Abstract
BackgroundLimited evidence suggests that dietary interventions may offer a promising approach for migraine. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a low-fat plant-based diet intervention on migraine severity and frequency.MethodsForty-two adult migraine sufferers were recruited from the general community in Washington, DC, and divided randomly into two groups. This 36-week crossover study included two treatments: dietary instruction and placebo supplement. Each treatment period was 16 weeks, with a 4-week washout between. During the diet period, a low-fat vegan diet was prescribed for 4 weeks, after which an elimination diet was used. Participants were assessed at the beginning, midpoint, and end of each period. Significance was determined using student’s t-tests.ResultsWorst headache pain in last 2 weeks, as measured by visual analog scale, was initially 6.4/10 cm (SD 2.1 cm), and declined 2.1 cm during the diet period and 0.7 cm during the supplement period (p=0.03). Average headache intensity (0–10 scale) was initially 4.2 (SD 1.4) per week, and this declined by 1.0 during the diet period and by 0.5 during the supplement period (p=0.20). Average headache frequency was initially 2.3 (SD 1.8) per week, and this declined by 0.3 during the diet period and by 0.4 during the supplement period (p=0.61). The Patient’s Global Impression of Change showed greater improvement in pain during the diet period (p<0.001).ConclusionsThese results suggest that a nutritional approach may be a useful part of migraine treatment, but that methodologic issues necessitate further research.Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov, NCT01699009 and NCT01547494.
Highlights
Limited evidence suggests that dietary interventions may offer a promising approach for migraine [3]
4 participants met the criteria for chronic migraine (15 or more headache days per month), while the rest met the criteria for episodic
Most participants reported following an omnivorous diet at baseline, with 12% (N=5) following an ovo-lacto vegetarian diet
Summary
Limited evidence suggests that dietary interventions may offer a promising approach for migraine. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a low-fat plant-based diet intervention on migraine severity and frequency. The pathology of migraine is incompletely understood, but evidence suggests dietary. Limited evidence suggests that dietary interventions may offer a promising approach for migraine [3]. The most commonly reported triggers in these and other analyses include: chocolate, cheese, citrus, alcohol, and coffee [5,6]. In these articles, triggers were reported retrospectively by patients, but other studies have identified triggers via elimination diets [7]
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