Cleaning the Colon daily

In spite of the food restrictions that we are talking about, toxins enter the body everyday or can be produced internally by bacteria. And this brings us to the most important step of controlling psoriasis – Keeping our large intestine (or the gut) clean.

I remember an US-based doctor telling me the following – “Many Psoriasis patients don’t realize that there are constipated. If one is NOT suffering from constipation, then he/she wouldn’t be suffering from Psoriasis. The root cause of Psoriasis is Constipation”. So all our efforts should be directed towards solving this problem. We should try to go to bathroom at least twice a day. I know, for some it would sound strange going to bathroom more than once a day. But we can’t let the toxins leak into our blood. We can’t let production of new toxins by fermentation of waste material in our gut. And hence the need to go to bathroom twice a day.

Now this doesn’t mean that you go and buy laxatives available over the counter. A better bet would be to depend on high-fiber diet and/or fiber supplements because fiber can actually bind to (or trap) some of the toxins within and can minimize the leaking of toxins into the blood.

Fiber from Vegetables

High-fiber diet essential mean lots of vegetable and fruits. Vegetables should make at least half of your meal. But we need to avoid potatoes which would actually result in constipation. This is so true. So all the food items with potatoes should be avoided.

Also, we talked about white meat which can be consumed in limited quantities. Unfortunately any kind of meat you name, has poor/no fiber content. But we need fiber each meal. So its not a bad idea to start of with a vegetable soup. The soups that we get in restaurants are NOT what I am talking about because they usually filter the fiber out leaving behind plain liquid. That’s not what we want. The whole purpose of we having the soup is fiber. So the soups that I am talking about are home-made with no fiber filtered out. Here is a simple recipe my mom follows.

1. Choose a vegetable from the following list - bottle gourd, bitter gourd, spinach, radish, cucumber, beetroot.
2. For spinach, soak the leaves in warm/hot water for 2 minutes. to get rid of dirt, pesticides etc. In case of other vegetables, peel the skin, cut into small pieces and cook with small amount of water for about 5 minutes. Should be cooked with low-heat to minimize the loss of vitamins and minerals.
3. Allow the vegetable to cool and then blend it into a smooth paste.
4. Take a small onion, cut it into pieces.
5. In a pan, add a little bit of oil and fry the onions, again on low-heat.
6. Add turmeric and ginger-garlic paste. Allow 1-2 minutes
7. Add the vegetable paste. Allow another 1-2 minutes.
8. Add black-pepper and salt according to your taste.

We can also make carrot juice (sweet) that can give you good amount of fiber.

1. Clean the carrot. Cut it into pieces. Cook on low heat for 5 minutes.
2. Allow it to cool. Blend it into a smooth paste.
3. Add required amount of sugar and water. (We can add jaggery instead of sugar. But it would take a little longer to prepare cos the jaggery needs to be melted in water, then filtered to remove impurities including sand particles.)

The carrot juice can be consumed after the meal.

Fiber from flax seeds

If you have ever visited a good allopathic doctor, then I am sure you must have heard about the benefits of flax seed oil. If you have not heard about it, then you better check it on internet now.

But the oil would be so sensitive to heat that we seldom get the full benefits of it. Also, flax seed oil may not be available in all countries. And because fiber is the most important thing to us, we would actually depend on flax seeds. Flax seeds are available in India too. Its called Avisa Ginjelu or Avisalu in Telugu.

So go get the flax seeds, grind a small amount of the seeds into powder and store it. Mix about 1-2 teaspoons of the powder with your vegetable curry or rice or whatever. But you got to mix it just before you consume the food. Mixing the powder and leaving it for even 10 minutes can result in sticky food. So mix the powder right in you plate.

This would not only give you the fiber but also essential fatty acids (Omega-3 fatty acids) that can be useful in not only controlling Psoriasis but also Arthritis. This is a must for ya all. A MUST.

Fiber supplement (Psyllium seed husks)

I read about this first in Dr. Pagano’s book and found out later that it is one of the most commonly used Fiber supplement in India and US. In India, it is called ispaghol. No side-effects. 100% natural.

Note - In spite of the high-fiber diet, you may still be constipated. That’s because we haven’t added Exercise to our daily routine yet. This is another crucial point. Will discuss about this shortly.

White flour and White rice

White flour and white rice are two of the causes of Constipation. Esp. white flour (called “maida” in India) should be consumed only in minimum quantities, if not totally eliminated. As we know that white flour is made of wheat, it can be substituted by wheat flour with some compromise over the texture/smoothness of the final product. In worst cases, at least a part (say 50%) of white flour can be substituted by wheat flour. For instance, in a dish that requires 100g of white flour, you may use 50g of white flour and 50g of wheat flour. In this way, you should try to minimize the consumption of white flour. Food items with huge quantities of white flour should be avoided completely. Instead of Naan which is mostly made of white-flour, you should try a roti / chapathi made of wheat flour.

Similarly, white rice consumption should also be brought to a minimal. Actually, some people in India are said to be allergic to rice. Good alternatives to white rice are :

1. Oat (look for recipes like Oats Upma)
2. Sorghum (called Jowar in Hindi….. Jonnalu in Telugu)
3. Millet (try Ragi Mudde)
4. Wheat

Home Enema

People talk about bacteria that resides in our mouth as the food we consume goes through it. Now imagine what the colon would contain and how we ignore it. Our gut needs regular maintenance too and it is made through something called Enema. Enemas in hospitals are performed using a soap solution which acts as a cleansing agent. Also it costs you more than Home enemas. So, get an home enema set and use lukewarm pure water to perform the enema.

Initially we may have to do it once in every week or two weeks. But as we get Psoriasis under control, we can do it once a month.

Also, I do it two times per set. I mean, I perform the enema, go to bathroom, take rest for 5-10 minutes and do it one more time all over again. Twice per set.

Again, if you want to be Psoriasis-free, then this is a must. A MUST.