God, I've been on here a lot lately... but anyway, I'm wondering about changes in diet that have been helpful for people with P across the board?
I remember a year or so ago there were several people who were trying diet changes and slippery elm or some such, and they had good success. I'm on a lot of prescription drugs right now and nothing is really working, so I've decided to open my closed little mind about alternatives.
I was anorexic for a while in 2003, and my skin totally cleared on it's own, so I know that diet has something to do with P, but how!?!?
Are there simple ways I can change my diet for even a little help? I'm going to the gym about three times a week and eating a fairly balanced diet, but if something would help, I would totally try it.
Also, I am having strange inflamation on my lower legs where my lesions are about, 1/2 inch above the rest of my leg. It's incredibly painful, almost like hematoma's... has anyone else had this?!!? So strange, I've never seen it before...
Okay, that's all!! Thanks everyone!!

Consider getting food allergy tests. Drop wheat, dairy and nightshades to a minimum, also citrus except lemon and limes. Increase fruits and veggies to 6 servings per day.
Think RAW as much as you can. No pop, diet or otherwise...cut sugar way down.
Cut meat proteins to the recommended daily amounts, like a fist size serving per meal. Make those lean cuts.
Take fish oil capsules and/or Cod Liver Oil, get a good multi-vitamin with minerals. Give it 2 months...because cellular regeneration takes a while. Continue the trips to the gym.
If the food isn't displayed on a food pyramid...don't put it in your mouth. That means no Oreos or regular use of alcohol.
Can't hurt. Ask your doc. We'll all be here in two months...let us know how it works for you.
;)

What do you eat then, Dulane, as an example? No bread, no dairy, so only fruits and veggies? Makes sense that you can't eat the good stuff... that's all I eat basically:) Carbohydrates and cheese is my diet, heh heh... grilled cheese, bagel and cream cheese, crackers and cheese.
I'll try to do as much of that as possible, but since I used to be anorexic, I have to keep a fairly balanced diet, especially "good" lipids. How frigging unfair!!
Thank you so much though!
Tascha

I eat mostly fresh fruits in the morning. Old-fashioned oatmeal and raisins. I also eat rice puffs and I prefer rice or soy milk, but sometimes use skim milk. I don't add sugar to any of the above. By mid morning, I switch to raw or steamed veggies, almonds etc. I use cottage cheese, brie, and eggs...fried (cold expeller pressed oil) or boiled, but I try to rotate them, not every day.
Lunch and dinner are nearly the same...brown rice and veggies...and chicken, lean beef, fermented tofu or fish. Braggs liquid aminos for flavor (like soy sauce). Baked yams. Butter sometimes..no margarine. Lotsa salads, with nuts and sprinkled feta, etc.
Dried fruit. Rice crackers, almond butter. Fresh carrot juice. Spirulina smoothies.
I use alot of onion and garlic in my cooking. I avoid most gravies, sauces and thick dressings. Stew beans and rice would be good, but I have a sensitivity to kidney beans.
The above is my intent...but I deviate. I try for at least 6 days a week to be very good. I do pretty well...but having company and socializing elsewhere is more difficult. I often have small samples of decadant things...so I don't feel really deprived.
I eat alot of chicken ceasar salads when I eat out. You can also ask for small chef salads...if you tell the waiter you are allergic to everything. I figure a big helping of greens helps the cheese go down.
Since I changed my diet, I have lost 30 lbs, but now stay around 145...which is more than enough for my 5' 6" height.
I have PA, and if I am achey...I am stricter on my diet. I take capped turmeric for inflammation. I cap it myself, and take 3-6 capsules a day, as needed (under $5 per lb in bulk). I take it with capped bromelain and papain...which are supposed to make the turmeric more bio-active.
The diet itself is anti-inflammatory.

