Diet and lifestyle

Posted , 6 users are following.

Hello all. I wanted to ask peoples opinions on diet and lifestyle changes regarding their psoriasis. I have joined this group so I can share my success story using a low fat vegan diet. My psoriasis was chronic, and in September I embarked on a natural healing journey. I boycotted all treatments, and went with diet alone. I started on a low carbohydrate 'paleo'-like diet which was horrible. About ten weeks in, I switched to a high carbohydrate, whole foods vegan diet and never looked back. My psoriasis just melted away and thirty three weeks in to my journey I am pretty much clear bar a few pin prick spots. 

I understand this is a controversial topic, and I know many people think there is no link to diet. I would like to open up peoples minds to the possibility though.

I would love to know peoples thoughts on this, has anybody else had similar success? My mind was closed off to this until last year when my doctor tried to push methotrexate on me. I just thought there has to be a way without pumping myself full of potentially damaging drugs and I found it. I know plenty of other people who are clearing their psoriasis using nutrition alone as well. Hope everybody is having a great day :-) 

1 like, 11 replies

11 Replies

  • Posted

    Hiya Jon

    thank you for sharing your wonderful experience. It's an area I'm currently researching. Do you also have Psoriasis Arthritis? I'm going through a nasty flare up. My psoriasis is almost clear, my psoriasis is Palmar Planta Pustulosis (17years) and a small amount of plaque psoriasis. I've had PsA since 2010. Had hepatic reaction to Methotrexate (liver failure); was allergic to Sulphasalazine; then prescribed Leflunomide together with Enbrel injections in June 2013. Enbrel was fantastic for my joints however my PPP went crazy, really bad, great fissures in hands and feet which would cracking and bleed, become infected etc. Couldn't walk at one point because of pain. I was coined the Enbrel caused this so my anti-TNF was changed to Humira in January 2014. The PPP has almost gone (after 2 years - my GP said it's the worse case he had seen of that condition. So I was getting on top of both the psori and PsA when I contracted severe pneumonia in April. My temp was 39.8 and CRP was 383 so I was very poorly. 6 days in hospital. After that experience I don't want a repeat, so am lookin into alternatives. Good clean diet as you have said, lactose free, no nightshades. Can you make suggestions re PsA? I've started making turmeric, ginger and cinnamon teas to counter joint pain and inflammation but I'm in huge pain, barely mobile and very weak. Today I gave in and gave myself a Humira inj. It hurts so bad, I can't getting out of bed. I'm crying a lot. Any advice most welcome. I don't want to take these med with horrendous side effects if I can help it. One bad scare was enough. I hope someone can help me. Since 2010 my life has been torn apart. I've had to stop work, stop driving etc. Thank for reading this x

    • Posted

      Bless you Sheila it sounds like you've been through the mill. I don't have PsA but I know people through Facebook that do and they are also having remarkable success with lifestyle change. Things I avoid are: dairy, refined sugar, processed food, nightshades, meat, eggs and gluten. I also try to minimise my consumption of any grains at all. 

      I have a lot of fresh fruit in my diet, as well as veggies. I use fresh green juices and fruit juices as well as I believe they are very detoxing. The way I look at psoriasis now is that it is a result of leaky gut and toxic build up. Controversial I know but that's my belief. Herbal teas are great, and yes turmeric is a great thing to use. 

      Water intake for me is very important as well. I drink between 3-4 litres per day, with around half of it with fresh lemon juice added. The speed at which people recover varies with the following factors: how long they have had their condition, how toxic their systems are, high med usage prior to natural healing and of course how many treat days they allow themselves. 

      I have had plaque and guttate psoriasis for over eleven years and just kept plastering myself with high potency steroid ointments on doctors advice, knowing it was just absorbing in to my body and probably causing it's own damage. I had UVB as well two years ago with great success, but it only lasted a year. They tried to push methotrexate on me which I refused knowing how dangerous it is, and was due to start UVB again. I decided to get out of the loop and try an alternative and it worked. 

      You should definitely discuss with your doctor any intentions of changing diet, and continued med usage is your personal choice and it is often the case people need to wean down very carefully. It's difficult to assess the success of diet while still using treatments, and of course they add their own toxicity in to the mix as well. I hope that helps. I just want to help people try to achieve the same success as me. 

  • Posted

    My son has just been diagnosed with PA he has never had psoriasis before & doesn't have it now baby excema which stopped at the age of 2. I'm interested in foods that can eat yourself healthy - any ideas ? He is about to start sulfasalazine x

    • Posted

      Hi Janet, check my reply to Sheila above to see what I think has personally worked for me. Best wishes for your son :-) 
  • Posted

    I have found that gluten in wheat gives me flare ups. I went gluten free and psoriasis started subsiding. On two occasions where I eat gluten by mistake it came back.

    My theory is this: Psoriasis is the body attacking itself because it 'believes' it is attacking bateria or infections.

    Gluten gives us 'leaky gut' where eating gluten drags other stuff into the body. This encourages the body to attack not only the 'other stuff' dragged into the bloodstream by gluten but also psoriasis senstive cells.

    In my case I think my vitamin D3 high dose pills and creams work good as well as gluten free diet. Also I treat myself for IBS by avoiding foods that I cannot digest and that make me 'bloat and tummy bubbles', such as excess lactose.

    Jon, a vegan diet is NOT the answer IMO, its the fact that you are eating carefully that is good for you. Then your auto-immune system is not in overdrive that is the key. 

    My psoriasis is in remission now, I'll keep posting though because I endlessly test foods for its effects.

     

     

    • Posted

      That sounds great! I'm glad you have had such success. It is something that isn't talked about enough, and why they try and hide the link between diet and psoriasis I don't know. Vegan was my answer, but I know people who have healed using meat and other animal products as well. I wanted a deeper detox though and that's why I chose a high carb low fat vegan diet. 
  • Posted

    i have been looking at different foods and the effects they have on my condition but im not doing very well with it at the moment. I have cut out red meat and am eating more veg salad and fruit , i have also cut out sugar, however i did have a few cans of larger this weekend and i have suffered lots of joint pains so i am guessing that its the sugar that is causing that. Does anyone else have the same problem with sugar or alcohol and suffer after 
    • Posted

      I am OK with honey and white sugar in espresso, but not candy bars. I used to eat any type of candy, but only honey and white sugar now . the psoriasis is nearly totally in remission. (Gave up gluten in wheat too)
    • Posted

      i eat a lot of bread so that could be another thing i need to cut down/out 
    • Posted

      Try no gluten at all and it takes 3 days to notice benefit. i.e. fast results!

      Let me know here what happens please.

    • Posted

      Alcohol and refined sugar are two of the main things I cut out. I think they have an evil effect on our health and makes our psoriasis worse. 

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