In a new study from the National Institute on Aging, researchers found a diet higher in fatty fish helped frequent migraine sufferers reduce headaches and intensity of pain compared to participants on a diet higher in vegetable-based fats and oils.
This study of 182 adults with frequent migraines expanded on the team’s previous work on the impact of linoleic acid and chronic pain.
Linoleic acid is a polyunsaturated fatty acid commonly derived in the American diet from corn, soybean, and other similar oils, as well as some nuts and seeds.
The team’s previous studies explored if linoleic acid inflamed migraine-related pain processing tissues and pathways in the trigeminal nerve, the largest and most complex of the body’s 12 cranial nerves.
They found that a diet lower in linoleic acid and higher in levels of omega-3 fatty acids (like those found in fish and shellfish) could soothe this pain pathway inflammation.
In the current study, participants were assigned to one of three healthy diet plans. Participants all received meal kits that included fish, vegetables, hummus, salads, and breakfast items.
One group received meals that had high levels of fatty fish or oils from fatty fish and lowered linoleic acid. A second group received meals that had high levels of fatty fish and higher linoleic acid.
The third group received meals with high linoleic acid and lower levels of fatty fish to mimic average U.S. intakes.
The team found the diet lower in vegetable oil and higher in fatty fish produced between 30% and 40% reductions in total headache hours per day, severe headache hours per day, and overall headache days per month compared to the control group.
Blood samples from this group also had lower levels of pain-related lipids.
The findings suggest that dietary changes have the potential for improving a very debilitating chronic pain condition like a migraine without the related downsides of often prescribed medications.
Migraine, a neurological disease, ranks among the most common causes of chronic pain, lost work time, and lowered quality of life.
More than 4 million people worldwide have chronic migraine (at least 15 migraine days per month) and over 90% of sufferers are unable to work or function normally during an attack, which can last anywhere from four hours to three days.
Women between the ages of 18 and 44 are especially prone to migraines, and an estimated 18% of all American women are affected.
Current medications for migraine usually offer only partial relief and can have negative side effects including sedation, and the possibility of dependence or addiction.
If you care about migraine headaches, please read studies about what migraine sufferers need to know about stroke risk and findings of this new drug may treat migraine more effectively.
For more information about migraines and your health, please see recent studies about migraine headaches linked to dementia, but only in women and results showing that these 5 things could predict chronic migraine headaches.
The study is published in The BMJ. One author of the study is Chris Ramsden.
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