HI Tascha,
Adding to the helpful information that Dulane provided, there is also the belief that vegetables in the nightshade family are to be avoided since they might have a tendency to aggravate P conditions in people with this food sensitivity.
These vegetables are: tomato, potato (except sweet potatoes which are OK), peppers, eggplant and tobacco (which of course we normally don't eat - but it also confirms the fact that we should not be smoking or using nicotine either). There are many articles on the Net about this, a simple Google search on nightshades and psoriasis will link you to some of them.
By the way, avoiding these foods also means avoiding other foods that use these in their ingredients (pasta sauce, pizza, french fries, hot sauce, etc.). I know adding this restriction to an already restrictive dietary plan seems like a pain (I should know as nightshades were big parts of my diet once) but you do get accustomed to it with time.
I do want to note however that it has been about 7 months since I halted my consumption of nightshades (though I have eaten potatoes extremely seldomly) and up until now I have not noticed a new major flare occur since ... IN MY CASE, it appears to have slowed down flareups ... I emphasize "my case" because it may not work for someone else - as P and its treatment have been seen to be different from person to person. But it won't hurt to try and see if this works for you too.
Good luck! Hope this helps! :)

Hi Tascha! So excited to see that you're interested in the diet approach. At the end of June, I had about probably 50% coverage with guttate... yuck. I went on a strict diet of veggies, fruits, brown rice, chicken and fish, and no dairy except for plain unflavored yogurt. (Dulane, I also ate a lot of grilled chicken caesar salads.) I was very strict about avoiding wheat, sugar and fat (i.e. no butter, nothing fried) and as Paco mentioned, the nightshades. Within weeks I cleared up about 95%. I also felt great. I think Dulane's advice is good-aim for sticking to this as strictly as possible for 6 days out of the week, then you can treat yourself a bit on the 7th day.
I also think some supplements were helpful - one was a probiotic (helps rebuild the good bacteria in your digestive tract), another was a systemic enzyme supplement (it helps to modulate the immune system response - I used both Vital-zym and Wobenzym with success) and the third was an Evening Primrose and Flaxseed oil supplement (Barlean's Essential Woman-I took a tbsp a day, mixed with fruit juice or a smoothie-great for inflammation.) I've had to stop the diet and the supplements because I'm pregnant, but I'm still enjoying being clear so far.
You may want to read Dr. Pagano's book... it's very encouraging and has great pictures. Deirdre Earls' book is also great advice about the diet, and very short and easy to understand (really more like a long booklet.) Good luck to you, we are all in your corner!
jenn

[I have PA, and if I am achey...I am stricter on my diet. I take capped turmeric for inflammation. I cap it myself, and take 3-6 capsules a day, as needed (under $5 per lb in bulk). I take it with capped bromelain and papain...which are supposed to make the turmeric more bio-active.
The diet itself is anti-inflammatory.[/QUOTE]
I have PA and it is getting unbearable. I have been on Dr Pagano's diet for about a month with no relief yet. When did you notice results from changing your diet? Also, where do you get turmeric and is capping them easy? My PA is in my feet, and I am having a hard time walking lately.

At the end of the first month I noticed that I could turn my head and back out my driveway. My lower back and hip stopped their spasms. And I felt comfortable taking a 250 mile trip to visit my daughter...whereas I had hardly left my house for a month before that.
I still had alot of pain, but I kept seeing gradual improvement. It was probably 3 months before I was up to doing outside work. My sausage fingers took about 6 months to function well. I still have some recurring swelling in that hand.
But I have full mobility now, more than a year and a half later. If I backslide for more than a day or two...I will feel achey.
I found wheat, sugar and alcohol to be my worst triggers. I treated for candida...which I had a very bad case of. I took lots of supplements...cod liver oil, multi-vitamins, lecithin, enzymes, acidophilus. Somewhere I have a list of all the stuff I was taking.
I've taken no more than 10 pain pills in the last 2 years.
I have a small manual capping machine, which works well. There are several of those, and I've heard good things about them. You do it while watching TV. Now I do it about one night a month. The capsule machine only does 48 capsules at a time...but I can do that in 10 minutes now. I get the 00 caps, which figures out to be around 500 mg of herb.
Capsule Machine http://www.capsuleconnection.com/how-to.htm
When using turmeric, you want to use another herb or enzyme to make it more bio-active. Papain, bromelain, and lecithin may be helpful for that purpose. You can also buy curcumin formulas with the above mixes...which would be a stronger doasage. Piperine (black pepper extract) is another option, but it is expensive. www.swansonsvitamins.com is a reasonably priced place to buy stuff.
I take 3 turmeric capsules and 1 papain, plus 1 bromelain if I am achey. (Sometimes 2 bromelain or 2 papain...if I haven't used my capsule machine lately.) I do that probably twice a day on bad days.
I get many of my herbs (and 00 capsules) at www.herbalcom.com.
I don't get any kickbacks from the companies that I mentioned, but I wish I did.

