Headaches during the month of Ramadan are often caused by a lack of water. You should therefore drink plenty at suhoor and iftar, and during the time of isha. It is also good to eat fruits such as watermelon and melon. You should
eat little and drink a lot, such as herbal teas, fruit juices, coffee and tea in moderation. And of course drink more than two liters of water during the night.
Furthermore, from experience I have noticed that many brothers who complained of headaches during voluntary fasts were brothers who consumed a lot of refined sugars (white sugar, white flour, soda, etc.). Some may already know that refined sugars are
highly addictive. These headaches are simply the expression of the lack the body feels. To solve this problem, you simply need to lower your consumption of refined sugars.
After two or three months, you will no longer feel this withdrawal effect during voluntary fasts.
What the science says: fasting, migraine, and headaches
Here is what published research says about the remedies mentioned above, offered for perspective — these studies look at material causes, while healing belongs to Allah.
Fasting
Fasting, prescribed and then recommended by the Sunnah (Monday-Thursday, the white days), is now studied under the name of intermittent fasting: a meta-analysis in the BMJ shows favorable effects on weight and cardiometabolic risk factors (BMJ, 2025), with an impact on appetite (Nutrients, 2023) and body composition (Diabetes Obes Metab, 2024). Precaution: people with diabetes on insulin, pregnant or breastfeeding women, and those who are frail should adjust their fasting with their doctor — Islam permits, and sometimes requires, not fasting in case of illness.
Migraine and headaches
Magnesium reduces the frequency of migraines according to meta-analyses (Pain Physician, 2016) (Neurol Sci, 2025); plants (feverfew, butterbur, ginger) have been reviewed in controlled trials (Phytother Res, 2020). Regular sleep, hydration, and identifying triggers (abrupt fasting, screens, certain foods) are essential. Precaution: a sudden "thunderclap" headache, with fever, neck stiffness, or neurological symptoms, is an emergency.
