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Psoriasis |
Psoriasis |
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PSORIASIS IS NOT A HEARTBREAK BUT
IT MIGHT BE MALNUTRITION The Merck Manual, the "Cliff Notes" of
medical school, says that psoriasis has an unknown cause and no real
cure. If the medical doctor's black bag is empty, that does not mean
that there's nothing else to do. It means that it is now necessary to
know Nature's nutritional knapsack. (What a nice alliteration that
turned out to be.) With psoriasis, there
definitely are some worthwhile clues to track down. After all, as
Sherlock Holmes said, "if all common explanations fail to solve a
problem, then the answer must be some uncommon one." To many
people, the therapeutic use of fish oils, vegetable juice fasting, zinc, and
vitamins do indeed represent something completely different. Different,
but not actually all that unreasonable. OMEGA-3 FISH
OILS Can you stand any more of
this? Let's see. The two most common fish oil omega-3 fatty acids are
EPA (mentioned earlier) and DHA (docosahexenoic acid) People who don't
eat fish need to know that there is a third, vegetarian omega-3. It is
called LINOLENIC ACID (NOT omega-6 linoleic acid mentioned above) This
omega-3 "fish oil" is found in linseed oil and more importantly in
soybean oil and GREEN LEAFY VEGETABLES. Linolenic (omega-3) acid
is slowly converted into both DHA and EPA in the body. Ah ha! Could
this be the problem that psoriasis patients have, namely, that they are slow
to make this conversion? If so, the psoriasis patient probably needs
fish in the diet to provide EPA ready made. It is a sensible thing to
do anyway. The Japanese have the world's longest life expectancy among
all the "Westernized" cultures, and they eat a LOT of fish.
The Japanese also eat very little red meat. A way the omega-3 fatty
acids might work is by actually getting into each cell membrane, making them
more bendable, adaptable and durable. Improved immune response is
another benefit of fish oil consumption, and it is especially important in
the treatment of lupus. So, as my kids would ask,
"How much of this stuff do we have to eat?" Well, oily fish
(trout, mackerel, salmon) are best and a little dab will do you.
Non-oily fish (cod, flounder, haddock) are also worth having, but you'd need
to eat a bit more of them. Tuna packed in (omega-6 vegetable) oil does
not count. Alternatively, you could
eat a lot of green leafy vegetables, use soy oil more often, and take an EPA
supplement. Around 300 to 1,000 milligrams of EPA daily is frequently
recommended. Incidentally, the New
England Journal of Medicine (312:1205, 1985) reported that as little as
30 grams of even low-fat fish per day reduced the 20-year death rate from
coronary heart disease by fifty percent! That is only about ONE OUNCE of
fish daily, actually providing less than 300 mg of omega-3 fatty acids each
day. This is very strong support indeed. Helping your skin could
actually save your life. VEGETABLE JUICE
FASTING A diet of juiced
vegetables may provide such an abundance of linolenic acid that it overcomes
any bodily reluctance to metabolize it properly. I know of two people
who tested this theory by going on periodic one-week juice fasts. Both
individuals had been properly diagnosed with psoriasis by medical specialists. Over
a period of weeks, both fully recovered. Since psoriasis often comes
and goes anyway, the real significance is that each person has remained
symptom free for many years now. Vegetable juice fasting
is not starvation. It is just a lot of liquefied salad. A lot of
veggies go into the daily quart or more of juice that a person commonly
drinks while fasting. That is NOT too much liquid; doctors often
recommend four to eight glasses of water daily. It is NOT too much
"vegetable" in the diet; you simply cannot hurt yourself with
produce. The juices DO provide carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins and
more protein than you might think. It is certainly a low fat diet, but a
little fish oil may of course be added to take care of that. ZINC SUPPLEMENTATION Research has shown that
supplements of zinc are safe up to about 500 mg. daily. At that huge
dose, over a period of weeks or months, a copper deficiency may develop. A
more sensible daily dose of 50 mg to perhaps 100 mg may be maintained for as
long as is desired. A good multiple vitamin along with this will provide
some balancing copper, as will (believe it or not) the copper water pipes in
your home. The "amino acid
chelated" form of zinc is better tolerated and better absorbed than zinc
sulfate or other inorganic forms of the mineral. VITAMIN
SUPPLEMENTATION Medicine deficiency does
not cause psoriasis, but nutritional deficiency might. REFERENCES: Harris, William S. (1985)
"Health Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acids." Contemporary Nutrition,
10:8, August. Hoffer, Abram and Walker,
Morton (1978) Orthomolecular Nutrition. Keats Publishing, pages
156-157 Pfeiffer, Carl (1978)
Zinc and Other Micro-Nutrients. Keats Publishing. Vorhees, J.G.; Chakrabarti,
S.G.; Botero, F.; Meidler, L. and Harrell, E. R. (1969) "Zinc Therapy
and Distribution in Psoriasis," Archives of Dermatology, 100:669-673. Copyright C
2004 and prior years Andrew W. Saul. Andrew Saul is the author of the books FIRE
YOUR DOCTOR! How to be Independently Healthy (reader reviews at
http://www.doctoryourself.com/review.html
) and DOCTOR YOURSELF: Natural Healing that Works. (reviewed at http://www.doctoryourself.com/saulbooks.html
) For ordering information, Click Here .
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AN IMPORTANT NOTE: This page is not in any way offered as prescription, diagnosis nor treatment for any disease, illness, infirmity or physical condition. Any form of self-treatment or alternative health program necessarily must involve an individual's acceptance of some risk, and no one should assume otherwise. Persons needing medical care should obtain it from a physician. Consult your doctor before making any health decision. Neither the author nor the webmaster has authorized the use of their names or the use of any material contained within in connection with the sale, promotion or advertising of any product or apparatus. Single-copy reproduction for individual, non-commercial use is permitted providing no alterations of content are made, and credit is given. |
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