PEA: A Supplement That Helps Reduce Pain and Inflammation
/By Julie Titone
It is a question I’ve long had but never bothered to look up: How do drugs get their names? Then I heard about palmitoylethanolamide and, given it has the longest name of anything I ever considered consuming, I had a solid reason to pursue the question.
PEA, as the tongue-twister is unsurprisingly known, isn’t a prescription drug. It’s a fatty acid found naturally in our bodies and in some foods. PEA can also be manufactured and is sold in over-the-counter supplements. It binds to cells in the body and reduces inflammation and pain.
When a fellow arachnoiditis sufferer called it to my attention, I read up on it.
PEA was first identified in the 1950s, after doctors observed that children who ate eggs were less likely to get rheumatic fever. Early studies found PEA not only in the fatty solids of egg yolks, but also in components of peanuts and soybean lecithin.
Researchers found that the compound had anti-inflammatory effects in animal models, and noticed it could also reduce allergic reactions. That lead to early clinical trials for conditions like influenza and the common cold.
Interest in PEA then dropped off for two decades. It was revived again thanks in large part to Nobel Prize-winning neurobiologist Rita Levi-Montalcini. Her work in the 1990s and 2000s helped establish PEA's role in modulating mast cells, which are key players in inflammation and allergic responses. She was a huge fan of PEA, reportedly taking it herself. She lived to be 103.
Interest in PEA is strong and getting stronger. For two recent reports, researchers analyzed scores of studies, tabulated the results of the rigorous ones, and reached upbeat conclusions.
The 2023 meta-analysis in the Swiss journal Nutrients looked at PEA’s effect on chronic pain, and found “PEA was associated with improved functional status and quality of life in many studies, while reported side effects were essentially negligible.”
A 2025 meta-analysis published by the journal Nutrition Reviews confirmed that “PEA effectively reduces pain and enhances quality of life, with significant benefits observed within 4-6 weeks of treatment. Palmitoylethanolamide is a promising alternative to chronic opioid analgesics, potentially reducing the risk of opioid abuse and dependency.”
That last point — that PEA could provide a safe alternative to opioids — is a big driver of interest in the nine-syllable compound. Researchers are also looking at its promise in treating long Covid, glaucoma, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS and more. So far, it’s shown to be most effective in the treatment of neuropathic pain.
To make PEA more effective, researchers have figured out how to make it more available in the body. Thus “micronized,” PEA is now available in some countries as a prescription drug. Why didn’t that happen earlier? For one thing, drug manufacturers apparently didn’t see great promise or profit in it.
Chemists also discovered PEA before the United States and WHO came up with national and international naming councils, which give drugs generic names such as ibuprofen.
Manufacturing marketing teams are the ones who come up with brand names. Though I find it hard to picture a room full of those folks looking at PowerPoint slides, rubbing their chins thoughtfully until someone exclaims “Yes! Let’s call it Advil! That certainly says ‘Be gone, demon headache’ to me!”
Am I taking PEA? Yes, dear reader, I am. For the past three weeks. Because the research says it takes four to six weeks to see results, I have nothing to report. Perhaps PEA won’t show definitive improvement, but works in the background to keep my inflammatory spinal disease from getting worse.
I would certainly take that outcome from a supplement that is readily available, doesn’t break the bank, and has no side effects.
Following a career in journalism and academic communications, Julie Titone writes about health, environment and other issues at julietitone.substack.com.
