Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to common questions about our pricing plans.
Migraine causes should be distinguished by triggers and root causes. The root causes are what make the body react to those triggers. Triggers are sensory stimuli that trigger a migraine attack.
Taste, sight and smell are the 3 main types of sensory triggers for migraine attacks.
Taste: Foods that are well known to trigger migraine attacks are cheese, wine, and chocolate. While these will trigger migraines for many women, for others they will have no impact, but garlic, ice cream, or eggplants might.
Sight: Very bright light but also a device’s blue light trigger can migraines, and relief can be brought by staying in a dark room.
Smell: For example, even the smell of perfume in excess is enough to generate a migraine at a crowded event.
“Migraine” is a very generic term. More syntax to distinguish them has been developed in recent years, mainly based on the symptoms associated with them such as: migraine with aura, migraine without aura, menstrual migraine, cluster headaches, chronic migraines, retinal migraine, hemiplegic migraine, ice pick headaches.
Symptoms can vary tremendously. Women can suffer an attack with debilitating pain, while few may experience little to no pain. The symptoms of an attack can include a loss of vision, seeing prisms or dots, experiencing blurred vision, experiencing pain in the right arm, on half of the body, throbbing, throwing up. For some women, the migraine pain is located in the forehead, while for others it is on top of the head, on the right temple, on the left temple, moving from the back to the front of the head, across the eyebrows, behind the head, behind the left eye, behind the right eye or behind both eyes, in the sinuses, in the inner ears. For some, they are in constant 24/7 pain, for others, they occur once or a few times a month. For some women a migraine episode might last a couple of hours, whereas for others, they may last a couple of days.
Still – they all have one name. While these names are somewhat useful in grouping types of migraines and symptoms, they still fail to indicate the root cause and the solution.
The Chamomile plan gives you access to essential features like trackers, reports, podcasts, and
meditations to help you start managing your migraine at no cost.
“Migraine” is a very generic term. More syntax to distinguish them has been developed in recent years, such as: migraine with aura, migraine without aura, menstrual migraine, cluster migraine, chronic migraines, retinal migraine, hemiplegic migraine, ice pick headaches. While these names are somewhat useful in grouping types of migraines and symptoms, they still fail to indicate the root cause, or a solution.
Symptoms can vary tremendously. Women can suffer an attack with debilitating pain, while others experience little to no pain. The symptoms of an attack can include a loss of vision, seeing prisms or dots, or experiencing blurred vision, to even experiencing pain in your right arm. For some women, the pain is located in the forehead, while for others it is on top of the head, on the right temple, or even moving from the back to the front of the head. For some, they are in constant 24/7 pain, for others, they occur once a month. Still – they all have one name.
Regardless of the type of migraine, the standard answer is usually the same for all women: medication. Among medications, you can choose from triptans, gepants (CGPR) and Botox, to name a few. All of which are “pain killers” and therefore aim to silence the pain with different mechanisms of action. They can be very effective, but it depends on the woman and her circumstances. Women tend to notice their numerous side effects, while for some they cease working altogether. They also talk about “rebound migraines”, and it has been scientifically proven that over time, migraine medication causes migraines.
So where does that leave us? To have a migraine, you need a genetic predisposition. 40 gene loci have been found to be responsible for causing migraines. In addition to the gene, you need one or multiple underlying imbalances for the migraine to be triggered. Those imbalances vary from woman to woman and are not static, which makes them hard to identify and correct. Because when one system is “down”, another body system will come to the rescue, therefore making it hard to keep track of them. It is important to identify them all and to start from the very first root cause, while adjusting the other systems over time.
And that is what we do. It has taken us two full years to develop our methodology. Inspired by ancestral medicine and powered by technology, and we could not do it without both.
We, at Nectar Health, do not think your brain has a defect. In fact, we find it rather smart. Your brain is trying to communicate and ask for help. We have developed a proprietary online test to find the root causes of your migraines, and to act on them – not to silence the pain, but rather to listen, understand and resolve. Our results have been outstanding.
So, “cure” is a big word, especially as there is a genetic predisposition involved. But we can identify and tackle the root cause, so that you can have a happy, functioning brain.The first step is to take our migraine online test. We then offer a free phone call to debrief you on your results, and detail how our programme can work for you.
There is a myriad of medication you can choose from that are tailored to migraines. All of those are “pain killers” and therefore aim to silence the pain with different mechanisms of action.
Their efficiency varies from woman to woman. They can be very effective, but it depends on the woman and her circumstances. Women tend to notice their numerous side effects, while for some after awhile they cease working altogether. Women also talk about “rebound migraines”, and it has been scientifically proven that over time, migraine medication causes migraines. This is something that can be discussed with your medical practitioner, as they should be aware of this when prescribing it.
