulin causing your body to retain too much sodium. And considering the role of excess sugar and refined carbohydrate intake in causing chronically high insulin, researchers were probably right to say that public health authorities pointed their finger at “the wrong white crystals” when they labeled sodium, rather than sugar, as the main culprit of high blood pressure.)
Magnesium (again)
Other commonly used drugs can cause your body to have inadequate magnesium, either by increasing your body’s excretion of magnesium or reducing absorption of it. These drugs include antacids, insulin, drugs used for osteoporosis, and more. (The good news is, sticking to keto typically allows people to decrease or discontinue many of these.)
Bottom line
Compared to issues with keto diets that can be tougher to navigate (like weight loss stalls, keto rash, or fearmongering about this way of eating from friends and medical professionals), headaches are a breeze to take care of. If a headache hits you, down some salt, stat.
And to potentially prevent them from coming on in the first place, consume adequate salt daily, and consider supplementing with magnesium. If you take medication for diabetes, high blood pressure or heart failure, please consult your medical provider before adding supplements or increasing your salt intake.
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