More of the omega-3 and less of omega-6 fatty acids helps migraines
Migraine can be triggered by many foods, including sugar, chocolate, smoked, pickled, cured, dried, and fermented foods. There are also foods that can help with migraines. These are magnesium-rich dark leafy vegetables and whole grains. Omega-3 fatty acids that are known to have anti-inflammatory properties is another option.
The British Medical Journal just published a randomized controlled trial of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in the prevention of migraines. The same group of North Carolina researchers published a similar smaller study in 2013.
The new trial included 182 participants who had migraines on 5-20 days per month. They were divided into three groups. One group was supplemented with omega-3 fatty acids (eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). The second group was also given the same amount of EPA and DHA but their diet also had a reduced amount of linoleic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid. The third group served as control.
Compared with the control diet, the first two diets decreased total headache hours per day, moderate to severe headache hours per day, and headache days per month. The diet that increased omega-3s and reduced omega-6 had a greater decrease in headache days per month than the diet that was only supplemented with omega-3s.
Supplementation also resulted in an improvement of inflammatory markers in the blood, a change that was not seen in the control group.
If eating more salmon or other fish rich in omega-3s is not practical, taking a good-quality supplement is a good alternative. To reduce your omega-6 intake avoid processed seed and vegetable oils and processed foods that contain them.
I started getting brutal migraines beginning in 2001.
I saw several neurologists, took different medications and nothing really helped.
In 2011, I started taking fish oil with high DHA daily. Since then, my migraines have dropped 95% overall. Fish oil helps lower migraine pain.
It’s been a miracle. I’ve been preaching this for years to whomever will listen, hoping to help.
There is also a vegan DHA substitute for vegans.
I don’t have familiarity with how these nutritional studies are typically conducted, but I’m puzzled at the absence of a placebo diet that excluded Omega 3. i.e. If the participants in the study know they are in a study to test out a diet to help with migraines I would have thought there needs to be a control group that receives a dietary intervention that isn’t centered around Omega 3 (or Omega 6).
The high Omega 3 diet shows a reduction of two headache days per month while the high Omega 3 / low Omega 6 diet shows a reduction of 4 headache days per month. As I understand it, the participants in the study knew they were in a study to test out a diet to help their migraines.
I started Ajovy several months ago. In the clinical trials for that the placebo showed a reduction of 3.2 headache days per month. While the actual monthly injection shows a reduction of 4.9 days.
(I’ve only glanced at the abstract of it … But, similarly, in the recent Nerivio study that just came out Nerivio showed a reduction of 4 migraine days per month vs. the placebo electronic device of 1.3 days. The Nerivio study was also double blind.)
I’m still going to increase Omega 3 in my diet as there’s not really downside and based on what I read in “End of Migraines and due to a shoutout I saw recently Dr. Dodick’s multi modal approach to addressing chronic migraine. (How you rate treatments in your book is helping me a lot.) But I’m skeptical of what is presented as the upside in this paper.