Supporting the Whole You

The other day I woke up with a headache. I was away from home and did not have any solutions for the pain with me. I was not doing anything mentally stimulating, so there I sat with the pain and boredom. It made me think about what I would do if someone had approached me with this same issue.

Often people want a remedy for the pain, something that will work right away. When this happens I tell them I take aspirin. I love the look of shocked horror on their faces! After they recover I start the real process to help them.

Treating a symptom like a headache and calling it a cure is much the same as using one of the spray can flat tire repair kits to fix a flat. It does the job, but you still have a nail in your tire. A headache, for example could be caused by many things, such as excess stress, exhaustion, too much alcohol, or getting hit with a frying pan. It makes sense to most of us to prevent the headaches when we can. If most of your headaches come from flying cookware then you would naturally learn to duck and maybe buy a hard hat. Hangovers are prevented just as easily. Nobody does it, but, hey, at least it more fun the the Calphalon assault.

Why, then, would we not take the same steps for a systemic cause? Helping the body cope with chronic stress can have an impact on the frequency of the headaches. Use an adaptogen, such as rhodiola, to support your body's response to stress. If your sleep has been poor lately, using supplements like L-theonine, L-trytophan, or ZMA can help you return to regular sleep.

I know that when I do not eat correctly my blood sugar can drop and a headache soon follows. Regular use of supplements like cinnamon and chromium when combined with proper diet can help support blood sugar within normal levels.

Treating the symptom with something to mask it does not really help support your health. It is up to you to look for what is causing the symptom. Take the remedy of your choice to help with the immediate problem, just don't forget to look for the underling problem to maintain your better health.