Diet rich in Omega-3 and low in Omega-6 fatty acids helps reduce migraine headaches: BMJ

• H3 diet (n=61)—increase EPA+DHA to 1.5 g/day and maintain linoleic acid at around 7% of energy
• H3-L6 diet (n=61)—increase n-3 EPA+DHA to 1.5 g/day and decrease linoleic acid to ≤1.8% of energy
• The Control diet (n=60)—maintain EPA+DHA at <150 mg/day and linoleic acid at around 7% of energy.

The primary endpoints (week 16) were the antinociceptive mediator 17-hydroxydocosahexaenoic acid (17-HDHA) in blood and the headache impact test (HIT-6), a six-item questionnaire assessing headache impact on quality of life.

The results of the study are as follows:

• In intention-to-treat analyses the H3-L6 and H3 diets increased circulating 17-HDHA (log ng/mL) compared with the control diet.
• The observed improvement in HIT-6 scores in the H3-L6 and H3 groups were not statistically significant.
• Compared with the control diet, the H3-L6 and H3 diets decreased total headache hours per day moderate to severe headache hours per day, and headache days per month.
• The H3-L6 diet decreased headache days per month more than the H3 diet, suggesting an additional benefit from lowering dietary linoleic acid.
• The H3-L6 and H3 diets altered n-3 and n-6 fatty acids and several of their nociceptive oxylipin derivatives in plasma, serum, erythrocytes, or immune cells, but did not alter classic headache mediator's calcitonin gene-related peptide and prostaglandin E2.

Thus, the researchers concluded that the H3-L6 and H3 interventions altered bioactive mediators implicated in headache pathogenesis and decreased frequency and severity of headaches, but did not significantly improve quality of life.

Reference:

Dietary alteration of n-3 and n-6 fatty acids for headache reduction in adults with migraine: a randomized controlled trial

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n1448