Two-month period of 500 mg lecithin-based delivery form of quercetin daily dietary supplementation counterbalances CF symptoms: 2023 Rondanelli et al

[Approx 25% of participants had LC]

Background
Chronic fatigue (CF) is a complex phenomenon without clear etiology that may require long-term treatment, but to date, no specific therapy has been identified for it. Some botanicals might be helpful in the management of CF. Among these botanicals, quercetin demonstrates its capacity to modulate multiple biological pathways and acknowledged major properties in CF: antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulating, improving exercise endurance, enhancing mitochondrial biogenesis, repairing mitochondrial dysfunction.

Purpose
Given this background, the aim of this study was to evaluate if a 2-month period of daily Quercetin Phytosome™ 500 mg supplementation is of benefit for the relief of CF.

Methods
The primary end point has been the evaluation of fatigue, by Fatigue Impact Scale (FIS-40). The secondary end points have been the assessment of sleep, by Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), evaluation of muscle performance, by short physical performance battery and by wearable armband-shaped sensor in order to evaluate the number of steps, body composition, by DXA and quality of life by Short‐Form 12–Item Health Survey (SF‐12).

Results
Seventy-eight subjects (42 F; 36 M) (mean age 56 ± 9) reporting CF symptoms, completed the study (placebo/supplement 38/40). The FIS-40 mean difference changes between groups (supplement minus placebo) was − 10.583 points (CI95% −11.985; −9.182) (p < 0.001). Also, statistically significant changes between groups have been recorded in Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index − 2.040 points (CI95%: −2.770; −1.309), p < 0.01), number of steps 1443.152 (CI95%: 1199.556; 1686.749), and SPPB (score) 0.248 (CI95%: 0.105; 0.391) (p < 0.001).

Conclusion
The quercetin supplementation counterbalances CF symptoms.

Open access, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0753332223012519

 

I'm not surprised by this because it aligns with my experience. My current treatment approach includes various plant flavonoids and antioxidants and it seems to work somewhat.

 

Any particular brand or formula?

 

I find quercetin a double edge sword because I find it stimulating. In fact I have to limit my onion intake very strictly to prevent sleep stopping head buzz and migraines with a kind of quercetin hangover afterwards.

My theory is, some anti-inflammatories work by acting like, or stimulating, stress hormones, like epinephrine in some nasal asprays and guarana, caffeine also imho echinacea is like this too.

Stress hormones suppress immune activity, but this allows the cause of the immune activity to proceed unchecked.

So you get overstimulation if you have the kind of ME which makes nerves hypersensitive, which I do, then you get migraine due to lactic acid build up in the brain, then you get an immune crisis like an infection episode when it wears off due to the pathogen debt it has created which causes inflammation as the immune system tries to tackle it.

So for me it causes short term boost with payback. I would probably would not respond well to quercetin supps and have to watch my onion as I said.

I have read that the complex carbs present in Xanthan gum assist metabolic processing of quercetin so I have some of that if I have onions.

I agree antioxidants are helpful, my main approach is omega 3s, turmeric and VitD these days as these are also anti-inflammatory but not via the stress hormone / immune suppression route.

Anti-inflammatories are not all equal!

 

So helpful to read your experience thanks @boolybooly

 

Quercetin is a recommended supplement for those with MCAS (Mast cell activation)

I've had very good success (way more energy, clarity) following the masc cell protocol (cutting histamines from diet, using H1 and H2 antihistamines). I've found that changing the antihistamines every few months also works very well.

We're aware that there is a large inflammatory component to ME/CFS. You see some of this in Patterson's technique of beating down inflammatory cytokines. Over the course of many years and many drugs/supplements, I've found that anything anti-inflammatory works well for sometimes months or years, then it is almost as if the 'inflammation' finds another route. I'd also say that targeting inflammation offers relief but doesn't attack the cause.

 

Thanks for saying so @Ash .

I make subjective reports in the hope that people can make sense of them and these are not just meaningless obstacles faced in isolation and can help validate other people with a similar lived experience, or even help others to understand the situation we face somehow. But I am only reporting what I have observed about myself, not making recommendations, not least because I appreciate not everyone responds the same way I do to these things. So very much n=1 but still worth mentioning in a conversational way, I hope.

I refreshed my memory about quercetin and have remembered that although it reportedly has many beneficial effects, some sources say it also acts as a MonoAmineOxidase-A inhibitor or MAOi. This means it blocks the natural pathways which clear away stimulating molecules so they build up. This is similar to nutmeg, another MAOi which I also have to avoid. This is what I attribute my difficulty with it to.

Bromelaine on the other hand, which is often recommended alongside quercetin, I have no problems with at all.