To have a migraine, you need a genetic predisposition. 40 gene loci have been found to be responsible for causing migraines.
In addition to the gene, you need one or multiple underlying imbalances for the migraine to be triggered. Those imbalances vary from woman to woman and are not static, which makes them hard to identify and correct. Because when one system is “down”, another body system will come to the rescue, therefore making it hard to keep track of them. It is important to identify them all and to start from the very first root cause, while adjusting the other systems over time.
Given migraines rely on a genetic predisposition, migraines can not be “cured” per se. Genetic editing (e.g., CRISPR), though making lots of progress, is unlikely to crack such a complex code of 40 varying genes. So, “cure” is a big word. But you can identify and tackle the root cause of your migraines, so that you can have a happy, functioning brain.
The first step is to take our migraine online test. We then offer a free phone call to debrief you on your results, and detail how our programme can work for you.
Yes, women are 3-4 times more likely to have migraines than men. When children, boys and girls are equal (around 5% chance of migraines developing), but that number then triples to quadruples for women once they reach puberty.
While not all migraines are hormonal, research has linked hormones with migraine attacks, and as the fluctuations happening for women are greater than men, this leaves more room for such imbalances.
Our approach is unique worldwide. Through our initial work with women, and working with Traditional Chinese Medicine doctors, we’ve identified 16 different conditions or malfunctions originated in the digestive and hormonal system that can cause migraines. The combination of possible migraine conditions are no less than 50,000 possibilities. That is what fundamentally makes it so hard to treat and manage.
What makes migraines even more complex, is that these combinations of conditions are dynamic and are influenced by: your stage of life (e.g. pregnancy, menopause), where you live (e.g. close to sea, city dweller), your eating habits (e.g. vegetarian, tyramine and histamine free, FODMAP).
Because there are so many factors that influence your gut, and therefore your brain health, it’s difficult to know exactly what medications and treatments work for you and why the same ones don’t work 100% of the time. It is also why modern medicine has chosen to focus on silencing the pain itself, rather than solving for the root cause.
For the 50,000 combinations of conditions, we’ve mapped corresponding functional foods and their characteristics and contraindications. For example: avoiding turmeric when you have your period, and excluding shiitake if you have candida. Many Western scientific papers have validated the efficacy of many of the functional foods used in our Nectar Health Dynamic Treatment Plans.
The health of your gut has a direct impact on your brain health.
When your gut is healthy and balanced, it sends signals to your brain to let it know everything’s okay.
When your gut is unbalanced, it sends error messages to your brain.
The communication between your brain and gut is a two-way conversation, via a long nerve called the vagus nerve, which runs from the bottom of your brain to your gut, and also through the release of chemicals called neurotransmitters. This communication system is also known as the gut-brain axis.
Your immune system and hormones also impact on the quality of signals sent between your brain and gut.
Because the health of your gut has such a profound impact on the health of your brain, it’s easy to understand how important functional foods are for brain health.
We’re not trying to dull the pain of your migraines. We’re striving to remove them all together. A healthy, balanced gut means no more error messages. No more error messages means no more migraines.
Absolutely.
We’ve seen women who’ve had a concussion really struggle to recover from the physical trauma, remain profoundly unwell for a long time and misunderstood by healthcare professionals.
We have heard of insurers becoming frustrated with women not making progress with their migraines, and encouraging them to “just go back to work” – as if it was really that easy.
Our experience working with women who’ve suffered a concussion indicates they’re lacking some specific liquids around their eyes. These liquids are produced by the liver and without them the effect can be detrimental and the imbalance can take years to resolve on its own, if they resolve at all.
If this is you, please reach out to us. This is why we exist. Find out how Anna and Jess, who both suffered from a concussion, got their life back on track with Nectar Health.
No.
Women who work with us have “additional health benefits”, and because we solve the root causes of their migraines, other imbalances and symptoms disappear.
These include: no more bloating, weight loss, increased energy, less painful menstruation, better skin, more sustained mood, better hair, less acne.
Most, if not all, women we work with get compliments on their physique when working with us.
Hormonal migraine are a type of migraine that occur in relation to hormonal fluctuations in the body. They are particularly common in women and are often linked to the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, menopause, and the use of hormonal contraceptives.
Here are some key points about hormonal migraines:
Menstrual Cycle: Many women experience migraine attacks around the time of their period, commonly referred to as “menstrual migraines.” In Western Science, these are believed to be triggered by the drop in estrogen levels that occurs just before menstruation starts which is in part what Eastern Medicine says but goes further. We distinguish migraine attacks that occur before menstruation vs. during menstruation vs. after menstruation vs. during ovulation. Each of those will correspond to different underlying imbalances and we observe increased fertility once solved.
