Cured Psoriasis with a raw food diet?

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Permalink Reply by Frankie on February 2, 2008 at 1:25am

Hey April,
I've had psoriasis on my scalp since I was 8. I've been on and off raw for a year and now I'm 100% (going on day 13). It hasn't gone away yet, but it's definitely improved, there is a smaller area affected than before, and it hardly ever bothers me (used to itch like crazy). I think a juice feast would blow it out, but Im not there yet...

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Permalink Reply by April on February 2, 2008 at 8:35am

Thanks for sharing this with me! That is wonderful! I haven't talked to my friend too much about it but I was pretty sure that raw foods could improve or at least cure psoriasis.

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Permalink Reply by Frankie on February 2, 2008 at 9:16am

Thanks for sharing that information! I also developed very severed acne once I turned 20, I had breakouts practically covering my face. I stopped breaking out once I went raw, but I have lots of light scarring. I'm planning to do a juice feast once Im more into this lifestyle. I was thinking of doing one for three days, then 10 and then 30. That's interesting about the fats David mentioned, I've actually been using almost every single one of those on a daily basis, and now I know that they are exactly what I needed. I can't stop drinking this coconut shake that has coconut flesh, coconut oil and hempseed oil in it. And I almost always add flaxseed oil to my salad dressings. I'll update when everything is completely gone, but I'm definitely getting there.

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Permalink Reply by Candy (aka Kan-Dee) on February 8, 2008 at 6:12pm

I have had psoriasis since my son was born 13 years ago (funny how my mom and sister didn't get it either until having children). Anyway, I am not completely raw just yet, but I'm working on it. I would say that about 2/3 of my diet is raw, sometimes more, rarely less. That being said, here's my story.

(I guess I should mention that I had once used the steroid creams prescribed for me by Dr's and they worked, but I refused to use them again because of the side effects. So I started my long journey into finding a natural cure.)

Long before I even became a vegetarian, I began looking into the acid/alkaline issues and supplementing to become more alkaline. (If only I knew then what I know now, I would have saved myself a lot of money.) In the first week or two of taking the first round of expensive supplements, my psoriasis began to go away, and I thought, yeah finally! And although my alkalinity stayed the same, the psoriasis began to come back. I later tried powdered wheatgrass, and again, that worked for about a week or two (alkalinity still where it was supposed to be, only less expensive than all the other supplements) then, as had happened before, they came back.

Next was the creams and lotions. Since I had already gone through all the stinky tar remedies and greasy, oily petroleum products on the market, it was time to go the "all natural" route. I tried everything labeled "all natural," anything with the word "psoriasis" on the label. Many of them would work for about a week, then nothing. Keep in mind now, that I was still doing the whole "acid/alkaline" balancing thing in addition to all of this. About 1 1/2 years ago I became a vegetarian, and 6 months later vegan, still trying different creams and lotions with the same results.

I found raw foods about 4-5 months ago. Now, green smoothies are a good portion of my diet. I drink about 64oz/day minimum, usually more, of these wonderful drinks. Sometimes I feel the need to stand up and say "Hi, my name is Candy and I'm a green smoothie addict." So yeah, love 'em. I also make other raw dishes about 3-4 days/week, but green smoothies are something that are a constant. Can you guess the results? Well, surprisingly, raw foods (not 100% so I don't know if it would make that much of a difference) worked for a few months. Never actually getting rid of them completely. Helping more than other remedies, they weren't as bad, but they were still there being all ugly and embarrassing and still hurting. It actually kinda felt like all the other almost-but-not-quite remedies that I've been trying over the last 13 years.

Then one day I ran out of fruit in the fridge and the co-op I belong to wasn't going to deliver more for a couple more days. Well, being the green smoothie junkie that I am, I couldn't go even one day without one, much less a couple, and I didn't have time to go to the grocery store. So, I decided to make my own V8 style smoothie (even though I detest V8's) with what I had in the house. I had made them a couple of times before and they turned out alright. This one turned out wonderful. That night, I made another one. Next morning, well, you see where I'm going with this.

Guess what? Psoriasis going away!! Almost completely gone. Getting better every day. Hasn't been this good since the steroid creams. Can you believe it?! Even on a 2/3 raw foods diet, even the use of green smoothies to the extreme... So, in answer to your question, can raw foods help with psoriasis, yes it can, but you gotta keep the fruit to a minimum.

