People with fibromyalgia may experience reductions in their symptoms if they eliminate one or more foods from their diet.

Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition, often accompanied by depression and fatigue, in which a person feels pain in the muscles and tissues surrounding the joints.

Nine in 10 fibromyalgia patients are female.

While the cause of fibromyalgia is unknown, researchers have found pain-processing abnormalities in the spines and brain stems of some people with fibromyalgia.

In the study, investigators reviewed medical charts of 17 fibromyalgia patients who agreed to eliminate common foods from their diet such as corn, wheat, dairy, citrus, soy and nuts.

After 2 weeks without eating any of the potential food allergens, nearly half of the patients reported "significant reduction of pain," and 76% reported a reduction in other symptoms such as headache, fatigue, bloating, heartburn, and breathing difficulties.

After the food elimination phase of the study, the patients were then instructed to reintroduce a particular food every 2 or 3 days and monitor their reaction to the food.

Some of the reactions to foods were pain, headache, and gastrointestinal distress. The most common problem-causing foods or ingredients for the patients in this study were corn, wheat, dairy, citrus and sugar.

Annual Meeting of the American College of Nutrition in Orlando, Florida October 2001

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

This is no surprise to most readers of this newsletter. I do find that following the eating plan seems to help most of those with fibromyalgia. I have not found expensive blood tests for food allergies to offer much additional benefits than just simply following the eating plan. However, it is quite clear that most people with fibromyalgia will not have complete relief of their symptoms even if the follow they diet perfectly. This is because in nearly every person I have seen with fibromyalgia there is an underlying emotional component. Bioenergetic normalization of previous emotional traumas is the single most effective treatment I know of for fibromyalgia at this time. There are many different techniques that can be used here, but EFT is my current favorite. NST is also another powerful tool that works quite synergistically with the eating plan and energetic balancing. It is a series of gentle massage like techniques that has profound and quite amazing muscle normalization effects. Unlike massage or most manipulation or adjustments, the benefits seem to be long lasting and generally 3-10 sessions are all that are required for permanent relief as long as one has addressed problem foods and previous emotional traumas. Related Articles: Exercise Benefits Fibromyalgia Patients