| Sixteen weeks of treatment with diets higher in omega-3 fatty acids from fatty fish reduced the frequency and severity of headaches in people with frequent migraines, according to a study funded by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, part of the National Institutes of Health, and conducted at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The study, which was partially supported by the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, was published in theBMJ. The types of fatty acids that people get from food may play a role in promoting or preventing migraine. Modern industrialized diets tend to be low in the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which are found in seafood, and high in the omega-6 fatty acid linoleic acid, which is found in vegetable oils. These fatty acids are converted in the body into oxylipins that influence pain. Oxylipins derived from EPA and DHA may reduce pain, while those derived from linoleic acid may increase it. | 