Campagnolo, N, Johnston, S, Collatz, A et al. · Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2017 · DOI
Researchers reviewed 17 studies looking at whether diet changes and supplements could help ME/CFS symptoms like fatigue and quality of life. While a few interventions—including NADH, probiotics, and high-cocoa chocolate—showed promise for reducing fatigue, most studies did not find clear benefits. Overall, there isn't enough strong evidence yet to recommend specific diets or supplements as reliable treatments for ME/CFS.
This review synthesizes the limited evidence on nutritional approaches for ME/CFS, an area where patients often turn to dietary interventions seeking symptom relief. Identifying which supplements (NADH, probiotics) show preliminary promise while acknowledging insufficient evidence helps guide both patient expectations and prioritizes areas for rigorous future research.
This review does not prove that any specific diet or supplement effectively treats ME/CFS; the studies reviewed were generally small and methodologically variable. It also does not rule out nutritional approaches—rather, it demonstrates that current evidence is insufficient to make strong recommendations. The findings suggest potential rather than established efficacy and cannot determine causation or mechanisms.
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
Campagnolo, N, Johnston, S, Collatz, A, Staines, D, & Marshall-Gradisnik, S (2017). Dietary and nutrition interventions for the therapeutic treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis: a systematic review.. Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association. https://doi.org/10.1111/jhn.12435
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-campagnolo-2017-dietary-nutrition,
author = {Campagnolo, N and Johnston, S and Collatz, A and Staines, D and Marshall-Gradisnik, S},
title = {Dietary and nutrition interventions for the therapeutic treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis: a systematic review.},
journal = {Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association},
year = {2017},
doi = {10.1111/jhn.12435},
note = {PubMed: 28111818},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/campagnolo-2017-dietary-nutrition},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-27. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/campagnolo-2017-dietary-nutrition
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