🧬 Gut Issues? NEW Microbiome test available NOW! 🧬
Live Chat 8am - 8pm
FREE Next Day Delivery on orders over £25
FREE lifetime support

Kefir & Psoriasis

HEALTHY GUT = CLEAR SKIN

What is psoriasis? Psoriasis is a skin condition which covers your skin in red, flaky, crusty patches of skin which are often covered in silvery scales. Psoriasis is common and can start at any age; it affects 2% of the UK population.

Some people can find psoriasis a chronic skin condition as it can be ‘triggered’ and flare up throughout certain periods of the year. Psoriasis is not contagious and can’t be spread person to person.

What causes psoriasis?

Psoriasis is caused by an overactive immune system, or according to the National Psoriasis Foundation, it is classified as an autoimmune disorder. This means that your immune system, which is designed to keep you healthy, has turned on itself. Instead of fighting bad bacteria, your immune system is creating inflammation inside the joints and on the skin.

How does psoriasis happen?

Psoriasis happens when your immune system’s T cells are constantly scanning for invaders like viruses or harmful bacteria. When they spot an invader – also known as an antigen, they mount an attack against it.

The T cells’ weapon of choice is inflammation, caused by proteins called cytokines. Cytokines trigger inflammation, causing the blood vessels to expand and send more immune cells to different parts of the body causing inflammation to happen in the skin.

What are the symptoms?

In psoriasis, the symptoms are red, itchy and scaly patches which are called plaques. People who have psoriasis can also suffer from psoriatic arthritis, where inflammation happens inside the body and show symptoms of swollen and painful joints, and tendons.

How to manage psoriasis

Because psoriasis is an autoimmune condition, treatment must start with the gut, where your immune system is located, in order to clear the skin. No topical treatment (like steroids) alone will ever solve the problem.

The National Skin Foundation suggests internal treatments containing Vitamin A, which is contained in kefir, has been shown to contribute to the normal function of the immune system, as well as the maintenance of normal skin, and is recommended as one of the safest and most natural ways to resolve psoriasis. Vitamin A and its role in enhancing the immune system has been discussed in great detail in a study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

Our protocol suggests drinking kefir as well as applying kefir skincare so that you’re working from the inside and outside of your microbiome at the same time.

Psoriasis diet plan

Following a psoriasis diet plan such as an anti-inflammatory diet which uses goat dairy instead of cow dairy, 100% pure stevia or yacon syrup instead of sugar, good grains that are low-GI and gluten-free (oatmeal, amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat and millet) instead of wheat, rice or pasta and plenty of good fats would be beneficial (MCT oil, flaxseed oil, avocado, walnuts, wild-caught salmon.)

References

  1. NHS - "Psoriasis". Written by NHS on May 9, 2018
    link to articlehttps://www.nhs.uk/conditions/psoriasis/
  2. National Psoriasis Foundation - "What is an autoimmune disease?". Written by National Psoriasis Foundation on June 24, 2019
    link to articlehttps://www.psoriasis.org/research/science-of-psoriasis/immune-system
  3. NHS - "Treatment for psoriasis". Written by NHS on May 9, 2019
    link to articlehttps://www.nhs.uk/conditions/psoriasis/treatment/
  4. National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine - "Role of Vitamin A in the Immune System". Written by Huang, Zhiyi et al. on September 6, 2018
    link to articlehttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6162863/