food association and psoriasis

[Guest Posts]

We are constantly being told that psoriasis is not exacerbated by food but we have found this to be true with my husband especially with dairy products if in liquid form and spicy food. Has there been any new research exploring food association with psoriasis?
Thank you. Anon

[Dr Thiviyani Maruthappu]

Thank you for your question, diet and psoriasis is definitely one of the questions that I get asked most about. It is interesting that your husband notices liquid dairy and spicy food flare his skin, several of my patients have anecdotally noticed that reducing dairy intake can improve their skin, however some patients have found that it makes absolutely no difference at all and it is hard to predict who will benefit. A one-month trial of a dairy-free diet can be attempted to see if it is of benefit - however calcium and vitamin d supplements may be required if this is continued long term. A large study published in 2017 looked at the dietary habits of >1000 patients with psoriasis, the most common patient-reported triggers were sugar (13%), alcohol (13%) Tomato (7%) Gluten (7%) and Dairy (6%). Other triggers varied in incidence between 2-5% and included spicy foods, eggs and processed foods. Interestingly, in this study, the three diets with the highest patient-reported skin improvements were the "Pagano" diet, Vegan diet and Paleolithic diet. Dietary modifications can be associated with weight loss and this alone can be beneficial for psoriasis.