How to Find the Best Protein Powder for Fibromyalgia

📌 Overview and Key Takeaways

This is a Certified Nutrition Coach’s guide on how to find the best protein powder for fibromyalgia.

Discover how to safely supplement your protein intake with fibromyalgia syndrome.

Last Updated
May 22, 2026

Author and Medical Reviewer

Written by Jack, CNC

Jack is a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Nutrition Coach.

Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for personalized medical advice. Consult a licensed healthcare professional before making changes to your diet.

Protein Powder for Fibromyalgia

Is Protein Powder Good for Fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia is a complex chronic pain disorder that affects the muscles, tendons, and soft tissues of the body.

It is characterized by widespread pain and tenderness, and often accompanied by fatigue, sleep disturbances, cognitive difficulties, and mood disorders.

Fibromyalgia is considered a central sensitization syndrome, which means that the central nervous system becomes hypersensitive and amplifies pain signals.

The exact cause is not known, but researchers believe that it may involve a combination of genetic, environmental, and psychological factors.

And although there is no cure for fibromyalgia, the condition can be managed through a multidisciplinary approach.

Treatment often includes a combination of medications (such as pain relievers, antidepressants, and sleep aids), physical therapy, exercise, stress management techniques, and lifestyle modifications.

If you have fibromyalgia, you are probably willing to try anything that could possibly help, including making changes to your diet.

While there is no established therapeutic diet for fibromyalgia, some people find that a high protein diet improves symptoms (Nutr Rev, 2022).

Higher protein intake has been associated with improved pain thresholds in musculoskeletal pain.

This might be due to several interrelated mechanisms involving amino acid availability, muscle metabolism, and modulation of pain signaling.

So, if you are struggling to meet your protein needs, adding a protein powder to your diet might be a great idea!

It can be mixed with just milk or water to make a protein shake, or added to smoothies, oatmeal, and other recipes, making it an easy way to fill in gaps in your diet.

What Is the Best Protein Powder for Fibromyalgia?

Not all protein powders are created equal.

As long as you are eating a balanced diet – getting protein from a variety of sources – the type of protein supplement you use does not matter.

Ingredients do matter, however.

Many protein powders contain ingredients that might make fibromyalgia worse.

Among the top offenders are food additives and protein concentrates and isolates.

🚫 Avoid Food Additives

Emulsifiers, thickeners, artificial sweeteners, and other additives can upset your stomach.

This matters because up to 30-50% of patients with fibromyalgia have symptoms of IBS (J Clin Med, 2022), a common condition characterized by chronic or recurrent digestive issues.

Moreover, regularly eating certain food additives can alter the composition of your gut microbiome (North Clin Istanb, 2019).

Over time, this can lead to gut dysbiosis, which has been linked to the development and symptom severity of fibromyalgia (Clin Exp Rheumatol, 2020).

Although causality and mechanistic details remain under investigation, dysbiosis might influence fibromyalgia through the gut-brain-immune axis,

This pathway affects neuroinflammation, immune signaling, and metabolic pathways in ways that create an environment conducive to fibromyalgia symptoms.

⚠️ Here is a list of the most common food additives in protein supplements:

• acacia fiber
• acacia gum
• acesulfame potassium
• artificial flavors
• ascorbic acid
• aspartame
• calcium carbonate
• carrageenan
• cellulose gum
• dextrin
• dicalcium phosphate
• dipotassium phosphate
• erythritol
• gellan gum
• guar gum
• gum arabic
• inulin
• locust bean gum
• maltitol
• maltodextrin
• mono- and diglycerides
• ‘natural’ flavors
• rice bran extract
• rice dextrin
• rice hulls
• rosemary extract
• silica
• silicon dioxide
• sodium alginate
• soluble corn fiber
• sorbitol
• soy lecithin
• sucralose
• sunflower lecithin
• tocopherols
• tricalcium phosphate
• xanthan gum
• xylitol
• zinc oxide

As a rule of thumb, if you cannot find it in nature or make it at home, it is probably a food additive.

🚫 Avoid Protein Concentrates and Isolates

You might also want to avoid ultra-processed protein concentrates and isolates.

Most protein supplements are made from one or both of these ultra-processed protein sources, which have been mechanically and/or chemically stripped of everything but the protein.

This includes the enzymes, fiber, and other natural digestive aids that help your gut break them down.

You therefore do not digest them in the same way that you do whole foods, which could affect your gut health.

Studies show that regularly eating protein concentrates and isolates might disrupt your gut microbiome and cause the formation of toxic byproducts in your gut (Nutrients, 2018; Mol Nutr Food Res, 2024).

You should thus look for protein supplements made from whole food protein sources like egg whites and almonds, which are easier to digest and absorb.

Order Samples to see for yourself.

Sources

1. Nutrition Reviews (Nutr Rev). Review of nutritional approaches to fibromyalgia. 2022.
2. University of North Carolina Center for Functional GI & Motility Disorders. Fibromyalgia and IBS.
3. Journal of Clinical Medicine (J Clin Med). Association among Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction (DGBI) and Fibromyalgia: A Prospective Study. 2022.
4. Northern Clinics of Istanbul (North Clin Istanb). Food additives and microbiota. 2019.
5. Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology (Clin Exp Rheumatol). Gut microbiome: pertinence in fibromyalgia. 2020.
6. Nutrients (Nutrients). Effect of a Protein Supplement on the Gut Microbiota of Endurance Athletes: A Randomized, Controlled, Double-Blind Pilot Study. 2018.
7. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research (Mol Nutr Food Res). In Vitro Fermentation of Animal and Plant Protein Isolates by the Human Gut Microbiota Under High and Low Carbohydrate Conditions. 2024.

Editorial Guidelines

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This article was written by a Certified Nutrition Coach and reviewed by a Registered Dietitian. We rely on peer-reviewed research and trusted medical sources, and regularly update our content to ensure accuracy and clarity.