It's really up to you, Allina says. The National Women's Health Network simply isn't comfortable offering advice on such a seesaw topic. In a situation like this one, where science hasn't come up with a definite answer, we don't have an answer, she said. What we say is, if you want to be cautious, you might want to avoid products that contain caffeine. The research on headaches seems more convincing.
Caffeine is suspected to help with headaches in two key ways.
By narrowing the blood vessels, caffeine restricts blood flow. And since blood vessels tend to widen before some headaches, especially migraines, narrower arteries help minimize headache pain. Caffeine also increases the production of stomach acid, helping the body to absorb headache medicine more effectively. At least that's what the research shows. But Viki Hunt of Bath Township, Ohio a migraine sufferer for 15 years isn't convinced.