Palmitoylethanolamide

PEA · Levagen · Normast

Snapshot

Indications	Contraindications
Chronic pain^{1, 2} Diabetic neuropathic pain^{3, 4} Burning mouth syndrome⁵ Endometriosis-related pain^{1, 2, 6} Irritable bowel syndrome^7–9 Post-COVID olfactory dysfunction¹⁰ Frontotemporal dementia progression^11–13 Glaucoma intraocular pressure¹⁴	Pregnancy or breastfeeding¹⁵ Under age 18¹⁵ Shellfish allergy (some products)¹⁵

Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) is an endogenous fatty acid amide that modulates inflammatory and pain signaling, largely through nuclear receptor activation and effects on mast cells and glia¹⁶. Supplementation is used for chronic pain, particularly neuropathic and inflammatory pain, and for diabetic peripheral neuropathy³. Further uses include burning mouth syndrome, endometriosis-related pain, irritable bowel syndrome, and post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) olfactory dysfunction. Typical patients have persistent pain not controlled by conventional analgesics, or seek an adjunct with a favorable tolerability profile.

Human research is limited to about forty trials, mostly in chronic pain, neuropathy, and post-COVID symptoms. In autistic adults, a 2024 report of two cases found ultramicronized PEA monotherapy improved depressive symptoms and social engagement in one patient, with no controlled trial yet testing it. Products are mostly micronized or ultramicronized capsules, powders, and softgels, sometimes combined with luteolin or polydatin; see Form comparison¹⁷.

Safety signals are mild: surveillance reports in the United States center on gastrointestinal symptoms and hypersensitivity, and the trials attributed no major side effects to PEA. Per product labeling, use during pregnancy or breastfeeding, before surgery, or alongside medications is routed to a physician or health professional¹⁵.

Last updated October 16, 2026. Read how we make monographs.

In the full monograph

61 sources, 48 studies

When to useThe situations practitioners use it for, each with the reason and the study behind it.
SafetyWho should avoid it, who needs extra care, and the side effects reported in studies.
Protocol notesThe doses used in studies, how and when they were taken, and how the forms on the market compare.
How it worksWhat it is and how it works in the body, in plain terms.
Published studiesThe studies behind each use, popular claims checked against them, and trials still under way.
Word of mouthWhat patients and practitioners report online, kept separate from the clinical evidence.
Clinical perspectiveA closing read of where the evidence is solid, where it is thin, and what has not been studied.

Snapshot

In the full monograph

Sources