a month isn't too long.....have you had a blood allergy test from your doctor? might be a good idea................. to rule out any trigger foods....
I am on Dr. Pagano's diet (except for trigger foods from allergy test) and there are som vegies I can't eat for several months (to clear the system) so besides not eating the basic nightshades (tomatoes once a month) my trigger veggies are cauliflower, lima beans, peas, broccoli, plus some other foods....that leaves some slim pickin's :D
I had some evil swelling in my knees and two thumbs with pain so I'm assuming it was arthritis of some kind.....I went to the health store and bought
Twinlabs glucosamin, chondroitin, MSM and astaxanthin (this is an important ingredient) here is a blurb on it
it cleared it up...for me!
http://www.newstarget.com/002037.html....
also the essential fatty acids are important (that's why they were named essential) for everyone! but especially for P and arthritic conditions......
http://www.omega-3info.com/arthritis.htm
you can go to google and enter "essential fatty acids arthritis" and check out any studies or info found Minus the commercial products......
remember to keep the diet alkaline..
I sent Dulane a PM to check this post so hopefully she will be on soon.... she is way out west where they don't get up til noon (central time) :D
for pain ...I found this site from a Dr. Donsbach that has a natural based pain med that I found really worked well....it isn't expensive (you have to join to order but is free membership)
it is called re-lev-it here is the site....It's on sale for $25
http://www.letstalkhealth.com/store...auto_immune.php

Hi everyone,
I am also trying to clear myself with diet. So far, it is a little better, not so flaky but still very red and inflamed. Dulane, I noticed you said no dairy which I am trying to do also but then I noticed you listed quite a bit of cheese. Do you find that cheese is okay?

I have had PA/fibromyalgia for 15 years and P for 14 years. I did enbrel for 8 months and it did clear my P, but I did not like the side effects and went to an Alternative Route in June.
I've been gradually adding supplements since then, but this is what I am on now and my rationale for taking.
Lycopene (Lycomato "Clinical Trial" with Vitamin E) - Normal Dosage
Reason for taking: Antioxidant shown to reduce TNF by a about a third in a study on humans.
Astaxanthin - Bioastin (natural, not synthetic) - 16 MG or 4X recommended dosage (no toxic effects have been found in studies)
Reason for taking: Antioxidant shown to reduce TNF significantly in laboratory studies.
Alpha Lipoic Acid - 600 MG/Day (recommended high potency dosage)
Reason for taking: Antioxidant shown to reduce TNF in laboratory studies.
Quercetin w/Bromelain - Recommended high potency dosage
Reason for taking: Antioxidant shown to reduce TNF significantly in laboratory studies.
Glucosomine Sulfate: 1500 MG/day (recommended high potency dosage)
Reason for taking: Joint protection from potential PA inflammatory damage
Green Tea: 6-10 bags a day
Reason for taking:COX-2 inhibitor and anti-inflammatory (and need the caffeine).
Nettle Leaf - 600 MG/Day.
Reason for taking: Studies indicate it reduced TNF significantly - approximately 40% in one.
Various Vitamins - B Complex, C (calcium ascorbate, not ascorbic acid), Calcium & Magnesium, Mineral Complex, Zinc, Vitamin K
Reason for taking: General Health
Olive Oil - at least 4 tablespoons a day.
Reason for taking: COX inhibitor.
I will be adding new supplements to the mix over time to assess their impact.
MSM Powder: 8,000 MG/Day
Reason for taking: Reduce Joint inflammation
5-Loxin (special formulation of Boswellic Acid) in powdered form
Reason for taking: LOX inhibitor
Also, trying my best to do a whole foods diet.
Overall, I have got my PA and P symptoms similar to (possibly better) than when I was on enbrel. However, if you have very bad symptoms and swollen joints you may want to consider a strong drug. Alternatively, you may want to go to a good integrative physician who can really help you with the diet and other stuff - and also determine if you are at high risk for joint damage.
There are many paths with this disease,

