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Foods can trigger migraines, but certain dietary changes can reduce the frequency and severity of headaches in migraine sufferers, according to a new study.
People who ate a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids, especially while reducing their intake of omega-6 fatty acids, reported shorter, less severe headaches than those who followed a typical American diet. The cuts were large and “robust,” researchers reported this month in the BMJ.
The results offer hope for the billion people worldwide – 12% of whom are Americans – who suffer from migraines and are looking for diet options that may provide relief, experts said.
“The reduction in the number of headache days per month that we have seen was impressive. It was similar to what we see with some drugs used to prevent migraine and it’s very exciting, ”said Daisy Zamora, study co-author, researcher at the National Institute on Aging and assistant professor of psychiatry at UNC School of Medicine, TODAY.
Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are types of healthy fats that humans need to get from food. But they are out of balance in the average American diet.
Americans now eat at least twice the amount of omega-6 our ancestors ate, Zamora said. Linoleic acid – the predominant omega-6 in the Western diet – is found in vegetable oils, including corn, safflower, and soybean oils, so it’s abundant in baked goods, crackers, snacks. and other processed foods.
The molecules produced when the body digests omega-6 fats are linked to pain processes and are known to trigger pain, Zamora noted.
Omega-3 fatty acids, on the other hand, have anti-inflammatory properties. The best sources are fatty cold water fish, such as salmon, mackerel, tuna, herring, and sardines. Plant sources include nuts, flax seeds, and chia seeds.
For the study, the researchers recruited 182 people with migraines five to 20 days per month. Two-thirds of the participants met the criteria for having chronic migraines.
They were then randomly assigned to follow one of three diets for 16 weeks:
Diet rich in omega-3: This plan included lots of fatty fish – salmon and tuna every day – increasing the intake of certain omega-3 fatty acids (called EPA and DHA) to 1.5 grams per day. The average American eats a fraction of that amount, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Diet rich in omega-3 + low in omega-6: It was similar in the foreground, but this diet also simultaneously reduced omega-6 intake to less than a quarter of that of the typical American diet. People in this group cooked with macadamia nut oil, olive oil, coconut oil, or butter instead of typical vegetable oils and ate snacks low in linoleic acid.
Average American Diet: It was diet control. It contained the typical levels of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids consumed by Americans.
Each participant kept a diary to monitor their migraines and record the frequency and intensity of their headaches and the impact on their life.
At the start of the study, participants had an average of about 16 headache days per month and nearly five and a half hours of headaches per day, despite taking several pain medications.
After four months of diets, the high omega-3 + low omega-6 diet produced a 30-40% reduction in the total number of headache hours per day, severe headache hours per day and overall headache days per month compared to the control group. , the NIH said.
Simply increasing omega-3 fats without reducing omega-6s has also shown benefits, but not as strong as these two changes.
In an editorial accompanying the study, captioned “Finally, grounds for optimism among those seeking a diet option,” Dr. Rebecca Burch, headache medicine specialist and assistant professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, called the results “remarkable.” . “
“These results support the recommendation of an omega-3 rich diet for patients in clinical practice,” Burch wrote.
“(They) bring us one step closer to a goal long sought by headache patients and those who care for them: a migraine diet backed by strong clinical trial results.”
What to keep in mind:
This study says nothing about the benefits of supplements, Zamora said. The preference is for people to increase their omega-3 intake by eating food rather than ingesting a pill, she added.
The diet has been tested as an adjunct to medication, not as a replacement. People with migraine should ask their doctor if they should add it to the treatment they are already receiving.
The diet, with lots of fish on the menu each day, is “doable” but may be difficult for some people to follow, Zamora said: “It takes a motivated person to be able to do it for sure. It will be crucial for future studies to find out how difficult it is for patients to follow a diet rich in omega-3s at home, Burch wrote.
Although they suffered fewer, shorter, and less severe headaches, the participants did not feel that the changes significantly improved their quality of life. This is consistent with the reality of migraines and how debilitating they are, Zamora noted.
“If a person has 16 (headache) days per month and is able to reduce that number to 12 days, that’s a huge reduction – four more days with no pain,” she said.
“But if at the end of the month you ask them, ‘Has your pain had a big impact on your life?’ The answer is always yes because 12 days a month is always a big impact.
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