Fact: Your Diet Determines the Severity of Your Psoriasis Symptoms

As you know, psoriasis is an oftentimes chronic skin condition that causes red patches of skin that can be scaly or raised. The excessive sun is one of the most common irritants. While there is no cure for psoriasis, there are ways to manage symptoms and prevent flare-ups. One way to do this is by managing your diet. This is why we’ve included three great recipes that we use ourselves in today’s blog post.

Diet Determines Severity of Symptoms

As a psoriasis sufferer, you know that the flare-ups of your skin condition are often linked to what you eat. When it comes to summer recipes, be sure to avoid foods with these ingredients:

1. Alcohol
2. Sugar
3. Preservatives
4. Gluten
5. Dairy

There are other things that you can avoid, but by remaining aware of just those 5, you’ll do better.

Our 3 Recipe Recommendations

These recipes have been selected to help you enjoy yourself in any situation, at any time of day. We’ve got a smoothie, a salad, and a grilled dish, all of which are delicious and easy to make!

Berry & Cacao Smoothie

 

A delicious breakfast or snack will help whenever others are having baked goodies that you want to avoid. We’ve included one special ingredient here: raw cacao powder. This is one of those wild and impressive superfoods rich in antioxidants. You are going to love it as soon as you try it. Of course, it can be a bit bitter, which is why we’ve also included some almond butter to balance it out.

• 1 cup of frozen berries
• 2 tablespoons raw cacao powder
• 2 tablespoons almond butter
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Take all the ingredients, put them in the blender, and add water and ice cubes to give your desired consistency. Then just blend and enjoy!

Chicken and Leafy Green Salad Bowl

 

This lean and healthy dish will fill you up while getting tons of vitamins in you. The chicken and walnuts help make this filling, but the raspberries/blueberries will make it delicious and summery.

• 4-ounce chicken breast
• 2 cups of leafy greens
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
• ½ lemon squeezed
• ½ of a diced apple
• ¼ cup of blueberries or raspberries
• ¼ cup of walnuts

Cook the chicken breast in the oven on a baking sheet, using oil to prevent it from sticking. This should take about 5 minutes per side at 400 F, but be careful you don’t overcook it. Dry chicken breast is no fun!

While the chicken is cooking, put the greens in the salad bowl, add the other ingredients, and then mix the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and lemon juice. You can dress the salad once the chicken is ready.

Grilled Salmon and Veggies

 

Some of you may be trying to avoid rice, in which case, just cut that out in this meal. There’s still plenty to eat that you can enjoy.
For the salmon, we recommend dressing it with lemon and salt. That will really let you savor the salmon’s freshness, and you can add veggies of your choice to spice it up.

• 4 ounces of salmon
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon
• 1 Tsp chopped garlic
• Kosher salt and black pepper (to taste)
• ¼ Tsp dried garlic powder
• 1 cup mixed veggies (of choosing)
• ½ cup of brown rice
• 1 Tbsp of olive oil

Making this dish is simple. The salmon goes in the oven on a baking sheet for approximately 7 minutes (but keep checking on it along the way). Veggies will take a little longer, so we recommend putting them in first. Peppers, onions, mushrooms, and broccoli all make great additions. Just cut ‘em up, add some garlic powder and olive oil, and put them on a different baking sheet. For the rice, use it as a “bed” for the rest of the food and add soy sauce or sesame oil if you’d like. 

The Importance of Stress Control

Those are some dietary tips that will help with your symptoms, but if you really want to make progress, you’ve got to get in the summer mindset and be fine with the fact your diet won’t be perfect. Stress is caused by many things: work deadlines, romantic relationships ending badly, money problems…the list goes on!

Part of the point of these recipes is to help you not worry about your psoriasis while you’re eating with others. 

Stress is a big factor in psoriasis. In fact, stress can exacerbate psoriasis and make it worse. Stress also causes depression, which leads to an even more severe form of psoriatic arthritis called psoriatic erythroderma (also known as pustular psoriasis). All this is to say: it’s important to keep your stress levels low during the summer months if you want them to look their best!

You Can Have Your Cake and Eat it Too

So, there you have it! I’ve given you some great healthy recipes that can help you with your psoriasis. If none of them seem to be working for you, don’t worry: just keep trying new things until one does the trick. And remember: if all else fails, go back to basics—eat well, take care of yourself, and exercise regularly!