Background & Aims
Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain affecting a high number of women. At present, all attempts made to find a cure have been unsuccessful. In many women, fibromyalgia is accompanied by important intestinal problems. The Mediterranean diet is known to have anti-inflammatory effects. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate possible beneficial effects of a personalized Mediterranean diet in women with fibromyalgia.
Methods
Fibromyalgia outpatients were recruited and invited to participate in the study, including clinical, nutritional and dietary assessments. In total, 100 women were included and they were given a personalized Mediterranean diet (DIET group) or a general balanced diet (NODIET group) to follow for 8 weeks. All assessments were repeated after 1 and 2 months.
Results
Eighty women completed the study. Most of the patients showed incorrect habits in terms of food choices, timing of meals and composition of nutrients. One month after beginning the diet, the DIET group showed significant differences in pain tests, such as the widespread index of pain, and the values continued to improve after the second month. Other parameters related to anxiety, fatigue and quality of life became significantly better after the second month.
Conclusions
The habit of eating inflammatory foods and/or not eating meals in the right order and with the wrong nutritional content would increase the negative status of the patients. With this study, we confirm that choosing the ‘right’ foods, as found in the Mediterranean diet, can improve the quality of life of fibromyalgia patients.
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Presenting Author
Anna Maria Aloisi
Poster Authors
Anna Aloisi
MD, PhD
University of Siena
Lead Author
Topics
- Specific Pain Conditions/Pain in Specific Populations: Fibromyalgia