dairy ... a trigger food for psoriasis? [long]

[Eveloftus]

I have never tried going dairy free, Lazza, as I love milk, yoghurt, cheese...But I definitely want to give it a try some day. I don't have that much, just milk in my coffee, and some yoghurt, I love the yoghurt and it has beneficial active cultures, but I am curious to see if it is a trigger for me. Going without gluten is easier for me. Which has a taste most similar to milk, rice milk or almond milk?

[NCU]

My daughter is dary free and I have a few vegan friends so I've tried a few of the alternatives and I'm sorry to say that nothing really tastes like cows milk, not even human milk! I find soya particularly unpleasent! I give my daughter Oatley which I think is really quite alright, a bit like drinking porridge I suppose!
I haven't given up dairy yet, I think I will find giving up cheese and butter the hardest but I think when it comes to milk you could adjust quite easily, I never used to be able to drink full fat milk and now I can't drink anything else. Apparently you have to try something 21 times before it becomes a habit or you are used to it so start counting! Good luck. Perhaps we should all try going dairy free and set up a little support thread. If I could guarentee that's what it was I'd start now.

Actually here's a question, how long would we have to go without before we could determine if it was a trigger or not? 

[Eveloftus]

Good question NCU, I've asked myself that same question. I tried to go dairy free 3 years ago, it lasted 10 days, and there was no difference in my P. But I do think that it should be given a trial of at least a month before you can really say if it makes a difference.
Is Oatley some kind of oat "milk"? I don't think they have it here in the US.

[Lazza]

As for milk substitutes, I have only tried almond milk and soy milk.  Soy milk tastes a bit funny.  Not bad really but it is an acquired tasted.  For me almond milk tastes rich and creamy with a slight nutty flavor; I like it much better than cow's milk.

Rice milk never appealed to me because its nutritional properties look marginal relative to almond milk and soy milk.  However it appears rice milk is very easy to make on your own using a blender and plain brown rice (soaked in water overnight).  Oh, you need some sort of cheese cloth to squeeze out the milk.  If you are a light milk drinker (small amounts in coffee, tea or poured in cold cereal) then this might be a cheap and wholesome way to make your own cow's milk alternative.  You can do the same process to create almond milk but raw almonds are expensive.

I wish someone would get funding to determine the impact of dairy on psoriasis(, and other autoimmune diseases).  I think there have been small studies showing the gluten-psoriasis relationship.  Dr Valeri Treloar, a nutritionist *and* dermatologist, suggests all P sufferers do a gluten free diet for 90 days to see if gluten is a trigger.  But I think that is a bit long, ... wouldn't 30 days be enough?  And IMHO the same goes for dairy.  Everyone should check for dairy intolerance for 30 days, ... and be extremely strict about it.


_Lazza

[NCU]

Sorry, yes oatly is oat milk, I chose it for my daughter because it is quite thin like breast milk and we didn't know if she'd be allergic to soya, also oats are a super food. Would imagine you could make it yourself too. Have not tried almond milk myself but think I will try it, sounds good.
I think I'm going to do it, anything is worth a go. What treatment are you guys on at the moment? I'm on ciclosporin and the p is clearing with that so don't know how well I would be able to tell if going dairy free is helpful.
Going to sound really stupid now but what's the issue with gluten? Dairy I get why it has an impact but how does gluten effect the skin, I thought it was more of a digestive thing??
And if I cut both out, keeping in mind I don't eat meat anymore, what would I eat?
While I'm on the subject I had a friend suggest I get allergy tested by a lady she went to who practices an old chinese technique, something to do with putting the substance on your neck and lifting your leg, poss sounds a bit crazy but she gave up everything they said and it worked a treat, anyone tried that?
 
 

[kat.chloe]

...............I think I'm going to do it, anything is worth a go. What treatment are you guys on at the moment? I'm on ciclosporin and the p is clearing with that so don't know how well I would be able to tell if going dairy free is helpful.
....

Hi NCU

Just a reminder that as you are on cyclosporine you need to be very careful about what foods you do consume.  You should not be eating any foods high in potassium nor can you have peppermint and obviously grapefruit juice.  Your meds should come with a booklet of what you can and cant eat.

Good luck with the diet.