I use soft cheeses, hopefully fresher with less mold.
Orange cheeses have dyes and other additives, plus the fat factor.
Dairy products that are cultured with live bacteria are easier to digest, and supply acidophilus. Like kefir, and quality plain yougurt. It must say 'live cultures' tho.
I lived on cheese and breads before, and that is not so easy on the digestion.
My diet may not work for other folks tho. I did test positive for an allergy to goat milk...and I had only eaten goat cheese. I don't eat alot of cheese...like maybe twice a week I have some.
:)

For those of you who have changed your diet and improved your psoriasis, do you eat red meat. i am having a hard time giving it up - my family loves it.

If it is lean and if you keep your portions small. Then rotate often, not everyday.
But that's just me. And I'm not clear...just comfortable.
It is hard to satisfy your family in a way that is healthy for all.
It is funny, but as a kid...my family all ate together. No separate meals. Then when I visited with my brother when we were adults, he couldn't eat half the things we lived on as kids. He couldn't digest bell peppers, for instance.
Now with my DH, and we are in our 50's...there are numerous foods that I can't eat that he can. But I can eat garlic, and he can't...but he loves it.
He gets indigestion. My indigestion comes through my skin, I guess.
My point is that we all think we can eat 'like everyone else' but most of us have food sensitivities...if you really think about it.
And many of us can eat things at mid-day that we cannot eat later at night. I have one relative that stops eating at 4:00 pm everyday. Maybe a salad after that but nothing more, or she pays with terrible heartburn.

1stloved -
As Dulane said, if you're going to eat meat, try to eat small amounts of lean cuts. Bake or broil. If you want to fry, do a quick stir fry in good quality olive oil. Stay away from deep fried anything.
I read in a book somewhere that a possible cause of psoriasis is that the person has difficulty properly digesting animal protein - so stay away from meat. That could be with some.
This is one reason why I advise taking a good enzyme supplement. It will help to properly breakdown the protein should you have that problem.
I ate small amounts of lean meat (broiled usually) when I was treating myself. I just stayed away from all the processed meats, like pepperoni, salami, prosciutto, etc... (I'm half Sicilian so you can imagine the difficulty there - LOL). I still cleared my psoriasis.
Also - My feeling is that if a person adheres to pretty well rounded regimine: taking the supplements (herbs, omega-3 oils, vitamins, enzymes, antioxidants, etc..) maybe has a daily excercise routine, doing some visualization/positive affirmations to get the mind in the right place, managing their stress, trying to get adaquate sleep, drinking enough water, etc... then you can eat some steak now and then and be OK.
Just stay away from the obvious junk. You know, like snack food - SlimJims, beef sticks, chips, soda, french fries, donuts, TV dinners, convenience store junk food, etc.. The stuff that clearly causes illness.
However, don't let me be the boss. If you are apprehensive about eating meat, then by all means give it up. There are other fine sources of protein.
For me, I love beans. I could eat beans at every meal, but don't because I'm afraid the neighbors might complain due to the noise and odor....bodda bing.
Also, if you would like to have a hamburger, but do not want to eat red meat, try a great big portabella mushroom cap. If you cook it right, it might be nearly as satisfying to you.
Whatever you decide to do, best of luck.
Jor-EL

Thanks so much for your help and support. It's so hard trying to sort all this stuff out. Food is such a big part of our culture today.

