Candida

This morning I had a look around some other blogs written on psoriasis and diet. One in particular led me down the path of investigating Candida Albicans. The words have been buzzing around the periphery of my mind for some time now but for one reason or another I have failed to investigate. There seems to be plenty of info out there on the subject and a general agreement that it has detrimental effects on the gut (leaky gut). I’m impressed and encouraged by the concise nature of the Candida information and diet in comparison with the Pagano regimen. Without going into too much detail, the general idea is that an overgrowth of the bacteria Candida Albicans leads to worsening of the permeability of the gut lining. The aims of the Candida regimen are the same as the Pagano regime only considerably more focussed. One of the main differences is the need to eliminate all forms of sugar from the diet (including fresh and dried fruit and honey). I eat lots of fruit and honey. Apparently the bacteria feed on the sugars. Suggestions are also made for supplements to help restore the ‘good’ bacteria levels in the gut. I think it warrants an experiment.

Back on the diet

I reckon I’m pretty much attuned to the basics of the Pagano diet now. I found it very time consuming following many of the recipes in the accompanying recipe book and with time even more of a luxury this year, I’m keeping things simple. Back on the strict diet for 10 days, I’m settling into a pattern.

Breakfast – 40g porridge, 325ml soya milk (sweetened with apple juice), teaspoon of honey and a handful of raisins. Yummy. That’s about half the amount I was eating before the New Year.

Lunch – Either 3 ladles of soup, a small salad and perhaps some spelt bread.
Or a large salad consisting of romaine lettuce, rocket, and a variety from spring onions, red onion, carrot, sweetcorn, etc.

Dinner – 3 days a week fish and lots of green veg and maybe some salad.
2 days a week ½ chicken breast and lots of green veg and maybe some salad. Sometimes I might have some boiled sweet potatoes.
2 days a week a vegetarian dish of my choice from the Pagano recipe book.

I dress salads with a mix of 1 tbl apple cider vinegar with 3 tbl olive oil. As I have psoriatic arthritis, I need to be careful with citrus so I avoid lemon in my dressings.

Snacks – fruit (fresh and driet). I need to be careful with the dried fruit. I love raisins, dates and prunes and can easily let the nibbling spiral out of control. I’ll have a handful of almonds but generally knocking nuts on the head for the first 3-6 months.

I’m drinking about 3 litres of tap water each day and that is all. No tea, coffee, juices, alcohol at least for the first 3 months.

No smoking. I stopped smoking 10 years ago but have allowed myself the occasional smoke. That’s finished too.

Last year after 3months of strict diet, I allowed myself 1 day a month where I ate what I wanted within reason. I’ll probably do that again but only after I see the improvements I saw last year.

This way I keep it straightforward. It was too easy last year to let other ingredients slip into the mix. For instance, I would end up throwing copious amounts of Tamari Soy sauce into my recipes. I’m not sure whether this was a problem, but generally I think you need to be moderate with all of your ingredients. That’s something I struggle with so it makes sense to keep things simple. I also let things like vegetable spread slip into my diet in increasing amounts along with wholewheat bread. This time I’m strict for 3-6 months at least.

2008's experiments with diet

I’ve read numerous discussions on the relationship between diet and psoriasis. The fundamentals behind the Pagano regimen, which builds on the work of Edgar Cayce, are based on ‘leaky gut’ theory. There is plenty of information on this around the web so I won’t go into the detail. Suffice to say that psoriatics are genetically predisposed to developing ‘leaky gut’, which in very simple terms allows toxins to enter the bloodstream unchecked. The body expunges the toxins through the skin in the form of psoriasis, eczema, etc. Pagano’s regimen is designed to eliminate the toxins from our system, allowing the gut to heal itself, thereby snubbing the root cause of the psoriasis. Logically, it makes sense.

The mainstay of the Pagano regimen is the diet, the aim of which is to maintain an alkaline/acid food balance of 80% to 20%. Cayce/Pagano propose that an alkaline balance will stop the rot and allow the gut to heal. This is the basis for my experiments.

Before starting the diet, I gave my body a real hard cleansing kick, as prescribed by the Pagano regimen. A colonic, followed by a 3 day apple diet, followed up the rear with another colonic (sorry, I couldn’t resist). In retrospect, I’m not sure if it was a good idea as I quickly developed new lesions on my legs and a carbuncle on my knee which later developed into yet another lesion. I was strangely excited by the appearance of the new lesions as they indicated the body’s willingness to expunge toxins as a result of the 3 day cleanse. The Herxheimer reaction. I do think that perhaps the colonic is a step too far.
I regret that I did not keep a diary of my experiments with diet during 2009. Looking back at the way things developed, I think a detailed diary would have answered a lot of questions.
I stuck to the 80/20 balance (or as close as I could manage) and also –

• ate no saturated fats and limited fat intake in general
• avoided the nightshades
• drank very little alcohol
• smoked very occassionally
• took lecithin granules daily
• took slippery elm and saffron infusions daily
• drank about 3 litres of tap water daily

and generally limited my diet as per the Pagano regimen.

Over the next 6 months I noticed improvements.

