psoriasis – kateneedsfitness

It’s the night time snacking that’s hard to get away from.

I “started” this round strong, but it’s been up and down ever since. I feel “on” again currently. I get into these mind frames like, “who cares I can have a little extra sugar today.” And every time it ends up in my skin flaring. So then my brain goes, “well is it the sugar alone that makes me flare or is it dairy and gluten too?” I *think* gluten or carbs or whatever can act like sugar in the gut? And maybe dairy is the same? I could Google it I guess. *Plz hold*

Okay here’s what I learned 😆: Dairy has lactose which breaks down into glucose during digestion. So yes, lactose being a natural sugar, it causes blood sugar spikes. Like processed sugar. Carbs are broken down into glucose too. This is different from processed sugars, but it’s all in the same family, I think?

With this Googling I also learned this is a known connection, between autoimmune disorders and glucose. Here’s what I learned from my search, word for word, from the AI Overview, pulled from NIH.gov:

“High glucose intake can exacerbate autoimmunity by increasing Th17 cell responses and disrupting glucose metabolism, which can impact the gut microbiome and immune system function. This can lead to excessive immune cell activation, inflammation, and tissue damage, as seen in autoimmune diseases“

I’ve looked into autoimmune info before, but there is so much of it and I have a short attention span (ADD) so I don’t ever get very far. I have an appointment with my dermatologist in a couple weeks, but up until this point I haven’t had any medical intervention for my flare ups, it’s all been trial and error with the way I eat. I think if I could be consistent in my efforts for longer than 30 days, or in this current round’s case longer than 10 days, I would see REAL significant improvement, I feel like I could be totally clear if I stick to the course. That’s the hardest part.

Even in the rounds I have completed I get to the 30 day mark and get so excited to eat different kinds of foods that I dive in head first, no looking back. After 30 days you’re supposed to start slowly adding foods from the “no” list back into your diet, one at a time, to see if any old symptoms come back. I usually rush this process thinking I know exactly how things will turn out. But this time I’m wondering, what happens if I keep going? I don’t feel deprived while eating this buttoned up way, I just get to a point where I’ve watched my family eat all kinds of fun foods and I get tired of saying, “I can’t have that delightful ice cream/pizza/candy right now.” So I eat whatever I want, but that moment of joy doesn’t last very long before I start feeling regret because my skin flares.

I know I’m going to get some kind of magic pill when I see my dermatologist, and frankly, I’m ready to try it after years of yo-yo-ing with this way of eating. I want to be the healthiest version of myself, but if my recent ovary surgery has taught me anything it’s that sometimes we need help from professionals; we can’t always do everything on our own! I couldn’t have learned about the mass on my ovary without seeing a doc. I can help my symptoms regarding my skin through diet, but I don’t really know what’s happening on the inside until I learn from every angle. I believe Western & Eastern medicine should work hand in hand!

So going forward, I’m doing my best! Slip ups will happen, but I always see positive changes in the first few days of being back on track which makes great motivation. As I learned in week 1 and 2, planning and prep is very important. Without it, it’s really hard to stay on track.

There is a part of me that wants to start living like a French person, meaning, going to a market every day to buy fresh foods for the current day of meals – but I don’t live within walking distance of a market or store, and I hate driving. I do have a small farm stand about a mile away from my house that I could take the time to walk to during the summer, and would possibly enjoy doing in the morning sun, but I have one hang-up preventing me from going all in: No Sidewalks. I live in the middle of nowhere and we have no sidewalks on our long country road. Not only that, but it’s also a semi-main road that a lot of people use to get to various neighborhoods around us. It’s not super busy, but the cars drive fast and there are a couple hills that obstruct the view. Then, the farm stand is on the State Route connected to my street. More fast cars. I’m hoping one day sidewalks will be built since we do have a park on our street, but no plans as of yet. A mile doesn’t seem too bad, and Maps says it will take me 27 minutes to walk there, so a little over an hour with veg picking time total to get what I need. This is probably the same amount of time it would take for me to drive to and shop my nearest Aldi, so this is something I’m really going to consider doing this summer! Thanks for helping me talk it out 😂

Anywho – I’m working my way to live a simple straight-forward life, full of health and wellness and vitality. I work hard to live in a way that brings me joy and hope to influence others to find joy in their life! It all starts with self care ❤

What kinds of little things do you do during the day that makes you feel healthy?

