What to Eat to Cure Anything

Head Off Headaches

The omega-3s in fish are great for your head. Almost 90 percent of people who got migraines reported fewer of the headaches after taking two grams of omega-3 concentrate daily, according to a Brown University School of Medicine study. "Fish and fish oil lower the production of a prostaglandin, a chemical that causes inflammation and pain," says researcher Zeev Harel, MD.

Beans contain riboflavin, a nutrient that has been found to reduce the number of headache days by at least 50 percent in more than half of sufferers, say researchers at the University of Liege in Belgium.

The compound that gives cayenne its heat, capsaicin, can ease cluster headaches (which typically affect one side of the head and occur several days in a row), probably by destroying a chemical that carries pain messages to the brain. Although people who get cluster headaches often inhale capsaicin through a nasal spray, try adding cayenne to your cooking.

Magnesium, often deficient in migraine sufferers, is plentiful in this grain. "The mineral relaxes blood vessels and normalizes serotonin receptors," explains Alexander Mauskop, MD, director of the New York Headache Center in New York City. In one German study, patients taking 600 milligrams of magnesium daily saw their headache frequency plummet by more than 40 percent.

Ingredients
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 ounces snapper
1/4 cup low-fat milk
1/4 cup crushed vitamin-fortified flake cereal
Nonstick cooking spray
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup quinoa
1/2 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup finely chopped green bell pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine flour and cayenne. Dip snapper in flour, then milk, then crushed cereal. Place on baking sheet; mist with cooking spray. Bake for 10 minutes, until coating is browned and fish is 145 degrees. In a pot, bring broth and quinoa to boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 6 minutes. Add beans, onion, and bell pepper. Serve snapper with the quinoa.

Originally published in FITNESS magazine, March 2010.