Natural Treatment for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome is a debilitating condition characterized by a minimum of 6 months of crushing mental and physical exhaustion, and those of us in the medical profession have no idea what causes it. We don’t even have a good idea of how many people have it. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that as many as 7 and a half million Americans currently suffer from it. And we as physicians have very little to offer patients in terms of relieving their symptoms. This is one of the conditions that I’m always keeping an eye out for, in terms of new treatments.

So I was excited to find a new randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled crossover study that discovered a natural treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome sufferers. And even better, the treatment is chocolate. But how do you get the cacao phytonutrients credited for this effect without the added sugar and saturated fat (cocoa butter) found in even dark chocolate? Find out in today’s NutritionFacts.org video pick shown above.

Let me know what you think of my the-more-you-eat-the-healthier-you-are chocolate ice cream recipe, and please share any tips for making it even better!

In health,
Michael Greger, M.D.

Image credit: roboppy / Flickr

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Winn A.

6:54PM PDT on Mar 25, 2013

Thanks

March 25
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Duane B.

9:51AM PST on Feb 14, 2013

Thank you for sharing.

February 14
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Fred H.

5:44AM PST on Jan 18, 2013

Thank you Dr. Michael Greger, for Sharing this!

January 18
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Dale O.

8:22AM PDT on Jul 31, 2012

Sounds interesting in the fact that dark chocolate is good for you in moderation without a lot of sugar or other artificial ingredients. Not too sure about Nestle being involved as they are into a lot of snack things. Would be interesting if chocolate could help in some way but I guess a lot of research is involved when it comes to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome!

July 31
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Ela V.

4:02AM PDT on Jun 18, 2012

thank you, i was assessed with chronic fatigue some time back...i didn't know why I was feeling like eating plenty of cocoa and why I was craving for dark chocolate ;)

June 18
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Heidi A.

12:20AM PDT on Jun 15, 2012

Two and a half Tablespoons/ day. Thats a little difficult to squeeze into my morning cup of joe. I typically add 1 and 1/2 teaspoons and that gives my coffee a rich mocha flavor. Delicious.