Fibromyalgia and nutrition: what news?

ABSTRACT Fibromyalgia syndrome (FM) is a chronic, generalised pain condition usually accompanied by several associ- ated symptoms, such as fatigue, sleep disturbance, headache, irritable bowel syndrome and mood disorders. Differ- ent medical treatments are used to treat fibromyalgia and the recent guidelines suggest that the optimal treatment con- sists in a multidisciplinary approach with a combination of pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment modalities. Among non-pharmacologi- cal treatment, nutrition is a promising tool for FM patients. The aim of this review is to update the present knowledge about fibromyal- gia and nutrition by means of a sys- tematic search performed on Medline from January 2000 to December 2014. Nutritional deficiencies have been de- scribed in FM patients and the benefits of specific diet and nutritional sup- plementation are shown. Obesity and overweight, often present in FM pa- tients, are related to the severity of FM worsening the quality of life in terms of higher pain, fatigue, worsened sleep quality and higher incidence of mood disorders. Weight control is thus an ef- fective tool to improve the symptoms. Moreover, it seems reasonable to elimi- nate some foods from the diet of FM patients, for example excitotoxins. Non- coeliac gluten sensitivity is increasingly recognised as a frequent condition with similar manifestations which overlap with those of FM. The elimination of gluten from the diet of FM patients is recently becoming a potential dietary intervention for clinical improvement. In summary, this review reveals the po- tential benefit of specific dietary inter- ventions as non-pharmacological tools as part of a multidisciplinary treatment for FM patients.

Fibromyalgia syndrome (FM) is a chronic, generalised pain condition usually accompanied by several associ ated symptoms, such as fatigue, sleep disturbance, headache, irritable bowel syndrome and mood disorders. Differ- ent medical treatments are used to treat fibromyalgia and the recent guidelines suggest that the optimal treatment con- sists in a multidisciplinary approach with a combination of pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment modalities. Among non-pharmacologi- cal treatment, nutrition is a promising tool for FM patients. The aim of this review is to update the present knowledge about fibromyal- gia and nutrition by means of a sys- tematic search performed on Medline from January 2000 to December 2014. Nutritional deficiencies have been de- scribed in FM patients and the benefits of specific diet and nutritional sup- plementation are shown. Obesity and overweight, often present in FM pa- tients, are related to the severity of FM worsening the quality of life in terms of higher pain, fatigue, worsened sleep quality and higher incidence of mood disorders. Weight control is thus an ef- fective tool to improve the symptoms. Moreover, it seems reasonable to elimi- nate some foods from the diet of FM patients, for example excitotoxins. Non- coeliac gluten sensitivity is increasingly recognised as a frequent condition with similar manifestations which overlap with those of FM. The elimination of gluten from the diet of FM patients is recently becoming a potential dietary intervention for clinical improvement. In summary, this review reveals the po- tential benefit of specific dietary inter- ventions as non-pharmacological tools as part of a multidisciplinary treatment