The effect of a strict, low-
salt, uncooked
vegan diet rich in lactobacteria on symptoms in 18
fibromyalgia patients during and after a 3-month intervention period in an open, non-randomized controlled study was evaluated. As control 15 patients continued their omnivorous diet. The groups did not differ significantly from each other in the beginning of the study in any other parameters except in
pain and urine
sodium. The results revealed significant improvements in Visual analogue scale of
pain (VAS) (p=0.005), joint stiffness (p=0.001), quality of sleep (p=0.0001), Health assessment questionnaire (
HAQ) (p=0.031), General health questionnaire (GHQ) (p=0.021), and a rheumatologist's own questionnaire (p=0.038). The majority of patients were
overweight to some extent at the beginning of the study and shifting to a vegan food caused a significant reduction in body mass index (BMI) (p=0.0001). Total serum
cholesterol showed a statistically significant lowering (p=0.003). Urine
sodium dropped to 1/3 of the beginning values (p=0.0001) indicating good diet compliance. It can be concluded that
vegan diet had beneficial effects on
fibromyalgia symptoms at least in the short run.