S2 E52: Headaches Handled: Fasting for Relief with Susannah Juteau, Registered Dietician

Written By Eryn Martin

Struggling with debilitating headaches? Have migraines taken over your life? There is hope beyond medications or elimination diets! 

Fasting has the potential to decrease brain fog, increase alertness, repair neurons, improve gut health, eliminate headaches and more.  Today, Susannah Juteau MSc, CLT, RD talks with us about the benefits of therapeutic fasting for brain health and headache relief.  Susannah’s Headaches Handled program is a dietician guided, group approach to having a healthy diet that incorporates therapeutic fasting.  Listen to this episode to learn if this strategy is for you!

In this episode:

  • Having constant, daily headaches long term after your brain injury is not normal!

  • Difference between headache and migraine

    • Similar triggers for each

    • Anything that is debilitating or affecting your life is a chronic headache or migraine

    • Migraines have symptoms beyond a headache and may not have head pain. 3 or more:

      • Sound sensitivity

      • Light sensitivity

      • Strong pain to one side of your head

      • Nausea

      • Vomiting

      • Inability to tolerate any stimulation–needing to go to a dark room and lie down

      • Ocular or neurologic symptoms

    • Migraines are common post brain injury

  • Getting a label to your condition helps you find your tribe, other people going through similar situations.  Community helps you get ideas on approaches to try and feel less alone. 

    • Finding community is a way to find all the tools you need to rebuild your self

    • It takes many people, community and different healthcare providers, to rebuild after brain injury

  • Headaches Handled

    • A community approach to using nutrition to help treat your headaches

    • A group program on fasting for headaches

  • What is fasting?

    • Not a fad diet for weight loss

    • Requires nourishing your body nutritionally (yes, it requires eating!)

    • Therapeutic fasting rather than intermittent fasting: focus is on reversing chronic conditions

    • Fasting helps with brain health, puts you into ketosis without having to follow a restrictive diet

      • Ketosis helps as it gives you more energy and crosses the blood brain barrier.  It is an alternate fuel that helps you get through a migraine attack much faster eventually preventing it from happening.  Ketosis addresses glucose dysregulation which is a theoretical cause of migraines

    • Takes 4-8 weeks to start feeling and seeing benefits and benefits build over time

    • Once you are functional with your migraines, likely on meds, it is a good time to address nutritional strategies.  Also, give yourself a year of recovery after brain injury before starting.

  • Myths about fasting

    • I need to eat every few hours.  

      • If you are reliant on glucose you will feel like you need to.  Our bodies are well prepared for feasting and fasting.  

    • I’m going to start tomorrow.  

      • You gradually need to build up to fasting.

  • Benefits of fasting

    • Fasting allows for gut rest

    • Increased alertness

    • Decreased brain fog

    • When your gut isn’t focused on digesting all the time it can focus on autophagy.  Autophagy is when clean-up, healing, and cellular repair happen. 

      • Typically we are eating for a 16 hour period.  6 hours is not enough time for gut rest, rejuvenating the microbiome, and autophagy

    • Neuron regeneration

  • Time restricted eating

    • Dr. Satchin Panda: his research indicates that 12 hours of eating and 12 hours of fasting makes a dramatic difference for long term health. 

      • Eating periods should be during daylight hours to follow circadian rhythms.  All our cells rely on circadian rhythms

    • Therapeutic fasting is longer times (over 12 hours) of fasting but not daily. You need to build up to it slowly with nutrition strategies to make sure you are well nourished.  Susannah guides you on nutrition strategies and gut health to be successful in your therapeutic fasting

  • With fasting you become in tune with your body tapping into your own intuition.

    • You figure out when you are actually hungry vs when you are programmed to eat

    • Your mood and anxiety levels tend to be better on fasting days

  • The headache bucket

    • Triggers for headaches: stress, weather, poor sleep, what we’re eating, food sensitivities, dehydration

    • How do we empty the bucket: stress relief, exercise, fasting–all different tools to employ to empty it

    • The Headaches Handled program is focused on addressing the bucket with:

      • Quality of diet: high fiber, micronutrients

      • Fasting addresses:

        • Gut health and healing: improved gut health lessens food sensitivities

        • Brain health

        • Autophagy

        • Neuron regeneration

        • Energy levels

  • Fasting requires a healthy diet.  Elimination diet is not necessary for most people.

  • With fasting you see improvement of brain fog, reduction of headaches, and may be able to wean off of migraine medications

  • Length of fast

    • During a fast (after building up gradually to it) you should feel more alert and energetic.  May feel a little bit of hunger during it but there are strategies for this

    • Gradually build up as you feel comfortable.  Start with 12 hours. Goal is 18-24 hours twice per week.  Autophagy starts at hour 17.

  • Hydration

    • Clean liquids are allowed during a fast

      • Water, tea, black coffee

    • Hydration is really important during a fast

  • Support us at:

  • Patreon

  • Donate section on our website.  10% of profits go to our favorite non-profit of the moment

Eryn Martin
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S2 E53: Limitless Life with Kyle Mengelkamp
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S2 E51: Regulators! Relearning Emotions Post Injury with Elle Gargano