Can I Eat That?

I, unfortunately, have really bad eating habits. One thing I know is that sugar is not good for my body. I love sugary stuff and at times eat way too much of it. The one thing I have noticed when I consume candy, cookies, cake and ice-cream is that it wreaks havoc on my psoriasis.

Processed sugar was tearing my body up

My mom used to make popcorn for me as a child. She would pour lots of caramel sugar all over it. I would eat this for days and scratch every night.

I mean, scratch like crazy until my whole body was bloody. I had to wear socks on my hands to protect myself. I didn’t realize that all that processed sugar was tearing my body up. It was making me gain unwanted pounds and my psoriasis was getting worse.

Research saved me

When you have plaque psoriasis and you’re covered in scales over 80% of your body, you don’t really pay much attention to your sugar intake or anything else that goes into your body.

But little did I know, that not only was the sugar bad for me but so was the flour, white rice, and all those white starches. I had to learn the difference in brown rice versus white rice and why brown rice was supposed to be better. It took me a while to figure out why white starches were not good for me.

I couldn’t see the benefits until I did some research.

It starts with starches and sugars

I have had to cut out a lot of starches and sugar from my diet. I have chosen to give up is sugary drinks. My skin feels better, but there are times I feel sluggish without my sugar.

I have decided to eat fruit that has natural sugars. They are so much healthier for me. I was never a fruit eater unless it was grapes or bananas. Well, when I was talking to my doctor the one thing I was told to stay away from was grapes and bananas because there was too much sugar.

I had to experiment with different fruits until I found one I could eat every day. I have narrowed it down to pears, cantaloupes, watermelon, and apples. I can feel and see the difference in my psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.

Changing lifestyle

It’s funny that even with my psoriatic arthritis I can feel the side effects of eating sugar. When I decide to eat ice cream and cake, I feel so tired, sluggish, and can barely move around the next day.

I have decided to make some lifestyle changes. I need to stay away from starches and sugars. I try not to fool myself and think that just because these foods look and taste good that they are good for me.

I know I need to watch my calories and look at the ingredients in the foods that I put in me.

Healthy choices pay off

Not to mention that if we watch what we eat, we can ward off diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

All of these diseases are from what we ingest and put into our bodies. A lot of it is from the white starch family. I am more mindful these days as to what I put in my body.

I know if I continue to dump all these items in me, that it will affect my psoriasis and my psoriatic arthritis in the worst way.

Hopping off the sugar train

Just because I have psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis doesn’t mean I can’t have a healthy body. I plan on looking at food labels more and staying away from all the sugars I can.

Another thing to be careful of is when you eat out, you never know how much sugar is being put on that meal. Home cook meals are the best, you know what's going into your food. Let us eat healthily and our bodies will thank us later!