Trying to determine what you personally can and cannot eat on your skin healing diet can be overwhelming. With all of the conflicting information out there, how does one successfully sift through it all to find the best possible approach for them as an individual? The truth is, the only way to truly find the best approach for you is to become a student of your own body and learn what foods work for you and your digestion.
So, is eating bread bad for psoriasis and eczema? Although, there are certain types of bread that certainly can be considered nutritious whole food options, most of the bread that you come across is not going to do your skin health any favors and even high quality bread may not work for everyone. If you wish to include bread in your natural healing regimen, it is important that you 1. Understand how your body reacts to consuming it 2. Only eat high quality products and 3. Understand how to successfully incorporate it into your diet without disrupting the healing process.
Bread you should and shouldn’t eat
If you’re going to eat bread, sprouted whole grain bread is probably your best choice. One of the most popular sprouted grain breads that is widely available is “Ezekial” bread. What sprouted means is that the grains of the bread have begun sprout and grow into a sort of plant. This sprouting of the grains offers benefits that make it nutritionally superior to other breads.
If you don’t want to eat sprouted bread for whatever reason, just traditional whole grain bread is your next best choice. Ideally, you want to get your bread as fresh and as unprocessed as possible. You can certainly find some pretty high quality sliced breads on the shelves at the store, but buying some freshly baked whole grain bread is probably best. This of course could be said about food in general. The quality of the food is an extremely important part of nutrition and should be a constant theme in your diet if you want to improve your health.
My advice would be to avoid any bread that you wouldn’t consider to be a high quality whole grain bread. As I said, most of the breads that you come across in the grocery store or at restaurants are not going to benefit your skin. Eating white bread in particular will cause issues for most people as these are the refined carbohydrates that are digested as sugar and contribute to blood sugar fluctuations and damaged gut health.
If you’re trying to heal your skin, there is just no real reason to be eating a whole lot of bread. It is not an essential healing food and you really should be focusing on eating the foods that you need in order to fuel yourself and limiting everything else. With that said, if you think some quality whole grain bread does you some good, then go ahead and have some bread but do it in the right way. This transitions nicely into the next section on food combining.
The food combining issue
Another thing to consider when consuming bread is the principles of food combining. When it comes to psoriasis, eczema and gut health in general, the combination of animal proteins/fats and carbohydrates is simply not a good idea. Although breaking this rule on occasion may be ok for some people, I would suggest that anyone who’s attempting to heal their gut health stay away from this combination.
In short, the reason why this is such a bad combination for people with digestive issues is because proteins and carbs require different digestive enzymes. Your digestive system will have a much easier time digesting and assimilating these nutrients if they are consumed as separate meals.
So, although I do believe that well-sourced meats and the right kind of bread can both be included in a successful skin healing diet, you probably should avoid eating them together. As I said, some people may do just fine with eating things like chicken wraps or eggs and toast every once in a while. But these really aren’t the types of meals that will bring you efficient skin healing success.
Another thing to consider here is that everyone is different and what works for one person may not work for another. Some people may be better suited to follow a fat based keto-ish healing plan while others may be better off following more of a carb based plant heavy healing plan. One person may be able to successfully incorporate some quality bread into their diet while others may not. It is all about creating a healing baseline and then finding your own balance.
If you’re looking for an in-depth easy to follow natural skin healing protocol, click here to download my free natural skin healing formula e-book. This can serve as a great guideline to follow as you aim to find the best skin healing regimen for you.
What about other grains?
Ultimately, the foods that you should and should not eat will be determined by your intended approach. It is not as simple as having list of foods that tells you what you can and cannot eat. You need to have a plan and develop an understanding of what foods you need in order to fuel your body efficiently and improve your health.
While I don’t look at any grain as a healing food and you probably should not be eating a whole bunch of them, I believe incorporating grains in the right way may benefit some people. Personally, I love oats. Although I eat a mostly fat based diet with lots of meat and vegetables, I do feel that strategically incorporating some carbs such as oats does some good for my strength and energy.
A little bit of rice, barley, or buckwheat may work well for some people as well. With that said, quinoa may be a more suitable option for people struggling with gut related skin issues as it is generally more digestible and nutritious than most grains. You really just have to understand your own ability to digest grains.
My take on eating grains if you have psoriasis is this: Grains are not healing foods and are not essential to your health. What I would suggest is that you focus on eating only the foods that you need and staying away from everything else. As time goes on, you may choose to experiment with the incorporation of other whole foods as you look to build a sustainable lifestyle. But in the mean time, stick to the basics.
When speaking of health improvement, there is nothing more important than consistency. If you want to change your circumstances, you have to become the change. This is not a quick fix or a short term diet that you can discontinue once your skin is clear. This is a commitment to a better lifestyle. Stop looking to figure out all the foods you can’t eat and start focusing on all the foods you can eat.
