Veterans diagnosed with Gulf War Illness experienced notable relief from migraine symptoms after adopting a low-glutamate diet. This finding, presented by researchers from Georgetown University and American University, reveals a potential low-cost treatment for veterans enduring chronic neurological challenges since the Gulf War.
Brain scans indicated that participants on the low-glutamate diet exhibited decreased cortical thickness. This is the first evidence linking dietary changes to measurable brain alterations in this patient group. The research underscores the significance of diet in managing symptoms associated with Gulf War Illness, which affects over a quarter of veterans who served in the 1990–1991 conflict.
Ashley VanMeter, Ph.D., professor of neurology at Georgetown University School of Medicine, expressed excitement about the findings, stating, “This was exciting because it shows that the brain itself is responding and changing. This isn’t a psychological reaction. These are actual changes in the brain related to the diet.” The study results were shared on November 16, 2023, during the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience held in San Diego.
Understanding Gulf War Illness and Glutamate
Gulf War Illness is a chronic condition characterized by a range of debilitating symptoms, including migraines, musculoskeletal pain, and gastrointestinal issues. These symptoms are believed to arise from exposure to neurotoxic chemicals during military service. Glutamate, a naturally occurring compound in various foods and a common additive in processed products, plays a critical role in the nervous system. It is the most abundant excitatory neurotransmitter, involved in pain mediation.
The research emerged from a collaboration with Kathleen Holton, Ph.D., MPH, a nutritional neuroscientist at American University. She developed the low-glutamate diet, which is currently undergoing further study in a large clinical trial aimed at validating its efficacy for Gulf War Illness patients. VanMeter remarked on the importance of this research, emphasizing the opportunity to assist veterans suffering for decades.
Study Findings and Implications
To conduct the study, researchers compared brain scans of veterans with Gulf War Illness against those of healthy individuals. The results revealed that veterans had significantly thicker right visual cortices and reported higher instances of migraines. Following a month on the low-glutamate diet, brain scans showed marked reductions in cortical thickness among the veterans, alongside a substantial decrease in migraine and headache occurrences.
“More than half of the Gulf War veterans had migraines before the diet, and that dropped to under 20% after following the diet for one month,” VanMeter noted. This decrease illustrates the diet’s potential effectiveness in alleviating symptoms.
Holton explained that the findings support the hypothesis that dietary glutamate may exacerbate Gulf War Illness symptoms by promoting excitotoxicity, neuroinflammation, and oxidative stress within the brain. These mechanisms can create a cyclical effect, worsening symptoms over time. Other reported improvements among participants included reductions in widespread pain, fatigue, mood issues, and cognitive dysfunction.
The researchers plan to publish more comprehensive results from their ongoing studies to further explore these connections.
As migraine sufferers often experience thickening of the visual cortex, the researchers speculate that a low-glutamate diet could benefit a broader population of migraine patients, potentially serving as a viable alternative to medication. “This is a very doable diet,” VanMeter stated. “It’s a healthy diet, it’s not that hard to follow, and it’s a very low-cost way of treating what for some individuals is a chronic and debilitating condition.”
Holton added that the study contributes to an increasing body of evidence regarding the impact of ultra-processed foods on overall health. “This speaks to the fact that diet can not only make us sick, but can also acutely treat our symptoms,” she noted.
Follow-up research is underway to investigate the role of the blood-brain barrier in glutamate sensitivity, which could provide further insights into dietary impacts on neurological health.
