Diet & Psoriasis

[baeb47]

:confused: In the last couple weeks, I've had about a dozen different people lecture me about my diet as applies to psoriasis. I've read everything I can find on the topic, and nobody can agree on anything. Quite a number of people say p is likely aggravated by beef, dairy, wheat, sugar, citrus fruits ... and there goes about 95 percent of what I eat! Has anyone experimented with diet to see if it makes a difference in their p? If so, what did you try and what were the results? Had you changed anything besides your diet at that time that might have had an influence on the p? Your input is appreciated! - Bev

[ouchyk]

Hi Bev,

I had gone to a community meeting in Boston a few months back and on the recommendation of the dr who spoke, she thought it best to remove ONE food ( not entire food group ) at a time for one-two weeks to see if it made any difference. That way your getting the proper nutrients.

If you go to www.psoriasis.org you will find a listing of treatments in the menu header, in that listing you could find some information on diet

I haven't found foods to make a difference with me, however my psoriasis is mild.

Good luck.

Karen :)

[baeb47]

Karen - Thanks. It makes a lot more sense to eliminate just one thing at a time. I might see if I could go without beef for a week or two. Aaaaaaaauugh!
One day (hour ... no, minute) at a time. Right? -Bev

[GitOverIt]

Bev I just posted an interview ED Dewke had with Dr. John Pagano over in the complementary and alternative forum...he discusses diet and why it works a little in the interview but his book has chapters on it.......
here is the link....if you are interested.......he also mentions how amazon.com has 50 comments from users of his regimen......I have his book read it years ago...put it aside....got it back out last year and really buckled down ( :p ) with the whole regimen...it is not JUST diet....there are many other things he suggests....supplements for one!

http://www.flakehq.com/archives/0905intv.htm

[GitOverIt]

Oh and one more thing....Karen mentioned the meeting she went to where they recommended you eliminate one food at a time.........the only thing wrong with that concept you may have multiple food sensitivities in more than one food group....I was tested and had 12 trigger foods....
chicken
milk
eggs
soy
broccoli
cabbage
yeast (brewer's) no beer :(
cauliflower
green peppers
chili peppers
peas
onion

I'm listing them just to show how by eliminating one...say milk....and if I continued eating the other triggers at my meals...what have I gained? the symtoms will continue with all the other triggers I'm consuming....
My Dr. recommended the food allergy test...because I was having so much itching.....and I mentioned to her on the phone that I noticed it more after eating....that I got so I hated to eat cause I knew what would happen....that is when she told me about the test! Insurance will pay for it.
Now the good part is: you go off the offending food for 2-3 months and then add one food at a time to see if you get a reaction....If your body gives you the green light then add another food. They, at the testing lab, sent my doc an instruction sheet on rotating foods every 3-4 days so as not to become allergic to any again.

[chaimFL]

Bev,

One thing that is important to know is that there is no "one size fits all" when it comes to psoriasis. This is true for any treatment regimine in existence thus far. It's imperative that you find what works for you.

Karen's suggestion to try an elimination diet is a good one. It's very possible to form your own diet by eliminating one food type at a time and seeing what effect it has on your psoriasis, if any. Don't be fooled to thing that there is any correlation between foods that you are allergic to and foods that will negatively effect your psoriasis. That's not to say that one food can't be both bothersome to your psoriasis and an allergy, but one does not allude to the other. Allergies are a specific immune response that is totally different than the immune response that psoriasis causes.

The most honest diet experiment can be found here (http://psorsite.com/docs/terry.html). This is a person that took the time to discover what diet approach would be self tailored without the "one size fits all" books that float around.

Good luck to you!

[Patchsigns]

I'd like to think that "You Are What You Eat"... pretty much what Edgar Cayce said 80 years ago. But... I also think you are what you put into your body.

Many years ago, I experimented and was a vegetarian for one year. I wanted to see what would happen with my psoriasis. I was a disaster. The P was at its worse!! I was an unhealthy vegetarian to say the least. (If it wasn't meat, I would eat it. And I ate a lot of junk, let me tell you!!)

Lived on tomatoes and eggplants, potato chips and ice cream. A real unbalanced basically non-meat diet.

Did the Slippery Elm Teas and American Saffron Teas for 7 months and I saw remarkable changes in my P. I saw the spots become white and itched me like mad. After 3 or 4 days, the maddening itch was gone and then... I began seeing a fading of the spots!! That was so neat to watch. And then after the first month of all of these changes... nothing! Still nothing after 2 months and all the way up until the 7th and then I stopped the tea regimen.

Has diet helped others...? Oh yes. Certainly. In all kinds of diseases... But, we are all different yolks from the same egg.

Today, Methotrexate has allowed me to walk, even run, with my PA... and as a benefit, has cleared up my P so remarkably!! But, the MTX is not the complete answer either. Look how we have to watch our livers and kidneys while on this medication... and other medications.

The P and the PA will come back to plague me, at least that is what my rheumy says, once I stop taking this medication. (It's merely suppressng a disease that it can't cure...)

One day... some day... there'll be a cure for this disease. In the meantime, certainly a healthy diet change, exercise and good will towards one another are not bad things but good things to try and foster.

Will they be beneficial for your P, though... I can't say. However, I'd like to believe that they would.

Blessings to all of us on our journeys to find wellness...

Joe

[misales]

and nobody can agree on anything.

Well here's my opinion on it. I truely believe that diet and exercise as well as mental health can have a profound effect on your psoriasis. Both positively and negatively. I will tell you that in my situation I had to try a number of different things including treatment regimines to get mine under control, this took me all of about 3 years.

My advise is to try what you can do safely on your own and what you want to do with your derm. Work your way around your situation and make notes of what helps and what doesn't. When you find your groove with the whole thing then go for it and see what happens.

I will also add this that you need to be compliant and work hard at it. If you do it half butt and you have severe psoriasis expect half butt results. This goes for your meds from the derms and the things you might do on your own to be more healthy.

thats my 2 cents.