Vegan & Plant-Based Diets for Psoriasis | Pros and Cons – Gut Doctor Explains

vegan plant-based diets for psoriasis do they actually work and what’s the best way to maximize your results in this video we’ll break down everything you need to know about vegan and plant-based diets for psoriasis and how they compare to other dietary approaches we’ll also discuss common pitfalls food to prioritize and what to avoid and how to monitor your progress for best results so stick [Music] around hi I’m Dr chanod doser a surgeon dedicated to reducing inflammation caused by gut microbiome imbalances I myself struggled with digestive dysfunction and autoimmune inflammation my early 20s and successfully put together a methodology that worked not only in me but also my patients my method is called the Mind gut immunity approach and has resulted in thousands of successes over the years if you or someone you know struggles with psoriasis and wants to rid themselves of inflammation for good check out our website mgic clinic.com and schedule a discovery call with me I’ll walk you through some practical steps for psorasis recovery and how to achieve long-term results in just 6 weeks on the website we also have multitudes of free resources on how you can eliminate psoriasis naturally so check out the link in the description below to get started also before I forget please like and follow to receive more content such as this all right let’s jump in here’s a 2023 study that explores the potential benefits of a well-planned vegan diet for psoriasis and discusses how plant-based foods and supplements protect against inflammation and improve skin Health here’s another 2023 study that highlights the benefits of plant-based diet diet on skin Health particularly in managing psoriasis most dermatologists will tell you that diet doesn’t matter for psoriasis so how do we know what truly works as I mentioned in my other video called an ideal diet for psoriasis I’m a strong advocate of using customized phytonutrient based diet plans for each person I use four key criteria to determine whether a diet’s going to work or not for psoriasis this doesn’t mean that diets need to be vegan or completely plant-based either just to recap the four criteria are phytonutrients macronutrient requirements microbiome specificity and food sensitivity for a detailed explanation of these criteria check out that other video like I described for now let’s dive into this quick review let’s look at plant-based diets and how they compare to other dietary approaches such as the phyto diet which is what I recommend for my psoriasis clients from my other videos You Might Recall this concept of complex proteins certain complex proteins trigger an immune response exacerbating psoriasis symptoms we eat protein in our diets it can come from a variety of sources both plant and animal a protein is basically a bunch of amino acids connected together when the protein enters our digestive system enzymes in our intestine break up these into individual components called amino acids which then get absorbed these intestinal enzymes are called proteases and the reason this is relevant is sometimes the proteases don’t get the job done and we’re left with large particles of protein that linger in our intestines and bloodstream for long periods of time why does this happen well certain types of protein are hard to break down also there may not be enough proteases to break down the proteins as you already know the gut is just one big giant immune organ so these incompletely digested proteins register as a foreign threat and generate an immune response basically the body thinks it’s under attack by these large undigested proteins so then it secretes a bunch of immune chemicals which cause inflammation and that can be a problem next you also have the arachadonic acid pathway which is directly related to the consumption of animal-based cholesterol all animal cells have a membrane wall that contains fats and cholesterol which convert into arachadonic acid and cyto kindes in our bodies and generate inflammation do all animal- derived products contain arachadonic acid no just meat and fat containing dairy products you can also have problems with saturated fat causing inflammation here’s an article that looks at the role of saturated fats in producing inflammatory cyto kindes like tnf Alpha and Inter Lucan six this is why vegan diets sometimes help with psoriasis they remove these inflammatory foods and that said vegan and plant-based diets also have limitations so I’ll discuss some of these in this video the vegan diets for psoriasis rely entirely on plant-based foods and is generally higher in fiber and carbohydrates while being lower in fats and proteins although there are lacto or oval vegetarian versions of this diet we’ll focus here on plant-based diets exclusively this diet incorporates alternatives to plant-based foods such as vegan meats cheeses butter substitutes and many of these Replacements are made of cashew soy or coconut oil to replace traditional animal-based products you see examples like beyond meat impossible meat Dio cheese plant-based milks like soy oat or coconut milk the objective of this approach for psoriasis is to avoid the inflammatory properties commonly associated with meat and dairy products but here’s the catch do you remember those four criteria we talked about let’s analyze how this psoriasis diet performs against these benchmarks over time so the first criteria is phytonutrients phytonutrients are micronutrients found in plant-based superfoods these nutrients are packed with antioxidants and anti-inflamatory compounds that can help people with psoriasis by reducing inflammation in both the skin and the gut this 2023 study looked at how probiotic and Prebiotic supplementation can improve the gut microbiome and reduce inflammation in ptic patients and here here’s another 2023 study looking the use of polyphenols as neutrals for treating dermatologic conditions like psoriasis phytonutrients fall into several important categories including polyphenols Turpin thiocyanates fiber resistant starches Omega fats and alkaloids these micronutrients are critical for