• my scalp completely cleared of all lesions
• my nails improved tremendously in appearance
• my groin and my anus showed marked improvement

Then the healing seemed to stall. Admittedly I allowed alcohol to creep into my regular diet and I began to eat too much of the allowable foods. By recommendation, I contacted a homeopath and was prescribed Thuja 200. Now homeopathy is one of those alternative treatments I just can’t get my head around. The science is based on unfeasibly small quantities and quite frankly I had avoided it for lack of belief. Within 3 weeks of starting the homeopathic remedy, 90% of the remaining lesions began to disappear! I was amazed at the speed of healing. Homeopathy is described as a mechanism for speeding up the healing process. Boy, it certainly seemed to.

This is when I let things slip. My confidence was riding high and I started to think – ‘maybe I don’t need the diet and its all down to the remedy?’ More alcohol slipped into my diet together with a few smokes here and there. Helpings of the good foods increased, especially things like nuts, porridge, raisins, dates, prunes. These are great as part of the diet but must be eaten, like everything else, moderately. Lesions that disappeared with the remedy continued to disappear until gone, but my scalp, groin and anus flared up slowly over time. There were a couple of episodes around that time that could have contributed to the downward spiral but I reckon the diet was number one.

So, where am I now? Pretty much where I was this time last year, but with lots of experience and an eagerness to get things back on track again. I’ve started from scratch again focussing on the 80/20 balance and giving the colonics a wide berth. Starting with a 3 day fruit diet (rather than an apple diet) I’m going for simple recipes that are easy to balance. Next post, I’ll describe the new diet and where I go from here.

Discovering Diet

I am 40 years old. I have had psoriasis for 13 years and psoritic arthritis for 5 years. It is not what I would term bad...yet, but my symptoms are progressing (rather, they were until I started implemeting some of the dietry ideas last year). My father had psoriasis and his condition was what I would term bad. One of my brothers has it as do aunts and and uncles on both sides of my family. Genetically then, I am predisposed. So then are my children, which is one of the main reasons why, in 2008, I decided to start looking for a natural method of alleviating my symptoms. If it works for me, then I can pass the knowledge onto my boys, should they too develop the symptoms one day.
My psoriasis first appeared in 1997 after an illness, which is so often the case I believe. I kept it quiet. Only my partner knew as it first appeared in my anus. It was very uncomfortable but fortunately treatable with a steroid ointment. It then spread to my groin, again treatable with ointment. Apparently I was lucky to find an ointment that worked. When nail and psoriatic arthritis reared its ugly head in 2005 I began to worry. Early 2008, psoriasis appeared on my scalp and quickly spread. The psoriasis in my groin area also progressed to a point where I really could not continue without some medical intervention. I had clear memories of my father's encounters with conventional medical treatments and I saw no good in them whatsoever. I decided to investigate natural treatments.
My first port of call was Jan de Vries. He has a clinic in Edinburgh once a month with a huge number of clients to see in that day. He spends 5 minutes with each client and prescribes £30-50 worth of herbal remedies. I quickly tired of the man, unsure of his motives. Meanwhile, I trawled the internet and chanced (or maybe not) upon Pagano’s Healing Psoriasis book. The basis for the Pagano regime is diet. On a fundamental level, this chimes with my psyche. A lot of alternative treatments I struggle to come to terms with as I guess I have a scientific mind that needs logical solutions. I spent a month or so reading the book in detail and absorbing the general concepts behind the diet. On January 2nd 2009, I began the experiment.

Welcome to the Psoriasis Diet Diary

Welcome to the Psoriasis Diet Diary blog. My name is Gregor Morrison. I have created this blog to diary my progress experimenting with diet as a means to controlling my psoriasis. The fundamentals of the diet are described in the book Healing Psoriasis by John Pagano. I’ve read a lot about diet and its relationship to Psoriasis. Many individuals appear to have had success, while others are not so fortunate. My gut feeling is that failure comes from a lack will power or inclination to stick to the diet long enough to see the positive effects that will drive through the dark times. My own failure last year, as I will explain, came from the other hidden trap of over-confidence.
In a culture of fast food (junk or not), it is very hard to get started on the diet. You will need to persevere. You must learn to set time aside to plan meals and cook, going against the grain of today’s hunger for fast and/or prepared meals. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of meals you can create in 10 minutes if time is an absolute show-stopper. You’ll need to trust that good, healthy food is far tastier than junk once you garner the right frame of mind. I really enjoy the food on the diet but struggle more with over-eating, drinking and the occasional smoke. I also have a sweet tooth that needs looking after. But when you see results, including healthy weight loss, a general feeling of well-being and of course skin improvement, you’ll know you’ve done the right thing.
This will be my 2nd attempt at experimenting with diet as a means to controlling psoriasis. Like most habits, a bad diet is hard to kick. I stopped smoking 10 years ago after countless failed attempts. Implementing a healthy diet is a lot easier than stopping smoking. Ask any smoker/ex-smoker. I started the regime January 2009 with a strong will to succeed and I did very well but I fell into a couple of hidden traps along the way. I experienced enough positivity to warrant another shot. This time round I will not make any mistakes.