Making a plan to eat healthy can keep you healthy and active for longer. Read these articles on how to make smart food choices, shop for healthy food on a budget, and what vitamins and minerals older people need. Use the sample menus to plan your meals and shopping list!

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Consuming a diet with more fish fats, less vegetable oils can reduce migraine headaches

A diet higher in fatty fish helped frequent migraine sufferers reduce their monthly number of headaches and intensity of pain compared to participants on a diet higher in vegetable-based fats and oils, according to a new study. The findings by a team of researchers from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), parts of the National Institutes of Health (NIH); and the University of North Carolina (UNC), Chapel Hill, were published in The BMJ.

The NIH team was led by Chris Ramsden, a clinical investigator in the NIA and NIAAA intramural research programs, and a UNC adjunct faculty member. Ramsden and his team specialize in the study of lipids — fatty acid compounds found in many natural oils — and their role in aging, especially chronic pain and neurodegenerative conditions. The UNC team was led by Doug Mann, M.D., of the Department of Neurology, and Kim Faurot, Ph.D., of the Program on Integrative Medicine.

Migraine, a neurological disease, ranks among the most common causes of chronic pain, lost work time, and lowered quality of life. More than 4 million people worldwide have chronic migraine (at least 15 migraine days per month) and more than 90% of sufferers are unable to work or function normally during an attack, which can last anywhere from four hours to three days. Women between the ages of 18 and 44 are especially prone to migraines, and an estimated 18% of all American women are affected. Current medications for migraine usually offer only partial relief and can have negative side effects including sedation, and the possibility of dependence or addiction.

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“This research found intriguing evidence that dietary changes have potential for improving a very debilitating chronic pain condition such as migraine without the related downsides of often prescribed medications,” said Luigi Ferrucci, M.D., Ph.D., scientific director of NIA.

This study of 182 adults with frequent migraines expanded on the team’s previous work on the impact of linoleic acid and chronic pain. Linoleic acid is a polyunsaturated fatty acid commonly derived in the American diet from corn, soybean, and other similar oils, as well as some nuts and seeds. The team’s previous smaller studies explored if linoleic acid inflamed migraine-related pain processing tissues and pathways in the trigeminal nerve, the largest and most complex of the body’s 12 cranial nerves. They found that a diet lower in linoleic acid and higher in levels of omega-3 fatty acids (like those found in fish and shellfish) could soothe this pain pathway inflammation.

In a 16-week dietary intervention, participants were randomly assigned to one of three healthy diet plans. Participants all received meal kits that included fish, vegetables, hummus, salads, and breakfast items. One group received meals that had high levels of fatty fish or oils from fatty fish and lowered linoleic acid. A second group received meals that had high levels of fatty fish and higher linoleic acid. The third group received meals with high linoleic acid and lower levels of fatty fish to mimic average U.S. intakes. Meal plans were designed by Beth MacIntosh, M.P.H., of UNC Healthcare’s Department of Nutrition and Food Services.

During the intervention period, participants monitored their number of migraine days, duration, and intensity, along with how their headaches affected their abilities to function at work, school, and in their social lives, and how often they needed to take pain medications. When the study began, participants averaged more than 16 headache days per month, more than five hours of migraine pain per headache day, and had baseline scores showing a severe impact on quality of life despite using multiple headache medications.

The diet lower in vegetable oil and higher in fatty fish produced between 30% and 40% reductions in total headache hours per day, severe headache hours per day, and overall headache days per month compared to the control group. Blood samples from this group of participants also had lower levels of pain-related lipids. Despite the reduction in headache frequency and pain, these same participants reported only minor improvements in migraine-related overall quality of life compared to other groups in the study.

“Changes in diet could offer some relief for the millions of Americans who suffer from migraine pain,” said Ramsden. “It’s further evidence that the foods we eat can influence pain pathways.”

The researchers noted that these findings serve as validation that diet-based interventions increasing omega-3 fats while reducing linoleic acid sources show better promise for helping people with migraines reduce the number and impact of headache days than fish-oil based supplements, while reducing the need for pain medications. They hope to continue to expand this work to study effects of diet on other chronic pain conditions.

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Diet may affect risk of sudden cardiac death

Diet is known to influence heart health. Experts recommend a diet low in sodium and saturated fat to reduce the risk of heart disease. A heart-healthy diet also includes plenty of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. Research shows that the Mediterranean diet—full of fruits, vegetables, fish, cereals, and legumes, with little meat and dairy—may reduce the risk of heart disease.

Few studies have examined the relationship between overall diet and sudden cardiac death, a common cause of death in the United States. In sudden cardiac death, the heart abruptly stops beating, leading to death within an hour of symptoms. Small studies have suggested that the Mediterranean diet may lower the risk of sudden cardiac death.

A team led by Dr. James M. Shikany of the University of Alabama at Birmingham examined whether dietary patterns are associated with the risk of sudden cardiac death. The study was funded by NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Institute on Aging (NIA), and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Results were published in the Journal of the American Heart Association on July 6, 2021.

The researchers analyzed the diets of more than 21,000 participants using a food questionnaire at the start of the study. Participants were asked how often and in what quantities they ate 110 foods in the past year. Both those with and without a history of coronary heart disease were included. Participants were part of the long-running REGARDS (REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke) study.

Based on the questionnaire responses, researchers calculated a Mediterranean diet score. They also identified five dietary patterns. One, which they termed the “Southern” eating pattern, has large amounts of added fats, fried food, eggs, organ and processed meats, and sugar‐sweetened beverages. Other dietary patterns included a “sweets” pattern heavy on added sugar, a “convenience” pattern made mainly of ready-to-eat foods and take-out, a “plant-based” pattern,” and an “alcohol and salad” pattern.

The researchers assessed how closely participants adhered to each dietary pattern. For example, someone could adhere closely to the Mediterranean diet while also adhering to the “sweets” pattern, but to a lesser degree. They also recorded any heart-related events over an average of 10 years.

More than 400 sudden cardiac deaths occurred during the study. Analyses showed that regularly eating a Southern-style diet may increase the risk of sudden cardiac death, while consuming a Mediterranean diet may reduce risk.

Participants with a Southern dietary pattern had a 46% higher risk of sudden cardiac death than those with the lowest adherence. In contrast, people closely following the Mediterranean diet had a 26% lower risk of sudden cardiac death than others with the least adherence. These differences were of borderline statistical significance (not enough to prove they weren’t due to chance or some other factor). Among those with no coronary heart disease at the start of the study, those closely following the Mediterranean diet had a statistically significant 41% reduction in risk of sudden cardiac death compared to those with the least adherence.

“While this study was observational in nature, the results suggest that diet may be a modifiable risk factor for sudden cardiac death,” Shikany says.

These results support other findings that improving your diet can have a significant effect on heart health.

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