This is a road I’ve been down before. More than once, actually. It’s been well-documented here on this blog in the past, but I’ve never done it like this, the way I’m about to, before. A quick background:

I randomly started a round of Whole30 in 2018 and it changed the way I looked at food forever. I did it to literally “see if I could do it” -and I did! But even though I learned a lot about how food works in MY body specifically, I went straight back into my old eating habits (Standard American Diet, with some “health” food mixed in). At this point in time, I didn’t have psoriasis flareups – or at least not until after this program.
In 2022, I was part of an online wellness community (read: MLM (that I loved)) that had a new food sensitivity elimination program, at the time, called Gut Protocol. Same idea as Whole30 with more parameters around the right amount of nutrients for your individual body. I didn’t expect changes to my skin, but one day, a few weeks into the elimination program, the most significant patch I had was almost entirely faded – like ALMOST ALL THE WAY GONE. But what did I do? I finished the program and thought, “I’m healed!!!!!” and went right back to eating the old way, when clearly my body needed more time.

I didn’t learn my lesson either of those times. I saw the clear changes, yet still believed healing was a destination, not a journey.

So here we are, present day. I am restarting the Gut Protocol because I know in my heart the way we eat and everything we consume makes an impact on our overall health. I’ve seen it before, and I have high hopes that I will see a change again! So here’s what this means:

Eliminate top allergens from my diet
Drink at least half my body weight in ounces of water
Keep caffeine intake low (less than 200mg/day)
No more than 10g/day

Maybe you’re asking, so what will you eat? I actually have a hard time eating as much as I’m supposed to on this plan. The focus, as always, is essential nutrients.

Protein: I don’t eat meat, so my proteins will come from tofu, tempeh, protein powder (this one), and beans.
Carbs: Rice, oats, potatoes, quinoa, millet (a food I never had before doing GP, but is now a favorite!!)
Fat: Avocado, nuts, hummus, olive oil, nut butters
Vitamins & Minerals: Any and all fruits and vegetables

Mixing and matching these different groups easily creates well balanced meals that leave me feeling full AND energized! It honestly amazes me how great we can potentially feel when nourished properly, and how DIFFICULT people have made the process seem. You don’t need the latest fad diet to do the trick. And even if you don’t want to do a full elimination program, taking a moment to think “do I have all the essentials covered?” can take you a long long way in your health journey.

So how is this time different? I’m in it for the long haul. In the past, I went the full 30 days of the program, and went straight back into reintroducing the top allergens and into the old way of eating. This time, I’m going as long as I can. I can admit – I do get to a point where I feel like F* THIS and go back to eating some processed junk food. After I overindulge on this stuff, I instantly feel miserable and feel like IT’S NOT WORTH IT. It happens every single time. If I could learn how to have small treats, that are still satisfying, without OVER-indulging to the point where my body HATES ME – that’s the real goal here.

Today, Monday May 5th, is my Day 1. I woke up this morning and sipped water, my favorite pre-workout (allowed on this plan), and a ginger turmeric shot. I haven’t eaten breakfast yet, but as soon as I finish writing this I’ll be headed into the kitchen to figure out what to make. I don’t ever have a big appetite in the morning, but in order to eat all the food I need (which includes six cups of vegetables) I have to start early. I’ll admit, nothing sounds appetizing at the moment, but my tummy is growling loudly after having my ginger shot! I could eat leftovers or I can make oats. I don’t want either. Actually what sounds great is some toast – easy and delicious, one of my favorite things to eat – but gluten is one thing I’m supposed to avoid during this time. I do plan to make gluten free bread at some point, but I’m usually lazy. ***Edit: I decided on a vanilla protein shake made with oat milk. I’ll snack on some pistachios while I drive to the grocery store. So that gives me a protein, a carb, and a fat for breakfast!

Next week I will share my food journal for the week, which documents everything I’m eating, plus how I’m feeling one week into eating this way. Overall I feel pretty good right now, but I want to see if I can feel even better just by changing what I’m consuming (I know I will).

Do you know someone who could benefit from improving their autoimmune symptoms? Share this post with them!

If you understand my struggles and feel comfortable sharing, I’d love for you to comment below or send me a message so we can connect!

Tag: psoriasis

Week 3, Whole30/Gut Protocol for Autoimmune Health

Can Diet Help Autoimmune Disease? Let me find out…