Aguilar-Aguilar, Elena, Marcos-Pasero, Helena, Ikonomopoulou, Maria P et al. · Journal of clinical medicine · 2020 · DOI
This review examined what is known about how food affects three related conditions—fibromyalgia, ME/CFS, and multiple chemical sensitivities—that all involve heightened nervous system sensitivity. The authors found that changing diet can help improve quality of life for many patients, but the best approach is personalized and done with help from a dietitian and doctor. They warn against following strict diets without professional guidance.
ME/CFS patients frequently report food sensitivities and seek dietary guidance but face contradictory advice. This review consolidates fragmented evidence to help clarify what dietary approaches have support and emphasizes the need for personalized, supervised interventions rather than one-size-fits-all recommendations.
This review does not establish causation between specific foods and CSS symptoms, nor does it identify universal dietary interventions effective for all patients. The contradictory evidence noted suggests that current data cannot definitively prove which nutrients or elimination strategies are necessary for any given patient.
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 →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Aguilar-Aguilar, Elena, Marcos-Pasero, Helena, Ikonomopoulou, Maria P, & Loria-Kohen, Viviana (2020). Food Implications in Central Sensitization Syndromes.. Journal of clinical medicine. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm9124106
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-aguilar-aguilar-2020-food-implications,
author = {Aguilar-Aguilar, Elena and Marcos-Pasero, Helena and Ikonomopoulou, Maria P and Loria-Kohen, Viviana},
title = {Food Implications in Central Sensitization Syndromes.},
journal = {Journal of clinical medicine},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.3390/jcm9124106},
note = {PubMed: 33352747},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/aguilar-aguilar-2020-food-implications},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/aguilar-aguilar-2020-food-implications
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.