Pregnancy: Hormonal changes during pregnancy can also affect migraine patterns. Some women may experience more frequent migraines during the first trimester due to fluctuating hormone levels, while others may find relief from migraines during pregnancy saying that it has been the “best time of their life”.
Breastfeeding: Breastfeeding hormones come with their own challenges as well. For some accentuating the migraines, for others relieving from those. Sometimes, it is the end of the breastfeeding that can mark a surge in migraines which yet underlies another type of imbalance.
Menopause: The hormonal fluctuations that occur during perimenopause and menopause can also trigger migraines. Some women may experience an increase in migraine frequency and severity during this time.
Hormonal Contraceptives: Birth control pills and other forms of hormonal contraception can impact migraine patterns. For some women, hormonal contraceptives can help regulate migraines, while for others, they may trigger or worsen them.
All of those are forms of hormonal migraines.
Yes!
95% of people we help are women and although not all migraine attacks are hormonal of female cycle related, many are.
Rather than focusing on the hormones themselves, we focus on the underying systems in chanrge of regulating them. Once those systems function properly, fertility increases drastically and women will report that their migraine attacks decrease in intensity and in frequency for most, until they disappear for a majority as well.
Yes.
We observe great success with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), Raynaud’s disease, leaky gut, and we are now testing for fibromyalgia as well.
We have not advertised this yet, as we are still a small team.
Take the test.
That proprietary test that has helped hundreds of women successfully diagnose the root cause of their migraines and reclaim their lives.
Women reported making connections they had never made taking the test. They also reported being asked questions they had never been asked in regards to their migraines. They reported making connections between their migraines and other symptoms they were experiencing.
After completing the test, you will instantly know whether we can help you or not. Based on hundreds of cases we have successfully helped, we have a fairly good sense for whom it works really well and in which few cases it does not. We want to let you know as soon as we know ourselves.
If you can, you will be invited to take a monthly subscription plan (cancel anytime).
Once that is done, we will prepare your individual app that will ask of you 3 things:
(1) Add specific functional foods and power teas to your daily diet
(2) Add a few inexpensive new habits
(3) Track your progress
We are not removing from your diet but adding to it!
As you track and make progress, that list will keep on adjusting itself.
There’s no one size fits all approach, and that’s why we spend time at the start of your journey finding out as much as we can about your migraines and understanding your migraine profile.
Some of the functional foods we recommend will be familiar to you, such as: beetroot, pumpkin seeds, eggplant, raspberries, parsley, turmeric, saffron; and easy to drink teas such as: ginger, chamomile and licorice root.
You may be less familiar with other functional foods such as feverfew, cassia seeds, dried lily flowers or corn silk. But please don’t be intimidated. We provide advice and guidance on how to prepare them, and how much you need to include in your daily diet.
We do not need your name to proceed. In fact, we do not ask for your last name, and you can fill in whatever first or nick name you like. We only need a means of communication with you and that is via email and text.
We take data privacy very seriously. We have high data security standards and are committed to GDPR compliance.
We offer lots of choices and listen to your taste buds through the Nectar Health daily tracker so there’s plenty of choice. Many foods and teas on your list are equally rated for their effects so we’re confident there’s always something for everyone. And you may even discover a new favourite food you’ve never tried before!
No. We’re here to compliment the plan you already have with your GP or neurologist.
Our goal is to help reduce the frequency of your migraine attacks. As your pain decreases, you and your health professional can assess any changes to your medications to reflect the evolution of your health.
The health of your gut has a direct impact on your brain health.
When your gut is healthy and balanced, it sends signals to your brain to let it know everything’s okay. When your gut is unbalanced, it sends error messages to your brain.
The communication between your brain and gut is a two-way conversation, via a long nerve called the vagus nerve which runs from the bottom of your brain to your gut, and also through the release of chemicals called neurotransmitters. This communication system is known as the gut-brain axis.
Your immune system and hormones also impact on the quality of signals sent between your brain and gut.
Because the health of your gut has such a profound impact on the health of your brain, it’s easy to understand how important functional foods are for brain health.
We’re not trying to dull the pain of your migraines. We’re aiming to remove them all together. A healthy, balanced gut means no more error messages. No more error messages means no more migraines.
Migraines are complex and your Nectar Health Treatment Plan isn’t a magic bullet. But our promise to you is that we’re relentless in our mission to help you regain control of your life.
All our functional food lists are plant-based, vegan, vegetarian, keto, paleo, pescatarian, dairy-free and gluten-free friendly. Your functional lists contain many options to choose from each day and to suit your lifestyle.
We can also tailor your lists if you’re following a weight-loss plan, by carefully selecting your functional foods or creating a 100% natural tea based plan.
