Whole food plant-based diet for seborrheic dermatitis

On this blog we’ve already had a series of articles touching on dietary remedies for seborrheic dermatitis. They mostly focused on dietary supplements such us vitamin D, l-glutamine, and nystatin. In this post I would like to take a more holistic approach and discuss an entire dietary lifestyle. The whole food plant-based (WFPB) diet has been gaining a lot of popularity lately. And unlike many other diets, it’s success is supported by scientific evidence. The WFPB diet has been conclusively shown to have a beneficial effect on the top killer diseases in the world. These include heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Surely it must have a positive effect on skin disease as well. Let’s dig into this.

Let us start with a personal story:

Hi! I’ve been eating whole foods plant based (95% ore more vegan) for the last 3 years. I wanted to share my story, since it is a little different from others that I have read. I have been eating whole foods for all my life, meaning very very little processed foods. In my childhood I didn’t have access to junk food since that food was all imported and much more expensive than cooked foods, and when my parents became wealthy enough to afford junk food, the news about it being damaging to health was everywhere.

So I was raised an omnivorous diet with almost no junk food. When I was 15, my mother, who was about 20 pounds overweight decided to go low carb – back then this was the only diet that focused on lifestyle. It worked for her for a short time, and she cooked all the food this way. I was convinced by the arguments of the diet and so I embraced a high fat diet (15 eggs/week, lots of meat and dairy, some vegetables and no fruit) – a recipe for disaster. I am now convinced that these inflammatory foods were an important factor in my skin problems.

I developed seborrheic dermatitis on my face and the doctor told me that there is absolutely nothing I can do to treat it. I became convinced that food makes it worse or better, but I was only able to identify coffee and spicy foods as triggers. I continued to eat this way and when I was 21 I met my now DH. At the time I met him, my arms were covered in seb derm patches and I was embarrassed. 

My husband was horrified by the amount of fat I was eating and after we got married I slowly switched to a whole foods omnivorous lowish fat (lean chicken/fish, boiled rice, steamed veggies and a little dairy was a typical lunch). My skin got better, but I still had problems (sometimes really big ones) with seborrheic derm on my face. Three years ago, after a really big episode of seb derm right after Christmas – when I knew I ate a lot of fatty foods, I started to research the internet.

I found the WFPB vegan diet as a possible answer and then found Dr Greger, and then Forks over knives, and after that there was no turning back. It was really important that I found a lot of sexy women on social media that ate vegan, so I was convinced I would not become overweight.

The change in my skin, energy and overall health was immediate, but the great fact is that all the benefits are increasing with time.

So, I have heard a lot of arguments that the WFPB vegan diet only works because the standard American diet (SAD) is so horrible. I never was on the SAD diet, went long time on all major health trends (omnivorous classic, low carb high fat, low fat diet, WFPB low fat vegan) and I experienced a lot health benefits of WFPB, including clear skin.

Reproduced from here

What does science say?

Scientific studies suggest that nutrition may influence inflammatory skin diseases such as acne vulgaris and, to a lesser extent, psoriasis. Numerous components in our diet may affect skin health. For instance, antioxidants, which are commonly found in fruits and vegetables, may be beneficial for inflammatory skin diseases. Other dietary components that might affect skin diseases include vitamin A, omega-3 fatty acids, and psoralen in citrus fruits. Vitamin A is involved in keratinization, immunomodulation, and the regulation of sebaceous gland activity. Omega-3 and psoralen have anti-inflammatory and photocarcinogenic properties respectively.

The studies clearly indicate the positive effect of a WFPB diet on skin health in general. However, until recently, there were no studies specifically focusing on the effect of diet on seborrheic dermatitis. This has changed in 2018 when a team of Dutch researchers published a cross-sectional study^​1​ on this topic. They aimed to determine whether the total dietary antioxidant intake or a specific dietary pattern is associated with seborrheic dermatitis. Note that fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes constitute the main source of antioxidants in our food. Thus, they basically investigated the efficiency of a WFPB diet in contrast to a Western diet for treating and preventing seborrheic dermatitis.

The study concluded that high adherence to the WFPB diet decreased seborrheic dermatitis risk by 34%. For women, a higher adherence to the WFPB diet was associated with a decreased risk of seborrheic dermatitis by 47%. For men, this number was lower – 18%. Increased fruit intake reduced seborrheic dermatitis risk by 25%. Increased vegetable intake had no statistically significant effects on risk. The study also found that an increased antioxidant intake reduced the risk for seborrheic dermatitis by 6%. It is important to note though that the last result had a low statistical significance.

Imbalance of good and bad gut bacteria (called colonic microbiota dysbiosis) has been associated with chronic inflammatory skin disorders, such as atopic dermatitis and psoriasis. Therefore, the beneficial effect of increased fruit intake on seborrheic dermatitis may be partially due to the prebiotic effects of fruit fibers. They promote a healthy colonic microbiota associated with lower systemic inflammation and better immune function.

Vitamin B12

If you decide to follow a 100% plant-based diet (without any animal products), there is one important supplement you’ll need to add: vitamin B12. There is consensus among the doctors and scientists that B12 is something not to be messed with. Even on the usual Western diet many older persons will need a supplement due to reduced intestinal absorption of vitamin B12. In an earlier post we discussed the role of B12 in the treatment of seborrheic dermatitis and listed some recommendations regarding B12 supplementation.

Takeaway

WFPB diets have been known for many decades to be very efficient against some of humanity’s leading causes of death. A diet that can reverse heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure, can be expected to have multiple additional health benefits. In the recent years, scientific studies have confirmed these benefits, in particular for seborrheic dermatitis.