Bjørklund, Geir, Dadar, Maryam, Pen, Joeri J et al. · Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine & pharmacotherapie · 2019 · DOI
This review article examines how nutrition might play a role in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). The authors found that people with CFS often have low levels of certain vitamins and minerals—like vitamin C, B vitamins, magnesium, zinc, and others—and that these deficiencies may make CFS symptoms worse. The review suggests that nutritional support could be an important part of treating CFS alongside other medical approaches.
Understanding nutritional deficiencies in ME/CFS is important because it may identify modifiable factors that could improve symptoms and quality of life. This review consolidates evidence suggesting that targeted nutritional assessment and supplementation might be a practical component of comprehensive CFS management, potentially benefiting patients who have limited treatment options.
This review does not prove that nutritional deficiencies cause CFS or that supplementation will definitively improve outcomes. The included studies show correlation between deficiencies and CFS symptoms, not necessarily causation. The review does not establish optimal dosing, duration, or which patients would benefit most from specific interventions.
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
Bjørklund, Geir, Dadar, Maryam, Pen, Joeri J, Chirumbolo, Salvatore, & Aaseth, Jan (2019). Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS): Suggestions for a nutritional treatment in the therapeutic approach.. Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine & pharmacotherapie. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2018.10.076
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-bjrklund-2019-chronic-fatigue,
author = {Bjørklund, Geir and Dadar, Maryam and Pen, Joeri J and Chirumbolo, Salvatore and Aaseth, Jan},
title = {Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS): Suggestions for a nutritional treatment in the therapeutic approach.},
journal = {Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine & pharmacotherapie},
year = {2019},
doi = {10.1016/j.biopha.2018.10.076},
note = {PubMed: 30551349},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/bjrklund-2019-chronic-fatigue},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/bjrklund-2019-chronic-fatigue
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