Addressing Skin Disorders: Nutrition Protocols to Support the Gut Microbiome

Skin disorders can be some of the most frustrating for patients as they are not only dealing with the physical aspects of the disease, but their disease is also on display for the world to see. As reported in The Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, skin disease costs in the United States reached 75 billion dollars and almost 85 million Americans saw a physician for some type of skin disease in 2013.

While there have been over 3,000 skin diseases identified in the literature, the most common are noncancerous skin growths, skin infections, viral and fungal diseases, wounds and burns, contact dermatitis, and acne.

Case Study

Heather is a 43-year-old surgeon, with a very busy private practice and two young children. She had a history of plaque psoriasis dating back to the age of twelve. Psoriatic lesions had been located on her scalp, elbows, knees, and shins, with the most troubling areas on her right shin, left elbow, and left knee. She had been under the care of a dermatologist since her diagnosis and has tried numerous tar shampoos, topical steroid creams, sprays, topical vitamin D cream, as well as light therapy.

Heather reported her plaque psoriasis as always being present but does worsen during times of increased stress and she has experienced several traumatic life events that have exacerbated her symptoms. She is of normal weight, with no symptoms of metabolic disease, and has an active lifestyle.

Heather initially sought nutrition therapy related to troubling digestive symptoms and fatigue but also desired to prevent the long-term complications associated with unmanaged autoimmune diseases like psoriasis. In addition, she desired to make her psoriasis lesions less visible.

The initial plan include:

1. A comprehensive elimination diet for three months
2. Supplements including a high potency probiotic daily, 10,000 international units vitamin D3 with K2 every other day, digestive enzymes with ox bile and betaine HCl prior to each meal, a whole food multivitamin daily, L-glutamine powder f ive grams per day for eight weeks, 4,000 milligrams omega-3 per day, methylated B complex daily, and 2,000 milligrams liposomal vitamin C per day
3. A 12-hour overnight fast
4. Meditation, yoga, acupuncture, and massage therapy for stress management

After one month, Heather stopped all steroidal creams and traditional psoriasis treatments. By the second month, her right shin lesion was gone, the left elbow that previously had three large lesions, were all minimal, and her worst lesion on the left knee was 75 percent cleared. She also reported significant improvement in her digestive symptoms, sleep, and perceived stress. Heather reported, “by making these changes, I no longer have to rely on topical steroid creams or sprays and don’t have to use tar shampoos.”

During the food reintroduction phase, Heather discovered several psoriasis-triggering foods. Her current meal plan is a modified Mediterranean diet that is gluten, dairy, and alcohol-free, but also excludes her trigger foods.

Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from the e-book, Nutrition Foundations for the Gut Microbiome. To access the full e-book, click here.