How what you eat can affect Psoriasis?
Psoriasis affects 1 in 50 people across the UK, as found by the British Skin Foundation.
Despite it being a long term condition, psoriasis - like other common skin conditions - is treatable and manageable. Common places for psoriasis to occur include your elbows and knees, scalp, face, hands and feet, nails and genitals.
If you struggle with Psoriasis, it may be interesting to know that many people living with the condition have noticed flare ups around certain foods.
Over time many people that suffer with the condition have suggested that keeping a close consideration on your diet can help relieve symptoms.
Everyone's skin is different, and it's a matter of trying things out, so here's a list of a few dietary changes you could tryout that may help your condition.
What should I avoid?
Alcohol
Generally, having too much alcohol is bad for your skin in any sense.There are reports of patients not responding as well to treatment for psoriasis if they are drinking heavily.
Heavy drinkers with psoriasis have also claimed that their skin got better when they stopped.
Tip: Limit your alcohol intake and record whether or not this makes a difference.
Dairy
In a progressively more sustainable world, more and more people are turning away from dairy.
What you might not realise is that dairy contains natural inflammatory arachidonic acid, meaning an overload of dairy could majorly flare up skin conditions such as psoriasis.
Guilty of more inflammation than anything else is cow's milk.
Tip: Even if you don't remove dairy completely, try switching regular milk for an alternative such as almond or oat milk.
Photo by Eiliv-Sonas Aceron on Unsplash
Processed Food
It should come as no surprise that processed food is included in this list (we all know it's not the most nutritious food out there!). Saturated fats and refined starches and sugars can all be found in high amounts within processed food, guilty of causing inflammation and therefore worsening psoriasis; an inflammatory condition.
Whilst the above foods are amongst the most common believed triggers for psoriasis (as found in the 2017 journal Dermatology Therapies), a few less obvious - but equally as triggering - foods to trial taking from your diet include:
- Gluten
- Tomatos
- Citrus fruits
- Condiments (E.G: cinnamon, vinegar, mayonaise etc.)
So what helps?
Keeping a generally good diet is expected to help limit inflammation in psoriasis. A few foods to try eating regularly include:
Fish
Particularly try Salmon, sardines, and other fish types that contain high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. Additionally, Salmon can be anti-inflammatory and contains astaxanthin which acts as an antioxidant.Fruit & Veg
Another food group you should not be surprised to see, specific fruits - such as berries - and vegetables that are leafy green contain nutrients to help fight psoriasis. In particular, try carrots, broccoli and lettuce for vitamin C, beta-carotene (an antioxidant) and folate (to generally help long term health).
Photo by Elke Karin Lugert on Unsplash
Garlic
This is one food that you've probably seen thrown around a lot.And the reason behind that?
Garlic is one of the most widely used foods to help health.
Psoriasis patients usually carry high levels of arachidonic acid, something that garlic helps to prevent through the lipoxygenase enzyme which is involved in inflammation.
So if you're struggling with large inflammation as a result of psoriasis, try out the anti-inflammatory foods mentioned and limit yourself to the possible triggers.
Food is a good start, but also worth a mention are products that are anti-inflammatory. Using products on your skin that align with what you're doing with food gives a better chance at managing psoriasis.
A few of our products with properties linked to treating psoriasis include:
"Hydrating face & body lotion" [Buy for £23.99] - Also available as hand cream [£7.99]
"Nourishing & Cleansing oil" [Buy for £14.99]
"Argan oil with natural vitamin E" [Buy for £15.99]