HOW TO BEAT PSORIASIS

Psoriasis is a condition that affects over 6 million people in the United States. It is characterized by lesions of silvery scales that can affect any part of the body but most commonly appear on the back, elbows, hands, and knees. The five main types of psoriasis are plaque, erythodermic, pustular, inverse and guttate with plaque psoriasis being the most common among sufferers. Although psoriasis is often mistaken for a disease of the skin, it is actually an auto-immune disease. Scientists do not know exactly what causes Psoriasis although it is generally considered an inherited disease. Psoriasis occurs when the immune system mistakes a normal skin cell for a pathogen (an infectious agent or microorganism) and sends out faulty signals for the body to produce new cells. Because of the overproduction of cells, lesions appear on the body in the form thick silvery scales often accompanied by mild to severe itching. In extreme cases (such as was my own case), the lesions can also crack and bleed causing much pain and discomfort.

I first came down with psoriasis when I was seven years old. My hands, bottoms of my feet, elbows, and knees started developing lesions associated with plaque psoriasis. As a seven year old, I did not understand what this disease was or why I had it except from what my mother told me at the time. My older brother had a mild form of the disease growing up and all I knew was that it was somehow passed down. At the time, my mother would rub an ointment called Tegrin, an ointment for relief of psoriasis conditions currently sold at the time on the affected areas on my body. She put it on in the mornings and at night. Although it provided some relief, it did little to improve the symptoms. I went through my school years with this disease being made the brunt of jokes by other students, especially when we would undress for gym class from elementary through high school. In addition to the discomfort of this disease, the embarrassment and taunting I endured from other kids was just as bad as the uncomfortable symptoms of the disease itself. As I grew into adulthood, the disease remained; at times lessoning in severity and at other times, increasing in lesions and discomfort. I would go to different doctors who wrote out prescriptions that did little to ease the discomfort, appearance, pain or itching. As the years passed, I would research everything from the latest drug to improve psoriasis conditions to home preparations, to so called cures of swimming in the Dead Sea to lesson symptoms, bathing in Epson salts and other remedies. Up until one year ago, I finally realized what it took to beat this disease and that a cure was possible. I had recently heard of the drugs the pharmaceutical companies were producing for psoriasis with the latest being a drug called Stelara. At this time, the bleeding, pain, itching and arthritis associated with this disease had become so severe in my hands that I could not even wash a dish without feeling the pain from the lesions on my palms and fingers. I would go to bed at night smearing my hands with the latest ointment- both prescription and nonprescription medicines, covering my hands in gloves to ease the pain by keeping my hands moisturized. My wife advised me to consider seeking medical advice to see if I were a candidate for the new drugs being advertised for psoriasis. I decided to research one of the drugs – Stelara, before seeking medical help and I weighed the benefits against the possible side effects:

             Benefits:

• Studies showed a 75% improvement in those who took Stelara

          Possible side effects:

• Bruising, Itching and swelling at the injection site( Adminitering Stalara is through injection)
• Possible weakening of the immune system to fight infections

• signs of infection such as fever, chills, sore throat, flu symptoms, swollen glands, unusual weakness;
• mouth and throat ulcers, rapid heart rate, rapid and shallow breathing, fainting;
• swelling, pain, tenderness, or redness anywhere on your body;
• pain or burning when you urinate, blood in your urine;
• stomach pain that is sudden and severe or comes on slowly, changes in bowel habits (diarrhea or constipation);
• cough with yellow or green mucus;
• stabbing chest pain, feeling short of breath; or
• severe headache, confusion, change in mental status, vision problems, and/or seizure (convulsions).

(Information taken from the RXList, The Internet Drug Index)

The potential side effects were alarming. Here I was, someone who was trying to lead a healthy lifestyle and in order to just take a chance on seeing improvement- not even a cure for my psoriasis symptoms, I had to be willing to subject myself to a list of possible and potentially very dangerous side effects. I discussed this with my wife and decided the risk of side effects was not worth the chance to see any improvement in my condition. This is when I came across a documentary put out by Food Matters called Hungry for Change that changed my whole perspective on healthy eating and how we could improve the immune system by eliminating processed foods. The documentary talked about what processed foods to do to the body and why we need to make detoxification a daily part of our nutritional plan. Being the naturally stubborn minded individual I am, I didn’t want to just see improvement in my psoriasis condition. Having suffered most of my life with this condition, I wanted to beat this disease. Rearranging my nutritional philosophy, I decided to experiment.

