Nelly is a 38 year old lady who came to see me for help with her skin and her gut. Nelly had psoriasis on and off for much of her life. The psoriasis was only on her ankles, her forehead and the back of her head. Nelly was currently experiencing a flare up of psoriasis on her forehead which brought her to my clinic.

Nelly didn’t like using the cream her doctor prescribed for psoriasis. She was worried about using a steroid on her face. She had read several of my books, so she knew there was an underlying cause which was probably in her gut.

Nelly’s gut bothered her for most of her life. She said “I can never go anywhere in the evenings because I’m so bloated and gassy by then”. Nelly experiences severe flatulence in the evenings. She also has unpredictable bowel motions. Some days they are loose and frequent, while other times she can go a day or two with no bowel motion.

The females in Nelly’s family all complain of gut problems and the men have skin problems. Nelly is a very motivated person. She is very interested in health and wants to keep herself as healthy as possible. She is self employed and needs a sharp brain and good energy levels to function at her best. Nelly gets very frustrated about her skin and her gut.

Nelly’s diet was good most of the time. During the week she prepared her own meals comprised of fish, chicken, beef, turkey, eggs and salad. She snacked a lot though, on nuts, fruit, nut bars and crisps she buys from a health food store. Nelly said that because she works alone at home, she is prone to snacking too often and replacing proper meals with snacks. The foods she snacks on can cause bloating, gas and irritable bowel symptoms in people with a sensitive digestive tract.

Psoriasis is an autoimmune condition. It’s actually the most common autoimmune disease in most parts of the world. A leaky gut is a requirement for developing an autoimmune disease. This can be caused by food sensitivities or overgrowth of the wrong gut bugs. Having high levels of bad gut bugs is also the leading cause of bloating and flatulence.

My recommendations for my patient

Nelly avoided gluten and dairy products in her meals but she wasn’t always careful with her snacks. Some of the snack bars she ate had grains in them. I explained to Nelly that it would be best if she avoided all grains and based her diet on vegetables and protein, such as seafood, poultry, grass fed meat and eggs, along with healthy fats. These foods are usually most appropriate for people with digestive and immune system problems. The eating guide is in the book Healing Autoimmune Disease: A plan to help your immune system and reduce inflammation. Some people with autoimmune disease have an egg intolerance. If Nelly doesn’t improve sufficiently, I’ll ask her to avoid them.

To relieve bloating, I suggested Nelly sips on warm apple cider vinegar drinks. I asked her to dissolve one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in a mug of warm water and drink it before lunch and before dinner. BactoClear capsules are a natural disinfectant that helps to kill overgrowth of bad bacteria and yeast in the gut. Insufficient digestive enzymes can cause abdominal bloating and discomfort after meals. I asked Nelly to take 1 capsule of Super Digestive Enzymes with each meal. This supplement contains the full complement of digestive enzymes as well as stomach acid and ox bile.

Healing the gut lining is critical for autoimmune conditions like psoriasis. Eliminating inflammatory foods and foods irritating to the intestines is important. I asked Nelly to avoid the high FODMAP foods garlic, onion and cauliflower for now, because they can increase microbial overgrowth and worsen gas. I asked her to take 1 teaspoons of glutamine powder twice daily away from meals. Glutamine helps to heal and seal the intestinal lining.

I asked Nelly to come back five weeks later so I could check on her progress.

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.