Kat

[Lazza]

Sorry, yes oatly is oat milk, I chose it for my daughter because it is quite thin like breast milk and we didn't know if she'd be allergic to soya, also oats are a super food. Would imagine you could make it yourself too. Have not tried almond milk myself but think I will try it, sounds good.
I think I'm going to do it, anything is worth a go. What treatment are you guys on at the moment? I'm on ciclosporin and the p is clearing with that so don't know how well I would be able to tell if going dairy free is helpful.
Going to sound really stupid now but what's the issue with gluten? Dairy I get why it has an impact but how does gluten effect the skin, I thought it was more of a digestive thing??
And if I cut both out, keeping in mind I don't eat meat anymore, what would I eat?
While I'm on the subject I had a friend suggest I get allergy tested by a lady she went to who practices an old chinese technique, something to do with putting the substance on your neck and lifting your leg, poss sounds a bit crazy but she gave up everything they said and it worked a treat, anyone tried that?
 
 

NCU, hi.  I am not on any treatment right now; in fact the only treatment I was every on was Soriatane (acetretin?) last summer.  I agree with your concern that if you are seeing success with cyclosporine it might be hard to judge if going gluten free and dairy free is effective also.

As for what going gluten free is all about, I believe gluten irritates the lining of the colon.  There is a separate autoimmune disease (Celiac disease) all by its self where folks get a violent reaction if a trace amount of gluten reaches their colon lining.  But it seems there are lighter variations of gluten intolerance that might only milder reactions in the colon (for example, gas) and inflamed psoriasis.

What else can you if you go on gluten free and dairy free?  Well, just about everything else that is relatively anti-inflammatory.  Heavy red meats are not good, nightshade veggies are not good either.  Forget about junk food, alcohol and tobacco.  But all other veggies/fruits are fine, rice is good, and so is fish.  Several PHO forum members find juicing or blending up several fruits and veggies at once to be a convenient way to get a super dosage of nutrition all in one go; I recommend this to anyone.  No doubt you might find this diet to be a bit restrictive.  But in a few weeks you will see there are loads of good foods out there, your body will respond favorably to all this nutrition, and hopefully your psoriasis will fade into the distance.

Good luck!


_Lazza


PS - I believe cyclosporine is a drug you can only take for a maximum of 1 year because ultimately it becomes too toxic, ... at least this is the rule of thumb here in the USA.  And so after a year you will be expected to transition to some other drug.  Now mind you, I am not a fan of treating psoriasis with toxic medications unless absolutely necessary.  Yet if cyclosporine is working for you and you are happy with it then simply carry on for the full year.  During this time focus on doing an overall clean-up of your diet, keeping in mind the warning kat.chloe just gave you  Once you are off cyclosporine you can do things like going diary free and gluten free.

[kat.chloe]

.............PS - I believe cyclosporine is a drug you can only take for a maximum of 1 year because ultimately it becomes too toxic, ... at least this is the rule of thumb here in the USA.  And so after a year you will be expected to transition to some other drug.  Now mind you, I am not a fan of treating psoriasis with toxic medications unless absolutely necessary.  Yet if cyclosporine is working for you and you are happy with it then simply carry on for the full year.  During this time focus on doing an overall clean-up of your diet, keeping in mind the warning kat.chloe just gave you  Once you are off cyclosporine you can do things like going diary free and gluten free.

Hi Lazza - not in the UK evidently.  Aus like the US it is only 1 year but in the UK you can stay on cyclo indefinitely if it works.

[SallieKatt]

I'm very curious on the dairy trigger. My P was clear for over a year. I went to the beach last summer and after that I started eating a small cup of yogurt for breakfast. Then about 6 month ago, I added 100 calorie ice cream bars as a snack. I also eat lots of cheese. My P went haywire. Plus my elbow joints really started hurting. I cut the dairy out except for some cheese and my P started to improve. Last Sat and Sun I decided to eat cereal with milk. Did so 2 days in a row. Also ate a couple of ice cream bars, and a cup of yogurt. Yesterday I noticed the pain is back and today my P is terrible!

I just wonder if dairy is the culprit.....how long does it take to trigger....hours, days, weeks? I can't think of anything else that is different in my diet other than the dairy. I'm keeping a journal of what I eat every day to see if there is some way to pinpoint the flair ups

[Lazza]

SallieKatt, hi.  I think most people would say psoriasis would flare within 12-24 hours upon consuming a trigger food.  In might be in the form of skin feeling itchy, looking inflamed or simply not quite right.  I will say for myself when I went from 99% elimination of dairy to 100% elimination the results were dramatic, and with 48-72 hours.  I suggest you try the same.  Based on what you wrote I would guess if you do total dairy elimination for a week you'll see results.


_Lazza