HOW I OVERCAME PSORIASIS

Changing my nutritional philosophy based on what I heard in the documentary Hungry for Change, made the plan for beating psoriasis so simple! It was really a no brainer- if psoriasis was an auto immune disease and that by consuming processed foods we playing havoc with our immune systems by taking in chemicals and thus increasing the buildup of toxins in the body, then the answer was simple: eliminate processed foods and give the cells what they need for a healthy and functioning immune system. If I could get my immune system to function that way it was supposed to function, then I reasoned there was a chance that with a properly functioning immune system, it would quit sending out those faulty signals to create an overproduction of cells- the underlying cause of psoriasis. When I finally reached this epiphany of what it took to defeat this disease, I then went on to completely eliminate every lesion on my body until today, I am now 100% free of psoriasis. How did I do it? I immediately eliminated anything that was currently in my diet that had chemicals, preservatives or artificial flavorings. Since I was following what I thought was a heathy diet at the time, it wasn’t really junk food I was eliminating since I wasn’t consuming sweets or refined carbohydrates. However, what I was consuming was not really as healthy as I thought it was: protein powders, protein bars laden with isolates, and preservatives; red meats with antibiotics and growth hormones and dairy products that had sulfates and preservatives as well. And all this time I was not providing my cells with enough raw vegetables and fruits, two crucial food groups necessary for a healthy functioning immune system. When I came to realize that I was ingesting all these toxins and chemicals and that this was preventing me from eliminating psoriasis by sabotaging my immune system, I made the following changes to detoxify myself to rid the buildup of toxins in my body:

1. I drastically increased my juicing frequency of raw vegetables from once a week to twice a day introducing chlorophyll rich vegetables like kale, parsley and cilantro (this also caused a significant paradigm shift in my nutritional intake to where my diet now is currently 70 % plant based).
2. I implemented toxin removing foods-specifically chia seeds.
3. I eliminated every food from my diet that contained any type of artificial ingredient or preservative. This even included items from my local health food store- protein bars, protein powders and bakery items made with unhealthy oils like canola, or safflower. I also eliminated regular milk, eggs and dairy and switched to organic eggs, dairy, and milk made without pesticide laden artificial hormones and GMO feed.
4. I eliminated unclean animal flesh- meats that were processed with growth hormones, chemicals and antibiotics and switched to meats made from organic, grass fed cattle.

The results were amazing. Within one month of eliminating processed foods and feeding my cells exactly what they needed (especially raw vegetable juicing), the lesions on my hands, and feet immediately began to lesson. Within two months, my hands were completely healed of psoriasis, and the pain, and arthritis that came with it. Within another two months of following this nutritional plan, the lesions on my left foot completely disappeared. For the first time in my life since I was seven years old, without any type of drug or ointment – by using just nutrients as medicine, I was 100% psoriasis free. As I write this now, I still find it hard to contain my joy and enthusiasm as I transfer this knowledge to try and help others who suffer from this terrible disease. To have completely eliminated the lesions, pain, cracked bleeding skin and arthritis that come from psoriasis, I simply cannot contain myself at the marvel and awe I have for the human body and what it can do to heal itself as long as we give it the right nutrients!

LET’S MAKE SOME COMPARISONS AND THEN YOU DECIDE:

I’m not here to tell anyone suffering with this terrible disease to go out and just start doing what I did. Weigh the evidence yourself and then decide whether to seek artificial drugs with potentially dangerous side effects that at most, promise improvement but not a cure, or seek nutritional means to totally overcome this disease- safely, quickly and with zero side effects. Now that I have given you my own testimony on growing up with psoriasis and what I did to finally overcome this disease, let’s look at the two comparisons. I will use the drug Stelara as an example against the results of the method I used ( I have posted the side effects of Stelara in the table below that I listed previously in this chapter- this information was taken directly from the RX List, the Internet Drug Index). You decide which is best:

Note that one of the potential side effects of taking Stelara is a weakened immune system. What a price to pay for a promise that is at most just 75% improvement! My method does the exact opposite: it beats Psoriasis 100% and strengthens the immune system!

A word of caution: growing up with this disease and researching every type of proposed cure and symptom reliever, I want to warn everyone who suffers with this disease: beware of snake oil profiteers out there that offer some exotic cure, ointment, cream or some other method to overcome psoriasis. During my years of suffering with this disease, I even came across those who swear they have cured psoriasis by eating certain foods- but of course they do not tell you what those foods are.. until you buy their course or service. What I have given you in this article is proven; it works, it’s safe, and will not empty your wallet. This is simply common sense nutrition that works to correct a faulty immune system by implementing sound nutritional principles that have been around since the beginning of time. If you suffer from psoriasis and follow this nutritional plan, you too will beat this disease and you will feel the same joy and elation that I did when you witness the exciting results of allowing the body to heal itself. Having given my testimony of my years of suffering with this disease and what I did to overcome it, I hope those reading this article will do the same and realize they do not have to despair if they have this disease. Follow the principles I outlined and you too, will be a conqueror of psoriasis.

References:

RxList -The Internet Drug index. (2014, 12 10). Retrieved 12 10, 2014, from RxList -The Internet Drug index: http://www.rxlist.com/script/main/hp.asp

James Torro

James A. Torro is a former certified fitness instructor and is currently a nutrition major. He earned his MBA from the University of Scranton and lives in Tampa, Florida with his wife and two children.