As Chronic Fatigue Syndrome has been associated with abnormalities in essential fatty acid metabolism  Spanish researchers investigated the effect of including essential fatty acids in the diet in a group of 20 patients diagnosed with CFS (18 women and 2 men) and 20 aged- sex- diet- low activity- matched controls.

Compared to the controls, CFS patients show a decrease in the proportion of linoleic acidand an increase in that of stearic acid in plasma, however such differences have not been observed in the fatty acid profile of red blood cells. In these cases, no direct relationship has been observed between the dietary intake and fatty acid profile.

Therefore, these results do not support the proposal that long-chain polyunsaturated fatty may contribute to improvement in CFS patients.

Fatty Acid Profile in Plasma and Red Blood Cells in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients