Migraine pains can be reduced by eating a diet rich in fish fats and low in vegetable oils

Jul, 2021 - By WMR

A study financed by the National Institutes of Health discovered that people who ate a greater fish oil diet had fewer and less severe monthly migraines.

According to a new study, a diet rich in oily fish aided everyday migraine sufferers decrease their monthly number of problems and pain severity when compared to those who ate a diet rich in vegetable-based fats and oils. The findings were published by a team of researchers from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and National Institute on Aging. The team's prior research on the effects of linoleic acid on chronic pain was built upon in this study of 182 people with regular migraines.

Linoleic acid is a polyunsaturated fatty acid found in maize, soybean, and other comparable oils, as well as various nuts and seeds, in the American diet. Previous smaller investigations looked into whether linoleic acid irritated related to migraine pain processing tissues and pathways in the trigeminal nerve, the bodies largest and most complicated cranial nerve. They discovered that a diet low in linoleic acid and high in omega-3 fatty acids (found in fish and shellfish) could reduce inflammation in the pain pathway.

Participants in a 16-week dietary intervention were allocated to one of three healthy diet programmes at random. Meal kits containing fish, veggies, hummus, salads, and breakfast items were distributed to all participants. One group was given meals with high levels of fatty fish or fatty fish oils and reduced levels of linoleic acid.

A second group was given meals with a lot of fatty fish and a lot of linoleic acid. To mirror average U.S. consumption, the third group was given meals high in linoleic acid and low in fatty fish.

The researchers concluded that diet-based therapies that increase omega-3 fats while decreasing linoleic acid sources are more promising than fish-oil-based supplements for helping persons with migraines lower the number and severity of headache days while reducing the need for pain medications. They plan to broaden this research to look at the effects of nutrition on other chronic pain syndromes.