More on Headaches as explained by Dr. Michio Kushi. His book, The Macrobiotic Path to Total Health goes into this common ailment with great detail.
Cause: While it’s true the stress and tension may increase the pain, the cause of headaches is primarily due to excessive diet that violates the law of yin and yang. For those who are on modern macrobiotic diet, adults and children never experience such an ailment. In their regular lives, they also face pressures and challenges but not once are they driven to the point of needing aspirin or other relief. From energetic analysis, headaches can be characterized into 4 types: frontal lobe, stem of the neck radiating towards the crown of the head; side of the head/ears toward the nose, and the central pains… whenever those have tensions, contractions and blockages, pain may be triggered. If treating at home, what’s essential is to determine from the symptoms, if the pain is Yin or Yang in nature.
Headaches in the forehead/frontal region oftentimes comes from consuming foods categorized as excessively yin in nature. Over-consumption of sugar, chocolate, honey, fruits, fruit juices, peer, wine (uh-oh)and alcoholic beverages (cocktails a no? who gave me that to “fix” my jet lag, cough, cough…) of any kind, aspirin, pill… these extremely yin foods can trigger this kind of headache. These headaches can feel “pulsating, sharp, stabbing and splitting” and during hot weather, the pain is exasperated. Some tension headaches, sinus headaches that are near chronic, falls into this classification.
Headaches radiating from the back of the head, stemming from the base of neck (C7) region is usually caused by excessive intake of Yang foods such as red meat and other domesticated animal meat, eggs, salty cheese, fish, foods high in sodium, breads, cookies, crackers and other hard and dry toasted foods. This kind of headache is not pulsating but rather a dull pressure and worsens when cold. Tension headaches mostly fits into this classification.
Headaches that challenges you from the ear and temples/side of the head, inward is usually caused by excessive intake of oily foods. The intake of excessively oily foods
(in midst of translation, got to go – to be continues later – life revolves)
