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Psoriasis Diet - how to cool the "Heat:"Following the right psoriasis diet can go a long way toward putting out the fire of this skin problem. Most plaque psoriasis is very red, and therefore very "hot." What does this mean? It means that there is a great deal of inflammation in the skin, and all of our efforts must go toward cooling this inflammation down. It is like icing an injury, or putting a cool cloth on a fever, except with a chronic, stubborn condition like psoriasis, we must do this from the inside. The foods we eat are either heating, cooling or neutral. When we have psoriasis, it's best to avoid heating foods, and eat mostly neutral, and occasionally cooling ingredients. In order to understand this, all we need to do is look at some common foods and how we generally eat them. Think of the "gingerbread" spices, for instance: ginger, cinnamon, cloves. We mostly eat these in the winter, when people use them in Christmas baking. We naturally gravitate to these pungent, warming spices when it is cold, because they warm us up. Or, on the other hand, think of salads, watermelon and icy drinks - we are more likely to crave them in the summer. Finally, some foods are profoundly detoxifying, and can be of great benefit in cleansing toxins from the liver, digestive system and kidneys, and should be eaten by most people with hot skin diseases: redness, crusting and severity. With this in mind, let's have a look at some common foods, and remember to avoid the hot ones, especially the ones listed first,as they are very very irritating for psoriasis. HOT FOODS TO AVOID:ginger, garlic, raw onion, chicken (especially fried chicken), black pepper, lamb, shellfish, mustard, all alcohol but especially red wine, coffee, chai tea, hot peppers and curries, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and greasy, rich, deepfried or very sweet foods. Tobacco is also extremely heating. NEUTRAL FOODS (good to eat)most grains, root vegetables, most cooked or lightly steamed vegetables, most beans. COOLING FOODS (good to eat unless prone to diarrhea):fruit, raw vegetables, green vegetables, asparagus, lemon, millet, mint, tofu, white lean fish. DETOXIFYING FOODS:mung beans, adzuki beans, barley, tofu, licorice root, cabbage, seaweeds. ~~~~~~ While the diet for psoriasis may not get rid of it on its own, a good psoriasis diet, combined with the appropriate herbal remedies, can finally heal your psoriasis. Think of it this way: if 3 times a day, everyday, you are eating mostly "heating" foods, these foods are actively working against any treatment or supplements you might be taking.
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