What You ACTUALLY Need to Know About PEA (Palmitoylethanolamide)

Dr. Stengler: Are you suffering from chronic pain and looking for natural ways to relieve it? In this video, I'm going to go through a breakthrough in the natural supplement industry — a supplement known as PEA. By the end, you'll understand the science behind PEA and why it's a genuinely valid way to help decrease pain levels.

So many people struggle with chronic pain — sciatica, low back pain, neck pain — and millions of Americans resort to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen and acetaminophen, or prescription medications, especially opioids, which we all know have caused enormous problems with addiction and death. So what do we have in the natural supplement world that is truly effective for pain? We have things like bromelain and turmeric, which are decent, but in my opinion the best by far is PEA — palmitoylethanolamide.

PEA is a natural substance found in foods like egg yolks and soy lecithin, albeit in very small amounts. It can be concentrated and taken in supplement form, and the studies on it are quite remarkable.

First, PEA is known as a broad-spectrum analgesic — it has a general pain-relieving effect. It's also anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective, meaning it not only relieves nerve pain but helps protect nerves from damage.

A 2023 systematic review and meta-analysis of 11 double-blind randomized controlled trials looked at patients with different types of pain — gynecological pain such as menstrual cramps, neurological or nerve pain, musculoskeletal pain, and irritable bowel syndrome with abdominal cramping. Nine of the 11 studies found that PEA had significant pain-relieving effects. Dosages in those studies ranged from 300 to 1,200 milligrams daily.

For joint pain, a 2021 randomized double-blind study compared 350 milligrams of a PEA product to placebo over two weeks and found that pain scores were significantly reduced in those taking PEA. For nerve pain, eight clinical trials involving over 1,300 people found PEA to be safe and effective for sciatica, low back pain, and carpal tunnel syndrome — conditions that can be very difficult to treat in clinical practice. In one study of 636 patients with sciatica, those taking 600 milligrams of PEA per day had a 60% reduction in pain levels after just three weeks.

What about migraine headaches? In a 2022 double-blind study, participants took 600 milligrams of PEA or placebo at the onset of a migraine, recording their pain every 30 minutes for four hours. A second dose was given if the migraine hadn't resolved at the two-hour mark. Those who took PEA resolved more headaches, had lower pain scores, and had a significantly reduced need for acute migraine medication compared to placebo.

Now, what about safety? Unlike pharmaceutical pain relievers — which can cause liver toxicity, kidney toxicity, heart problems, and clotting issues — PEA is very safe. Over 50 years of studies have shown that up to 1,200 milligrams per day has no harmful effects. As one research team stated, numerous clinical trials involving more than 1,500 subjects have demonstrated no adverse effects with doses of 300 to 1,200 milligrams per day, studied extensively in both healthy and sick populations.

I use PEA a lot with my patients. For acute and chronic pain, I'll typically use 600 milligrams per day, up to 1,200 milligrams for more serious acute pain. I'll sometimes combine it with a highly absorbable turmeric product as well — that's a nice synergistic combination.

If you or someone you know is suffering from pain, talk to your healthcare provider about PEA. It really is quite a breakthrough in the natural product industry. For more videos on chronic and acute health conditions and pain management, see more videos on my YouTube channel.

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