Monosodium glutamate and aspartame in perceived pain in fibromyalgia

Abstract

Our aim was to assess the effect of dietary elimination of monosodium glutamate (MSG) and aspartame on perceived pain in fibromyalgia. A total of 72 female patients with fibromyalgia were randomized to discontinuation of dietary MSG and aspartame (n = 36) or waiting list (n = 36). Patients were requested to rate their pain using a seven-point scale. Comparisons between both groups showed no significant differences on pain referred during the baseline or after the elimination of dietary MSG and aspartame. The discontinuation of dietary MSG and aspartame did not improve the symptoms of fibromyalgia.

A systematic review and meta‐analysis of nutrition interventions for chronic noncancer pain

“…After the removal of duplicates, a total of 7080 studies was identified in the search. Following full‐text screening, 71 studies were identified for inclusion, with 23 eligible for meta‐analysis. The abstracts for the majority of the papers were not sufficiently detailed to determine whether the full text should be retrieved.…”

“…Characteristics of the included studies are reported in Table . Approximately 30% ( n = 21) of the studies were conducted in the USA , with five undertaken in Australia , four conducted in each of Germany , Japan and Spain , and three conducted in each of Denmark , Finland , Sweden , Iran and the Netherlands . Of the included studies, 47 were randomised controlled trials (RCT) , eight were nonrandomised trials , nine were pre–post studies , six were randomised cross‐over trials and one a longitudinal study .…”

“…Assessment of study quality rated 31 studies as of positive quality , 36 as neutral and four studies were classified as being of negative study quality . Of the 33 studies classified as neutral, information regarding the randomisation process ( n = 29) or the intervention description ( n = 13) was lacking.…”

Influence of pro-algesic foods on chronic pain conditions

“…A case report suggested that 4 women with fibromyalgia had significant improvement in their muscle pain after decreasing MSG from their diets, although it is unclear from this report what their consumption of MSG was before and after the implementation of this "MSG-free" diet [37]. A more recent study of 72 fibromyalgia patients, which compared a restricted dietary intake of MSG and aspartame to no restriction in the diet, found no effect of reducing MSG intake on fibromyalgia pain [38]. However, it is unclear how effective the reduction of MSG intake was in this study, as data on MSG consumption at baseline and after the intervention were not reported.…”

“…A trial of dietary restriction of aspartame and glutamate in fibromyalgia patients found no significant effect on pain [38]. Given that the only pain condition aspartame is associated with is headache, it seems unlikely that restriction of aspartame intake alone would have any effect on chronic, widespread pain.…”