I was not too happy with the antibiotics and hormones in the beef I was buying so I started searching for grass fed beef....online...since we don't have it locally! I found this place and called to talk to them....then ordered!
it comes frozen solid (in the middle of summer I received a box and it was frozen) most companies ship monday's and you get it overnight....I purposely looked for a place close to home (one state away)
My supermarket started carrying Amish raised chickens (free range) so I am one happy camper! :p
http://www.wallacefarms.com/scripts/grassfed.asp
http://www.eatwild.com/

I found this article in my mail this morning after I posted the one above!
It's long but worth reading!
by Michael Pollan in the NY times : HOW YOUR BEEF IS REALLY RAISED
http://www.mercola.com/2002/apr/17/cattle1.htm

Hi Everyone:
Last Sept. I got a bad flare up of guttate. After a few months I did the following:
no sugar
no white flour
meat maybe 2x a month
no dairy
lots of whole foods, vegies etc, salads, avacados
flax seed oil pills (can't handle fish oil)
tumeric
multivitamin
and a few other supplements
I find myself buying too many supplements, almost every time I hear someone mention one works so I'm trying to trim them down. It can get overwhelming. However, I may add mlk thistle.
Anyway, I saw a big improvement. This past month I got stressed and busy and I stopped the supplements and started hitting the junk food (Mexican take out and pizza mostly) and now I have another bad flare up. Not sure if there's a connection but I actually like eating this way. I'll let you all know if it helps again.
A question if anyone has time . . . how does one cut wheat out? I eat a lot of oatmeal and cereal (from health food store, whole grains, no sugar) . . .

A question if anyone has time . . . how does one cut wheat out? I eat a lot of oatmeal and cereal (from health food store, whole grains, no sugar) . . .
I recently learned about a bread called sprouted bread that is made without wheat. You may want to look in to that. If you have Rays Market, you can find it there for about the same price (I am told) as regular bread. Isn't Adkins diet a carb free diet so no wheat? There's probably tons of Adkins diet products out there. It's not something I've looked in to.
As for me and diet, I am starting with a simple whole food approach and I haven't eliminated such things as wheat and dairy. I had Gabe allergy tested, and those foods are not issues with him. We are slowly eliminating processed foods and sugar. See where that goes. I don't want to do any do any major changes and definatly not too fast. I have to adjust too... my way of cooking and shopping, so I'm taking it slow. Are we noticing a change? Not really, but we got started. I can say my son's focus and attention in school, while still not quite "there", has improved.

I am 26 yrs. old, and I started altering my diet over the course of the last five years, and I have found less of a need to use my medication, which is a topical corticosteroid (I only use it about once a week). If nothing else, you will feel better and look better. I lost weight and feel better overall. I have a mild to moderate case of psoriasis. Basically, I have it worst on my scalp, but I also have it on my genitals, in my belly button, and a little under my arms.
My diet before was typical of a 19-20 year old. Pizza, soft drinks, candy, loads of refined carbohydrates. There wasn't much I didn't eat or drink. I was about 10-15 lbs. overweight, and that was probably when my psoriasis was at it's worst.
My psoriasis is definetly more under control now. Now I eat mainly a whole foods diet, like a lot of the others here mentioned. It consists mostly of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, seeds, nuts, lean meat, & low fat dairy. I think it is similar to the DASH diet. Here's a little more detail about what exactly I eat:
1) Whole grains - I avoid added sugars & refined carbohydrates, that means I don't eat pies, cakes, cookies, candy, white rice, etc. except on special occassions. I eat mostly whole wheat cereals for breakfast (e.g., Shredded Wheat & Bran, Wheat Chex, Grape Nuts) usually topped with fruit & flaxseeds. I also eat brown rice, whole wheat pasta, and some exotic whole grains (quinoa, amaranth, & millet). I eat steel cut oats as well (not sure if they are better than rolled, but they taste better to me). I do eat potatoes, even though there's been a backlash against these with the low carb diets. I quit soft drinks, which I used to drink all the time (probably 2 or more a day). Now I just drink mostly water but sometimes tea. I get my sugar fix from fruit. I eat whatever is in season usually, and I probably eat about 6-8 servings/day.
2) Lean meat - chicken, fish, 93% lean ground turkey, and occassionally lean red meat (I think it's 96% lean, grass fed)
3) Flaxseeds and flax oil - I grind the seeds up and put 1 tbsp. of them in my cereal or oatmeal. I mix a tbsp. of flax oil with cottage cheese and eat that before bed every night
4) Dairy - Fat free milk and 1% cottage cheese (but not much, maybe 1-2 servings of milk and 1 of cottage cheese at most)
5) Beans - I eat a lot of beans (e.g., red beans or white beans and brown rice, chili with beans)
6) Oils - I try to stick with olive oil or occassionally canola oil when adding oils to food. Those are the least like I believe to screw up the omega 6 to omega 3 ratio.
I only eat out maybe once or twice a week. I also cook and freeze a lot of meals ahead of time. I usually give myself a meal or two where I eat whatever I want during the week (i.e., Chinese food, fast food, etc.). If you have an urge for sometime it won't hurt to give in every once in a while. It took me 2 years to wean myself off of soft drinks. I know that changing diet is difficult and takes time and dedication (i.e., you have to cook more and eat out less), but I truly believe it is worth it in the long run.
The most difficult part for me are social events, because so many social events center around food, especially the most unhealthy food (i.e., fatty red meat and refined carbohydrates). When's the last time you went to a baseball game or family gathering and got a turkey burger on whole with bread with a side salad and water? Seeing a piece of fruit at a social event usually At most events your eating hamburgers, hot dogs, pies, cakes, cookies, soft drinks, etc. And there is 99% chance the hamburger bun is not whole wheat.
You have to draw the line somewhere. What I prefer to do is give in occassionally and eat small amounts of the junk when socializing and eat healthy otherwise. I don't socialize a whole lot, so this works for me. If you socialize a lot, I'm not sure how you get around it without offending or alienating people.

