I have had a very bad flare up of scalp psoriasis since
about February this year. Having never had it before I found the condition to
be quite debilitating. I felt horrible with such flaky skin and I was
constantly wearing a hat to hide the dandruff-like appearance of my hair. It
was my second flare (last November was the first one) but this time I was decided
to take a difference approach. The first time I followed the dogma and went to
my GP who sent me to a dermatologist, who prescribed cortisone creams and other
drugs and it went away...for a while.
This time I did a bit of my own research. I had never been
diagnosed with eczema or psoriasis before. I really wanted to know how and why it
would just appear. So I read up about the gut brain connection and auto immune disorders.
I decided I was going to trial following the Auto Immune protocol. What is
that? It is a way of cutting out all possible inflammatory food products from
your diet then slowly re-introducing them. It’s better to read up on it from
the experts such as The Paleo Mom, Mickey Trescott or (a similar approach)
the Wahls Protocol. A basic summary is
that auto immune diseases are linked to a leaky gut. This just means you have
holes in your digestive system causing things to leak out and this can cause
inflammation. But you are better off reading the real science behind it from
these experts. (I’ve just listened to a great interview with Dr Sarah
Ballantyne, The Paleo Mom, on one of my (many) favourite
podcasts – if that is more your thing!)
So, I stopped eating grains, dairy, nuts, seeds, eggs and
plants from the nightshade family (tomatoes, potatoes and paprika among
others). I just went cold turkey from day 1 although I was already near 100% gluten
free and had trialled dairy free in the past. It also means no processed food,
artificial colours, flavours, chemicals. It is pretty hard work because
everything you eat needs to be made from scratch but its REAL food.
The protocols and recommendations all say that you need to
exclude everything to give your gut the chance to heal and repair (plug up
those leaky holes!) I worked out within the first few days there were three
main things I was going to struggle with. Coffee, alcohol and chocolate. Yes, I
know, it’s not very good. But I was subscribing a little to the theory that I
shouldn’t be too hard on myself and I was also doing this protocol at the same
time as I was starting my first pain management course so I didn’t want to put
myself under too much stress and pressure! I thought that surely a small
compromise could be made if I didn’t appear to have any adverse symptoms by
keeping it in my diet and also by allowing myself a small “cheat”/”reward”
maybe I was going to be more likely to stick to the rest of the exclusions. So,
sadly, I did continue to have a daily coffee – predominantly with soy. And I
did eat a bit of dark chocolate...and some days, I struggle around dinner time
with dealing with pain and tiredness and...well, I just like a glass of wine. But let me make it clear this is NOT the
recommendation, it was how I dealt with it at the time.
Some other things may have creeped in there inadvertently as
I progressed. Eating out was a problem (near impossible) and so I would just to
go with the flow sometimes resulting in being a little slack on following the
protocol. But mostly I did eat at home, made everything myself and was pretty
good (I thought) at sticking with it.
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| I'm afraid I don't have a before picture - but trust me you wouldn't have wanted to see it! But here is me checking my scalp and enjoying my healthy, shiny (flake-free) locks! |
Now for the good news...I have been following the above
approach for over 8 weeks now and I am feeling really energised and happy. I am
not craving sugary foods or even really missing the foods I am not supposed to
eat. I am just enjoying the lovely fresh healthy nutrient dense foods I can
eat. I have slowly started to
re-introduce foods and don’t seem to be having much reaction to eggs, nuts or
seeds and am being a bit more open with the alternative grains but being consistent
with wheat/dairy free and sticking to a nutrient-dense wholefoods approach.
And as for the psoriasis, my skin is alot less dry, it is
even become more supple (I am also daily applying coconut oil to my skin). My
scalp isn’t flaking away and my hair is looking healthy so I believe it is
going, going, gone!? So for those of you out there with an auto immune disease,
maybe do a little research and give something a try, what’s holding you
back...? The results could be amazing! I am expecting (hoping) to receive a
barrage of questions now so please, fire away....
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” ― Hippocrates
