You can't eat your way out of psoriasis, but for some people, diet can factor into skin flares as well as remission, says Jeremy S. Fenton, M.D., a dermatologist with Schweiger Dermatology Group in New York City. To figure out if a particular food is causing your skin to flare, try eliminating it from your diet briefly, and keeping track of any differences in symptoms. Meanwhile, CBD oil has been touted for its anti-inflammatory benefits. Dr. Fenton says that while it won't harm your skin to try it, it's unlikely to improve your condition either.
Jeremy S. Fenton, MD: Many people with psoriasis may wonder if their diet can play a role in their skin condition. And the answer is yes, to some extent. So diet plays a role in any sort of inflammatory condition in the body, including inflammatory skin conditions like psoriasis. There are certain foods that we know are more pro-inflammatory.
And there've actually been very good studies, particularly in acne, showing that things like sugar, high glycemic foods, processed carbohydrates, can increase the amount of inflammation in the skin, and thus worsen conditions. And I believe that holds true for pretty much all of our inflammatory skin conditions, including psoriasis.
Dairy has been shown to affect acne. We're not a hundred percent sure if that also would hold true for psoriasis. But I do have patients who eliminate products like dairy and find that not only their skin improves, but other aspects of their health improve. For some people it does seem to make a difference, and for others it doesn't seem to make that much of a difference.
Gluten, for example, a lot of people ask about. Gluten would be relevant if, for example, you had a gluten sensitivity. If you don't have a gluten sensitivity, then eliminating gluten probably won't make a difference. For some people, I do recommend a trial if they think that their psoriasis is flaring when there are certain components of their diet.
There are certain things that we can say for certain you can try to avoid. That would be things like alcohol, which is definitely pro-inflammatory and smoking, which are going to definitely worsen the skin. But overall, for the general patient, I recommend eating a healthy whole food diet, fruits, and trying to avoid some of these pro-inflammatory foods.
Q: Can CBD oil help my psoriasis?
Jeremy S. Fenton, MD: So a lot of people are asking about CBD oil and CBD products for a lot of health conditions. And I think it's a very trendy thing right now. There definitely is some science that CBD can be anti-inflammatory. It probably isn't the cure-all that it's being touted as by many, but it's unlikely to cause any harm. If it seems to be helpful for you, I think it's fine to use. I don't think that we have any good rigorous research that shows that it specifically is going to be helpful for psoriasis.