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Short Summary
Main recommendation: Avoid seven specific things, namely tobacco products, sugar, grains, alcohol, seed oils, dairy, and nightshades, to reduce psoriasis severity and reduce reliance on prescription medications, according to Dr. Ken Berry. He frames psoriasis as a confused immune system driven by chronic inflammation and chronic hyperinsulinemia rather than a skin problem, and he says topical creams will not treat the underlying condition.
Key Points
- The seven things to avoid are: (1) tobacco products, (2) sugar, (3) grains, (4) alcohol, (5) seed oils, (6) dairy, (7) nightshades.
- Dr. Berry says psoriasis is an immune system problem: the immune system attacks skin it should not and triggers excess skin cell production.
- He argues genetics load the gun, but diet and environment pull the trigger, so genetic predisposition does not guarantee severe disease.
- He says topical lotions, creams, and ointments only reduce surface appearance and flaking and do not address the underlying disease.
- Dr. Berry says biologic and other immune-suppressing drugs carry an FDA black box warning for serious infections and cancer risk.
Details Worth Noting
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Concrete instructions: Stop using tobacco in any form (smoking, dipping, chewing). Eliminate all sugars, including honey, agave nectar, grapes, and bananas. Avoid all grains, not just wheat, including oats, rice, corn, amaranth, millet, and quinoa. Stop drinking alcohol, especially beer and wine, and possibly hard liquor. Remove seed oils such as canola, corn, soybean, safflower, sunflower, and walnut oil. For cooking and seasoning, use butter, ghee, tallow, or suet; plant oils he mentions as healthy are avocado, olive, and coconut oil. Remove dairy, especially low-fat and skim milk, though he still uses butter, ghee, and sometimes full-fat cheese. Search for nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, tomatillos) and eliminate them.
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Dr. Berry notes the body surface area is about 1 to 1.5 square meters, while the gut surface area is estimated at 32 to 250 square meters, so gut inflammation may spread to other parts of the body.
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He says that raw or A2 milk did not seem to cause inflammation for some people, but he considers drinking another mammal's milk unnatural.
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He says the seven recommendations rest on ancestral diet appropriateness, paleoanthropology, his clinical experience, and linked research.
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He states these changes will not cure psoriasis but may improve it enough that prescription medications are unnecessary.
Bottom Line
Psoriasis, in Dr. Berry's view, is best addressed by calming inflammation, immune confusion, and hyperinsulinemia through the seven dietary and lifestyle avoidances rather than topical products or immune-suppressing drugs. These are Dr. Berry's claims and views, not independently verified medical advice.
