Werbach, M R · Alternative medicine review : a journal of clinical therapeutic · 2000
This review examines whether nutritional deficiencies might play a role in ME/CFS and suggests that patients may benefit from supplementation. The authors identified several nutrients—including B vitamins, vitamin C, magnesium, and others—that appear to be lower in ME/CFS patients, likely due to the illness itself rather than poor diet. They recommend considering vitamin and mineral supplements as a trial treatment, since these supplements are generally safe and may help with both symptoms and recovery.
This work provides a framework for investigating nutritional factors in ME/CFS, a condition with no established single cause. For patients, it offers a rationale for discussing nutritional testing and supplementation with their healthcare providers as a potential therapeutic strategy with low risk of adverse effects.
This review does not prove that nutritional deficiencies cause ME/CFS or that supplementation will cure or significantly improve the condition. It does not provide data from controlled clinical trials demonstrating efficacy, and it cannot establish whether deficiencies are primary contributors to disease pathogenesis or secondary consequences of the illness. The recommendations are based on clinical reasoning rather than robust evidence from randomized controlled trials.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
Spotted an error in this entry? Report it →