Fibromyalgia syndrome (FM) is a condition typically characterized with wide spread pain (Arranz et al., 2010). Along with the pain several other symptoms are also very common such as fatigue, sleep disorders, depression, anxiety, cognitive difficulties, headache, low back pain, and illnesses like irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus and osteoarthritis. It has been estimated that between 2% and 8% of the world population has FM (Clauw, 2014). There is no known medical cure right now, but fortunately for the millions affected there are some dietary strategies that can provide relief.
In 1991 a survey was published that asked people with rheumatic diseases if they had found a diet that helped with their condition (Haugen et al., 1991). Both a lactovegetarian diet and a vegan diet showed to provide symptom reduction. However, the vegan diet had a greater beneficial effect then the lactovegetarian (p<0.02). The validity of these findings was put to the test in 1993 with a clinical trial assessing a small cohort of individuals with FM (Høstmark et al., …show more content…
(Kaartinen et al., 1993). For three months a raw vegan diet cohort was followed and a control cohort eating an unaltered diet. The vegan diet yielded significant reduction in pain (0.005) for the raw vegan cohort. Also, several of the leading symptoms of FM showed improvement: quality of sleep (p=0.0001), reduction of morning stiffness (p=0.00001), General health questionnaire (p=0.02), Health assessment questionnaire (p=0.03), and rheumatologist's overall questionnaire (p=0.038). For each symptom assessed a notable reduction was shown with the presence of the diet and a notable increase was present when the diet stopped. The trial concluded a raw vegan diet can provide beneficial effects on FM symptoms at least in a short time
In 1991 a survey was published that asked people with rheumatic diseases if they had found a diet that helped with their condition (Haugen et al., 1991). Both a lactovegetarian diet and a vegan diet showed to provide symptom reduction. However, the vegan diet had a greater beneficial effect then the lactovegetarian (p<0.02). The validity of these findings was put to the test in 1993 with a clinical trial assessing a small cohort of individuals with FM (Høstmark et al., …show more content…
(Kaartinen et al., 1993). For three months a raw vegan diet cohort was followed and a control cohort eating an unaltered diet. The vegan diet yielded significant reduction in pain (0.005) for the raw vegan cohort. Also, several of the leading symptoms of FM showed improvement: quality of sleep (p=0.0001), reduction of morning stiffness (p=0.00001), General health questionnaire (p=0.02), Health assessment questionnaire (p=0.03), and rheumatologist's overall questionnaire (p=0.038). For each symptom assessed a notable reduction was shown with the presence of the diet and a notable increase was present when the diet stopped. The trial concluded a raw vegan diet can provide beneficial effects on FM symptoms at least in a short time