Investigating the Effectiveness of a Carb-Free Oloproteic Diet in Fibromyalgia Treatment

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 16; no. 11; p. 1620
• Main Authors: Castaldo, Giuseppe, Marino, Carmen, Atteno, Mariangela, D’Elia, Maria, Pagano, Imma, Grimaldi, Manuela, Conte, Aurelio, Molettieri, Paola, Santoro, Angelo, Napolitano, Enza, Puca, Ilaria, Raimondo, Mariangela, Parisella, Chiara, D’Ursi, Anna Maria, Rastrelli, Luca
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 25.05.2024; MDPI
• Subjects: Adult; Anxiety; Biomarkers; Biomarkers - blood; Biomarkers - urine; Calories; Carbohydrates; Chronic illnesses; Diabetes; Diet; Diet therapy; Diet, Ketogenic - methods; Dietary supplements; Female; Fibromyalgia; Fibromyalgia - diet therapy; Fibromyalgia - therapy; Humans; Intervention; Ketogenic diet; Laboratories; Lipids; Low-carbohydrate diet; Metabolism; Metabolites; Middle Aged; Patient outcomes; Patients; Potassium; Proteins; Rheumatology; Treatment Outcome; Womens health; Italy; very-low-calorie ketogenic diet; fibromyalgia; biomarkers; 1H NMR metabolomics
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu16111620

Fibromyalgia (FM), a chronic disease with a high incidence in women, poses a significant challenge for diagnosis and treatment, especially due to the absence of specific biomarkers and the multifaceted nature of its symptoms, which range from neuromuscular pain to mood disorders and intestinal dysbiosis. While diagnosis currently relies on rheumatological clinical evaluations and treatment options mainly focus on symptom management, FM seems to have possible links with systemic metabolic dysfunctions with a common inflammatory root. In this context, a new therapeutic avenue emerges: could a therapeutic nutritional approach be the missing piece of the puzzle? Indeed, diet therapies employed particularly for metabolic syndromes proved recently to be efficacious for correcting systemic dysmetabolism and a high number of chronic inflammation conditions. In particular, the very-low-calorie ketogenic diet (VLCKD) demonstrated therapeutic benefits in many disorders. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the specific effects of two dietary interventions, namely the oloproteic VLCKD and the low-glycemic insulinemic (LOGI) diet, on two groups of female FM patients (FM1 and FM2) over a 45-day period. Utilizing clinical and laboratory tests, as well as non-invasive NMR metabolomic analysis of serum, urine, and saliva samples, we sought to uncover how these dietary regimens impact the metabolic dysfunctions associated with FM.