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Dietary and Herbal Treatment of Psoriasis
Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease characterized by rough, reddened skin. In more serious cases there are inflamed, swollen skin lesions covered with silver-white scales. Its cause is not yet known to conventional medicine, but numerous studies link it with inflammatory and immune mechanisms. It is associated with a variety of other conditions, ranging from digestive problems to arthritis. There is no generally recognized cure for psoriasis; conventional medicine treats only the symptoms, with remedies ranging from skin ointments to steroid medications. But the side effects of some of the medications are major drawbacks to this type of treatment.
The Edgar Cayce readings are explicit about the cause of many cases of psoriasis: the disorder is due to a thinning of the walls of the intestines, allowing toxic molecules to leak from the gut. The system responds by attempting to eliminate them through the skin, and the immune system response results in the skin symptoms. Cayce addresses this cause in his treatment recommendations for psoriasis: heal the intestines by consuming a restricted diet and taking herbal teas.
A number of medical studies actually tend to confirm the Cayce explanation for psoriasis. It has been found that in some cases people with psoriasis have unusually permeable intestines--"leaky gut"--which can allow toxins to escape into the blood circulation. Patients on dialysis, where a machine is used to clean their blood because their kidneys do not work, may experience a remission of psoriasis. Apparently some toxin is removed from the blood. A variety of restricted diets has also helped at times with psoriasis in some studies. But conventional medicine has not come up with a consistently effective therapy.
The Cayce readings emphasize the consumption of fresh vegetables and fruits as the most important part of the dietary therapy for psoriasis. Foods to avoid include fried foods, red meat, pork and ham, and large amounts of starch. Oils, particularly olive oil, are good, but excess fat is not. Food combinations with adverse effects include citrus fruit and cereal at the same meal, more than one type of starch in a single meal, and sweets combined with starches. For example, doughnuts--a combination of fat, sugar, and starch--are to be avoided.
Cayce recommended two herbal preparations to heal the intestines: tea made from American yellow saffron, and water with a pinch of slippery elm bark in it. He also occasionally suggested chamomile tea and mullein tea.
The most extensive work testing the Cayce treatment recommendations has been done by Dr. John Pagano, a New Jersey chiropractor. Dr. Pagano has worked with many patients, including those with severe psoriasis covering most of their bodies. His before and after pictures are impressive; in many cases there is complete clearing of the skin. Dr. Pagano found that certain vegetables, in particular "nightshade" vegetables such as potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplant, were best avoided in psoriasis therapy.
The Meridian Institute has conducted two research studies of psoriasis employing the Cayce approach. In both studies, participants spent 10 days in a live-in treatment and training program in Virginia Beach They underwent a cleansing of the system including fume baths, massages, castor oil packs, and colonic irrigations. Most importantly, they followed the Cayce dietary guidelines and learned how to continue the therapeutic approach at home. These were projects in complementary medicine, meaning that the protocol did not require the participants to give up any medicine or other conventional therapy, but simply to add the Cayce diet and teas.
The results of our projects confirmed the Cayce readings and Dr. Pagano's clinical work. Within six months, almost all the participants who followed the diet and consumed the herbal teas had some improvement; some had complete clearing of their skin lesions. The most difficult problem was staying on the diet. It is very different from the standard American fast food or meat-and-potatoes diet. For some people it was easiest to follow the Cayce guidelines at home. When they traveled and ate whatever was available, they had relapses of their psoriasis. On the other hand, one woman did best when she was traveling, eating a lot of salad and fruit in restaurants.
It is important to keep in mind that the Cayce readings were given for individuals, and that he did not attribute all cases of psoriasis to intestinal problems. A few people in our projects saw little improvement in their psoriasis, despite carefully following the diet. We are still working to understand these cases and to find alternative forms of therapy in the Cayce readings. But for most of those people willing to stay with the diet and teas, the improvement in their psoriasis has been remarkable.
Experiences of some psoriasis program participants:
Anne: "It's been very, very good for my health, in addition to my psoriasis much, much improving. My hands are clear. I used to have it on my hands, and on my elbows and on my feet. I used to be very, very itchy. I'm a physician, and when I used to wear gloves, or wash my hands a lot, the water used to bother me. The water doesn't bother me at all anymore. The psoriasis cleared up on my hands within one month, and it has never resurfaced. The psoriasis cleared up on my elbows within about two months of starting the diet protocol. Also my feet are 60% better? The slippery elm bark helped a lot. If I missed the slippery elm bark one day, I notice that I start getting an itchy eczema on my fingers the next day? I just say, got to take that slippery elm bark immediately. And then it goes away the next day."
Sam: "My skin has improved quite a bit?. There're still some red spots, but it's not as thick and itchy as it used to be. I'd say it's improved in the sense that I don't feel like I'm leaving little bits of skin all over the place anymore. The bed isn't all full of white skin when I get up. It's pretty clean. Percentage-wise, I'd say between 70 and 75 per cent probably."
Melissa: "I've cleared up. I actually just have a couple places on my back, my lower back, which is nothing. And my head has not cleared. But other than that, I've cleared everywhere else. So I'm thrilled with that."
Peter: "The diet, I felt, had a lot to do with the clearing up of the psoriasis. For the first time in 40 years, my scalp had actually cleared up and stayed pretty clear for about a month or so. When I broke the diet, when I went on my cruise, that occurred again, but not as severely as it had before. About half the other lesions have just disappeared very, very quickly. The lesions on my fingers completely disappeared, which is really great, because it had been about two or three years that they'd been pretty bad. Other parts of the body that had been pretty stubborn, have faded out to the point of almost not being existent anymore. You could just barely see them? I felt a lot more energy, a lot brighter overall outlook because I was using a very natural approach, instead of all those steroids and other things that the traditional dermatologists tend to give us. I'm really happy with the results that I've seen."
This article initially appeared in the June/July, 2000, issue of The New Millennium and has been used by permission of the author.
For more information about Edgar Cayce's approach to treating psoriasis, visit
The Edgar Cayce Virtual Library
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