reducing inflammation and supporting immune Health when following a vegan or plant-based diet for psoriasis it is possible to consume ample amounts of phytonutrients but this depends on your food choices for example if your vegan diet includes a lot of processed foods like flour sugar fake meats and cheeses these May lack phytonutrients and instead contain chemicals that fuel inflammation this is counterproductive for the gut microbiome in contrast a more balanced vegan diet that features resistant starches fiber Omega oils and a variety of herbs and Whole Foods can provide the phytonutrients needed to promote healing from psoriasis next let’s talk about macronutrient requirements the vegan and plant-based diets for psoriasis often fail to address macronutrient s effectively macronutrients include carbs fats and proteins by entering your height and weight and activity into the calculator on my website you can estimate your specific macronutrient requirements in general a diet that gets half of its calories from fat is normally a good thing although for sasis I don’t particularly like saturated fats and meats and certain plant-based Foods because like I said before these saturated fats are associated with inflammatory processes I also don’t like the animal-based cholesterol meat which can lead to an increase in radonic acid levels in the body I’ve described both of these Pathways in my sasis inflammation video so check it out on my channel so when I designed my diets for clients they’re generally lower in carb anyways for obvious reasons and most of the fats are coming from plant-based Omega sources so these problems are totally avoided I also ensure that at least 100 grams of protein are in the diet and this can be challenging if you’re relying solely on plant-based Foods you’ll likely be incorporating protein shakes made with plant-based protein sources lastly vegan diets for psoriasis often lack a focus on balancing macronutrients like carbs fats and proteins but they also tend to ignore fiber tracking which is essential for improving gut microbiome health so let’s look at this concept of microbiome specificity let’s revisit this equation bad bacteria and fungi feed on carbs leading to psoriasis inflammation vegan diets for psoriasis tend to be higher in carbs and some of these carbs are less helpful so do vegan diets promote healthier bacteria the answer is a clear no and I know this might sound controversial because there’s claims on YouTube and Reddit that vegan diets improve gut microbiome diversity in psoriasis but let me give you a practical perspective I’ve reviewed hundreds if not thousands of stool studies over my career and most of the time people who are following vegan diets for psoriasis do not appropriately select for good bacteria in their intestines through just their diets alone the nature of psoriasis involves inflammation caused by a dysfunctional gut microbiome so at the start of our program we use patented probiotics from Japan to recalibrate the gut microbiome and flush out the harmful bacteria but then how do you encourage the growth of good bacteria it’s not by avoiding carbs it’s by selecting the right ratios and quantities of phytonutrients and this is where the Mind gut immunity method excels we design psoriasis diets that promote specific strains of beneficial bacteria which form a protective bofilm and push out the harmful bacteria and fungus in our intestine over time this reduces pro-inflammatory cytoid like tnf Alpha and Inter Lucan 6 in the body the main issue with a vegan diet for psoriasis is that it doesn’t address the root cause it often feeds bad bacteria non-selectively because there’s no emphasis on resistant starches or Fiber vegan diets also allow for plant-based sugars carbs and chemicals which can exacerbate symptoms and I’ve seen many people improve slightly maybe for a short period of time only to face significant issues later on because their diet didn’t resolve the gut microbiome dysfunction however a plant-based diet can work for psoriasis if specific principles are followed this is where the phyto diet comes in IT addresses the root microbiome issues associated with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis this allows for long-term dietary flexibility including cheat meals without adverse side effects and I typically teach my clients how to incorporate cheat meals during the second or third month of the program because by then they’ve resolved most of the gut issues in a sustainable way while the vegan diet may help during a flare up it’s not a viable long-term solution compared to the customized phyto diets we create for our clients now let’s cover the final criteria food sensitivities food sensitivities are an important topic when it comes to psoriasis in my talks I review the four main types of food sensitivity tests available skin prick test the IG blood test the igg4 blood test and the newer mediator release blood test for refresher check out my video that explains food sensitivity testing for psoriasis when following a vegan diet many plant-based foods can still cause sensitivities common examples include processed foods like sugar sugar alcohols dyes chemicals and even Whole Food proteins like beans lentils and peas over the years I’ve seen all of these test positive for sensitivities in psoriasis this means that the chances of reacting to one or more vegan or plant-based Foods in psoriasis is significant and that’s why adopting a vegan and plant-based strategy for psoriasis can be risky it reduces your food choices and increases the likelihood of developing sensitivities all right that’s my talk in the comments below share with me your experience with vegan diets and psoriasis what’s worked for you and what didn’t I would love to hear about your journey as you know I’ve had great success using the Mind gut immunity method in my clients and I strongly advocate for customized phyto diets and focus gut microbiome recalibration to achieve lasting results if you found this video helpful don’t forget to like And subscribe for more content such as this as always this is Dr Chan OAS with the Mind imunity clinic and I’ll see you next time [Music]