In a parallel-group randomized controlled trial, the consumption of Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet for twelve weeks led to significant benefits in terms of improvement in the migraine clinical symptoms (frequency, severity) and mental health outcomes (depression, stress) when compared to a control diet in females suffering from migraine. But, no dietary regimen was found to be superior in improving anxiety outcomes and quality of life.

Investigators carried out this study for investigating the impact of the DASH diet on clinical outcomes, patients' quality of life, and mental health parameters in 102 reproductive-aged females (20-50 years) having migraine symptoms. Participants were randomly allocated to either the DASH group (n=51) or the usual dietary advice group (control group, n=51). The recruited females finished a twelve-week intervention.

Utilizing a seven-day menu cycle, designing of the DASH diet was done to offer 55-60% from carbohydrates, 25-30% from fats, and 15-20% of total daily energy needs from proteins. For evaluating women's compliance with the DASH diet, serum vitamin C concentrations and dietary records were utilized. Evaluation of clinical symptoms of migraine (i.e., severity, duration, frequency), mental health (i.e., depression, stress, anxiety) and quality of life was carried out in the study groups pre-and post-intervention.

Post-intervention, a higher decline was noted in the severity and frequency of migraine in the DASH group when compared to the usual dietary advice group. Compared to the control group, the DASH group displayed a tendency towards a higher decline in migraine duration and had reduced scores of depression and stress, as depicted in Table 1:

But, the anxiety outcomes and the quality of life were comparable in the study groups post-intervention. Thus, the DASH diet may be used as a complementary therapy to manage people with migraine symptoms. However, additional investigation is warranted to validate these findings.