Welcome to the "Big Lifestyle Change", NoCam! :)
You have done the slow but steady intentional route. And you have a good solution for your social eating.
I allow myself foods that I would never eat at home when I go out. It makes it more 'celebratory' when I do...and it really seems like a special ocassion. But I am much stricter about what I put in my shopping cart at the grocery store...because this is the place where I can make my most committed efforts.
I don't socialize as much as I used to. In fact...tonite my DH is going to a brew pub and is making several cases of micro-brew beer. He is taking a friend with him...because I cannot go down there without imbibing. It is too easy and the crowd down there is devoted to better beers.
Oddly tho, DH's friend is more into the chemistry of the beers and socializing, because he is a non-drinker. He just has more control than I do.
:o
Since I have PA too...I have to stay with the program as much as possible.

i'm really glad you've decided to do the diet approach. you will find that this diet will make you feel great! staying away from inflammatory foods will definitely help to kill some of your inflammation as well. it undeniably has turned down the flame in me.
added anecdote - stay away from:
- iodized/refined salt (use unrefined sea salt instead)
+ this means staying away from all those salted snack foods, since they all use refined salts
- white/refined sugar. (use brown sugar instead)
always drink lots of water; at least 2 liters a day. and as the others have said - let yourself indulge every once in a great while. if you must indulge more often, make it small. doing this is the key to keeping your culinary sanity.
keep us updated on how the diet treats you and best wishes,
-jbrickman

Dulane, jbrickman,
Appreciate the support. It's nice to know that there are others out there who have gone the diet approach. It's not always easy to stay motivated, but when I think about the long term benefits I would never go back to my old habits. jbrickman, I'll try you advice on sea salt (haven't heard that one before).
I definetly prefer to go with natural approaches first and then medicinal when all the natural approaches have failed. It's tempting to try some of the stronger drugs, but I view them as a last resort. I appreciate what doctors have done with medicinal advances, and it is certainly justifiable if p or pa prevents you from doing the basics things in your daily life to use the stronger drugs. But no matter how smart the doctor or how effective the medicine, there will always be side effects. I believe that nature provides us ways to heal oursevles or at least make life more bearable, we just have to figure it out.
I am pretty new, so I have found a lot of interesting and useful information about diet on these boards, and I'll try to keep everyone else up to date if I figure out something new that works for me.
nocam