We think about your gut holistically. When we talk about your gut, we’re referring to your small intestine (the area where most of the nutrients from your food is digested) and other organs and systems that contribute to digestion.
Some are straightforward. For example, your stomach and liver play very big roles as to what ends up in your gut. Their secretions impact the health of your gut.
Some are more complicated. The female reproductive system is a good example as it’s important for balancing hormones in your blood, and therefore your gut. We know endometriosis can affect your intestines because these organs are interdependent. This is why our holistic approach to gut health and listening to your whole body is key to our approach to managing migraines.
Our women don’t talk about “side effects”, but about “side benefits” – because as we address underlying issues, your whole body will benefit.
We develop your functional food lists based on alternative medicine (predominantly Traditional Chinese Medicine) and findings from Western scientific papers to rebalance your microbiome.
How long you’ve had your migraines for, your ethnicity and whether you’ve gone through menopause all influence your food lists, frequency and dosage.
There’s no one size fits all approach and that’s why we spend time at the start of your journey finding out as much as we can about your migraines and understanding your migraine profile.
Some of the functional foods we recommend will be familiar to you, such as beetroot, pumpkin seeds, eggplant, raspberries, parsley, turmeric and saffron and easy to drink teas such as ginger and licorice root.
You may be less familiar with other functional foods such as feverfew, petasites hybridus, cassia seed or tiger lily bulbs. But don’t be intimidated. We provide advice and guidance about how to prepare them and how much you need to include in your daily diet.
At this stage, we only focus on women’s migraines because:
- Women are 3-4 times more likely to have migraines than men. We think this is unfair and have decided to do something about women first!
- We believe men’s migraines are not the same as women’s and are therefore not diagnosed or treated the same. Some recent MRI results have confirmed men’s migraines are different from women’s so we can’t use the same tools and solutions we currently use.
There are 3 risks with trying our functional food lists.
You feel like you’ve wasted your money ==> we offer a money-back guarantee
We know you’ve probably already spent a lot of money trying to find the answer to how to get rid of your migraines. And how can you be sure more of your “migraine budget” isn’t wasted on our treatment plan?
It’s a valid question. So we always offer a 100% refund if, in spite of eating your recommended functional foods, we see from your tracker there’s been no improvement of your migraines within 4 months.
While we need to wait for clinical trials to make solid claims, we have confidence in our treatment plans. We’re also relentless in helping to address every one of your issues or imbalances. For us, failing to help just one woman means failing to help the thousands of other women who we see after you with a similar migraine profile.
A functional food or tea makes you bloated ⇒ This is a precious insight and we’ll amend your list
At Nectar Health, we know that your body is the ultimate boss. If your body doesn’t react well to something on your list, you can stop having it.
And remember, let us know about it. Usually it provides us with a very precious insight into your gut, something we haven’t identified yet and may help us accelerate your progress.
This is taking up your time ⇒ Our motivation is to give you your time back
We’ve worked hard to make sure your treatment plan is convenient and easy to stick to. More than ever, we want you to spend less time thinking about and managing your migraines and more time doing the things you love.
Our dream is for you to find the time spent following your treatment plan worthwhile. Often the time and money spent on managing migraines increases the longer you have them and we want to give you back that time.
No women we’ve worked with have reported any side effects from their Nectar Health treatment plan. In fact, it’s quite the opposite, with women reporting side benefits. Specifically, women mention they have more energy, their periods are more regular and less painful, they’ve lost weight, they feel a general sense of feeling sharper, they have less mood swings… the list goes on. As we’re working on restoring balance, it means your whole body benefits.
Once women start to feel better by following their treatment plan, they ask us, “if you can help my migraines, can you by any chance…?” and give us their Santa list. Our dream is to help many more women who suffer from conditions such as menstruation pain, menopause, acne, fertility issues, depression and sleep disturbances, but for now, our top priority is women like you. Mothers, daughters, sisters, leaders, community makers. We want to unlock the potential of over 50 million women worldwide affected by migraines.
Maybe. Our goal is to complement your daily diet with functional foods specific to your migraine profile. But, if we feel your body needs it we may ask you to trial removing certain foods.
Overall, we aim to rebalance your body by adding in, rather than removing. We know adding in foods is more sustainable long-term and when adding, as some organs become stronger again, the intolerances once felt may actually soften, if not disappear.
We believe migraines are more than a disease – they’re a message. A message from your body saying there’s a problem that needs your attention.
Unfortunately, many women are predisposed to migraines through their DNA. After puberty, women are 3-4 times more likely to have migraines than men.
For most women, the frequency and intensity of migraines increases the longer they have them. And while menopause brings a welcome relief of fewer migraines for some women, for others they can change or become more intense.
Often migraines are a message that signal one or more imbalances in your body. Understanding what’s causing the message is the first step in your journey with us.