Because I still love my fruit, I will be doing one 32 oz fruit and greens smoothie, and one vegetable with greens per day, and see if that helps. If not, I'll go back to 100% vegetable smoothies, and simply follow the signs that my body has been trying to give me.

I will also be posting this in a blog on my page in order to keep people informed on any progress in the world of my knee's and elbows.

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Permalink Reply by jackie on July 7, 2008 at 4:25pm

Hi, I,m in the process of trying to rid severe psoriasis for the second time. One year ago I was nearly clear. then went on holiday and things went all wrong and now its back with avengence!! I,ve not gone completly raw but about 90%. I do have very little fruit, but if i make a smoothie I do like a banana or something in it. I do juice but find it really hard to drink , what was the juice recipe you recommed that tastes good?

Anyway I hope you are now out of the psoriasis prison, and I hope to be again oneday soon, although still bad at the moment.

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Permalink Reply by sangeeta on May 7, 2009 at 10:19pm

I am interested in knowing the contents and recipe of the V8 juice that you made. Anything elese that you ate would be helpful. I eat mostly fruits, vegetables and nuts.Thank you in advance.

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Permalink Reply by Aspiring to be RAW on March 31, 2008 at 1:12pm

Hi April,
I noticed that it has been a couple of months since you first posted this. Have you made any progress with improving your psoriasis through the raw food diet?
My very best,
April

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Permalink Reply by Aspiring to be RAW on May 8, 2008 at 4:41pm

Hi,
I'm on a journey to heal the severe psoriasis I have (as well as other illnesses). I'm beginning a green smoothie/juice feast on July 7th, 2008 in efforts to heal myself. Please feel free to check out my blog:

http://rawfoodhealingproject.blogspot.com

Have a rawesome day!
Judi

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Permalink Reply by Frankie on May 29, 2008 at 7:36pm

Im really happy to say that my psoriasis is 99% gone and my acne has cleared up. I havent been on a strict raw food diet, I kind of fell off the bandwagon and have been eating anywhere from 100% raw to 25%. However I think that by eating completely raw for over a month really allowed my body a chance to heal and now my skin looks 100xs better, the scarring from acne is so light its practically gone and my psoriasis is practically non existent. I think when im ready to be 100% raw again, itll just push the healing process through the roof, but I have to say, my psoriasis has never been better, and my face is starting to look the way it used to:-)

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Permalink Reply by jackie on June 30, 2008 at 4:30pm

Hi, I'm also trying to heal severe psoriasis by going raw for the second time.
i did it a year ago and got almost 100% clear then got very complacemnt and now its back with avengence!!! I do find it difficult at times! How are you doing?

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Permalink Reply by April on June 30, 2008 at 6:29pm

Thanks for the post. I actually don't have psoriasis. It is a friend of mine. He actually started eating vegan like a month ago and said that he has seen big improvements but it is still there. I am trying to encourage him to juice or eat more raw but I don't think he is there yet. Thanks for posting and good luck for you! That is great that it almost cleared up before, so at least you know what you need to do!

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Permalink Reply by David of Bristol on August 18, 2008 at 5:40am

I've had psoriasis for life and badly for around 3 years, and it went haywire 18 months ago when I got very ill.

I've read everything about psoriasis and believe it's nothing to do with 'the skin' but is more about the immune system being either overactive/underactive or stressed. I also suspect it's very much tied to the gut as a dodgy gut seems to effect severity. Psoriais severity can fluctuate within 48 hours. As it seems to get bad after antibiotics a yeast connection could be present - some research has looked at fungal interactions or causes.

Psoriasis is INCREDIBLY stubborn and, aside from perhaps UVB treatment, all mainstream treatments are either almost useless or harmful. I've done 'em all and most P sufferers who take the doctor route still have, er, psoriasis. So it's pointless.

So what has raw (months months very high raw, lowish fruit, as much greens as possible) doen for me. Quite a lot! Nothing much at first but then the itching and unprovoked bleeding (present when the P is raging) just weren't present so often. Then, perhaps three months in, the skin looked more 'pink' rather than raging red and the flakey skin more powdery, rather than crusty. I started to use coconut oil as a moisturiser and a teaspoon in smoothies (after hearing that could help) and that, I think, made some further improvement.

Improved seems to have reached a certain level now but when I think back to when I was scrubbing blood out of shirts every other day sixth months ago, I salute raw and have a certain confidence the P will get much, much better yet.

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