Tag: minerals

Nutritional deficiencies that may predispose to long COVID

Abstract:

Multiple nutritional deficiencies (MND) confound studies designed to assess the role of a single nutrient in contributing to the initiation and progression of disease states. Despite the perception of many healthcare practitioners, up to 25% of Americans are deficient in five-or-more essential nutrients. Stress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic further increases the prevalence of deficiency states. Viral infections compete for crucial nutrients with immune cells. Viral replication and proliferation of immunocompetent cells critical to the host response require these essential nutrients, including zinc. Clinical studies have linked levels of more than 22 different dietary components to the likelihood of COVID-19 infection and the severity of the disease. People at higher risk of infection due to MND are also more likely to have long-term sequelae, known as Long COVID.

Source: Schloss, J.V. Nutritional deficiencies that may predispose to long COVID. Inflammopharmacol (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10787-023-01183-3 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10787-023-01183-3 (Full text)

Intracellular Nutritional Biomarker Differences in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Subjects and Healthy Controls

Abstract:

Objectives

A comparison of the nutritional biomarkers between ME/CFS subjects and healthy controls (HC) was undertaken on secondary data collected from an IRB approved cross-sectional study in ME/CFS patients.

Methods

ME/CFS participants were recruited per the 2018 revised Canadian Clinical Case Definition for ME/CFS along with age matched HCs. Self-reported information on demographics and supplement use was collected, and body mass index calculated. HEI was calculated from Willet FFQ and multiple day 24-hour recall data, and severity of fatigue measured by Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI). Lymphocyte transformation assay by SpectraCell Lab (Houston, TX) was employed for intracellular micronutrient status. A series of two-tailed Mann-Whitney U tests (ɑ = 0.05) were performed for the non-parametric data expressed as mean ± standard error of the mean. All statistical analyses were conducted in IBM SPSS Statistics version 25 (Armonk, NY).

Results

Out of the 21 participants (11 ME/CFS and 10 HC), 82% of ME/CFS and 50% of HC were female. Higher fatigue scores were observed in ME/CFS (16.64 ± 1.36) than HC (10.78 ± 2.14). ME/CFS had better HEI scores (63.36 ± 13.44) than the HC (38.55 ± 12.29). However, despite better diet quality and supplementation, ME/CFS group showed lower intracellular Vitamin B3 and manganese (Mn) (86.3 ± 2.42 and 53.6 ± 2.81 respectively) but higher calcium (Ca) (57.5 ± 3.55) as compared to HC (97.2 ± 2.31, 64.5 ± 1.87 and 46.5 ± 0.96 respectively).

Conclusions

The results align with the current literature on indications of mitochondrial dysfunction in ME/CFS. Reduced intracellular vit B3 provides suboptimal production of the NAD(P)(H)-cofactor family, thus affecting mitochondrial function and consequently energy production. The aberration in energy metabolism is compounded by other factors, such as reduced Mn but higher Ca intracellular levels seen in this study indicating disruptions in oxidative stress pathways, resulting in debilitating fatigue experienced by individuals with ME/CFS.

Source: Priya Krishnakumar, Camila Jaramillo, Shawn Kurian, Wendy Levy, Cara Milman, Nadine Mikati, Fatma Huffman, Maria Abreu, Amanpreet Cheema, Intracellular Nutritional Biomarker Differences in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Subjects and Healthy Controls, Current Developments in Nutrition, Volume 6, Issue Supplement_1, June 2022, Page 745, https://doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzac062.014

Unproven diet therapies in the treatment of the chronic fatigue syndrome

Abstract:

This report is a review of the unproven diet therapies recommended for individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Diet therapies promoted for the relief of CFS symptoms by the authors of five CSF self-help books were evaluated on the basis of nutritional adequacy and scientific rationale.

Unproven diet therapies for patients with CFS include megavitamin/mineral supplements; royal jelly and other dietary supplements; and elimination, avoidance, and rotation diets. Claims that these therapies relieve CFS symptoms and promote recovery are anecdotal and have not been substantiated by clinical research.

The yeast-avoidance and sugar-free diets, both promoted to combat Candida albicans overgrowth, are of questionable value in treating patients with CFS. The rotation diet is not balanced and does not meet the current recommended dietary intake levels. Diet strategies that call for the avoidance of food additives, preservatives, sweeteners, and other ingredients are not supported by available evidence and are not practical for patients with CFS.

A diet plan for patients with CFS should be based on sound nutritional principles and common sense. Until the results of studies demonstrating the benefits of particular diet therapies in the management of CFS are available, patients with CFS are advised to eat a varied diet selected from among and within the basic food groups to ensure an adequate nutrient intake and to reach and maintain a reasonable body weight.

 

Source: Morris DH, Stare FJ. Unproven diet therapies in the treatment of the chronic fatigue syndrome. Arch Fam Med. 1993 Feb;2(2):181-6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8275187