Psoriatic Arthritis: Psoriasis is more than just skin rashes and plaques.

A complication of Psoriasis is Psoriatic arthritis. The picture below shows what can happen to the feet, toes & toenails. Mine are nowhere near that bad.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psoriatic_arthritis

From Signs and symptoms:
"Pain, swelling, or stiffness in one or more joints is commonly present in psoriatic arthritis.^[4] Psoriatic arthritis is inflammatory, and affected joints are generally red or warm to the touch.^[4] Asymmetrical oligoarthritis, defined as inflammation affecting one to four joints during the first six months of disease, is present in 70% of cases."

This is the form that I have, affecting my left shoulder, right hip & right knee, joints that have been damaged over the years. I recently reduced the pain and inflammation in these joints by doubling my intake of EPA & DHA by eating two cans/day of Tesco Mackerel in spicy sauce, instead of one. Unfortunately, the improvement didn't last, so I'm back to one can/day.  

EDIT: I'm back to two cans/day of https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/258574414 (the Mackerel changed to one with lower EPA & DHA content), and my mood is a bit better. I've also added 600mg/day of soluble Aspirin (dissolved in the Epsom Salts solution) as it's anti-inflammatory and my stomach can tolerate that dose.

Occasionally (when high temperatures make me feel ill), my hands & feet on the left side of my body swell, causing "sausage-fingers & sausage-toes". The reason why only the left side of my body's affected is because the heart pumps more to the left than to the right (according to my GP). One solution to this is to stop the heart from pumping so fast & hard when feeling ill by taking a β1 receptor antagonist (a.k.a. beta blocker) e.g. Atenolol. As I'm using Atenolol off-label, I get them on-line.

I completely suppressed my skin rashes and plaques since 2007, by supplementing with 5,000iu/day of Vitamin D3, ~3g/day of EPA & DHA from Sardines/Mackerel & ~400mg/day of Mg from ~4g/day of Epsom Salts spread out over my waking hours.

However, there's this (emphasis, mine):-
"Along with the above-noted pain and inflammation, there is extreme exhaustion that does not go away with adequate rest. The exhaustion may last for days or weeks without abatement."

I'm lucky in that the exhaustion isn't extreme, but it is significant and it coincides with high temperatures. Since I wrote this, I've lost 10kg and now feel slightly better in high temperatures. On the minus side, pub chairs are much less comfortable and Winter feels colder!

Grains & soyabeans: more bad news.

Jamie Scott (THAT PALEO GUY) has been doing some digging and found more dirt on...

From http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Various_grains.jpg

See Wheat amylase trypsin inhibitors drive intestinal inflammation via activation of toll-like receptor 4.
"We identify the α-amylase/trypsin inhibitors (ATIs) CM3 and 0.19, pest resistance molecules in wheat, as strong activators of innate immune responses in monocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells. ATIs engage the TLR4-MD2-CD14 complex and lead to up-regulation of maturation markers and elicit release of proinflammatory cytokines in cells from celiac and nonceliac patients and in celiac patients' biopsies. Mice deficient in TLR4 or TLR4 signaling are protected from intestinal and systemic immune responses upon oral challenge with ATIs. These findings define cereal ATIs as novel contributors to celiac disease. Moreover, ATIs may fuel inflammation and immune reactions in other intestinal and nonintestinal immune disorders."

See Impact of antinutritional factors in food proteins on the digestibility of protein and the bioavailability of amino acids and on protein quality.
"Examples of naturally occurring antinutritional factors include glucosinolates in mustard and canola protein products, trypsin inhibitors and haemagglutinins in legumes, tannins in legumes and cereals, gossypol in cottonseed protein products, and uricogenic nucleobases in yeast protein products."

"Among common food and feed protein products, soyabeans are the most concentrated source of trypsin inhibitors. The presence of high levels of dietary trypsin inhibitors from soyabeans, kidney beans or other grain legumes have been reported to cause substantial reductions in protein and amino acid digestibility (up to 50 %) and protein quality (up to 100 %) in rats and/or pigs."

"Normally encountered levels of phytates in cereals and legumes can reduce protein and amino acid digestibility by up to 10 %. D-amino acids and LAL formed during alkaline/heat treatment of lactalbumin, casein, soya protein or wheat protein are poorly digestible (less than 40 %), and their presence can reduce protein digestibility by up to 28 % in rats and pigs, and can cause a drastic reduction (100 %) in protein quality, as measured by rat growth methods. The adverse effects of antinutritional factors on protein digestibility and protein quality have been reported to be more pronounced in elderly rats (20-months old) compared to young (5-weeks old) rats, suggesting the use of old rats as a model for assessing the protein digestibility of products intended for the elderly."

I eat grains, also peas, beans & lentils, but not as a dietary staple. I make sure that they're thoroughly cooked at 100°C.

The usual suspects.

On Facebook, on message boards and in conversation, I often see and hear:-

1. I'm down in the Winter/I keep getting infections/I have allergies/I have aches & pains.

2. I'm up & down a lot.

3. I'm down/I'm anxious/I can't sleep/I get restless legs/cramps/menstrual cramps/muscle spasms/lung spasms/migraines.

4. I've got inflamed or painful joints/skin/guts/lungs/w.h.y.


1. Vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency is widespread by the end of Winter (~90% of people have serum 25(OH)D less than 75nmol/L or 30ng/mL) due to insufficient sun exposure (or sun exposure through glass) during the Summer. A safe & effective dose is 50iu of Vitamin D3 per kg weight per day. See Randomized comparison of the effects of the vitamin D₃ adequate intake versus 100 mcg (4000 IU) per day on biochemical responses and the wellbeing of patients & Vitamin D.

2. Modern diets are lacking in long-chain omega-3 fatty acids (EPA & DHA), as many people don't eat any/enough oily fish. Tinned tuna is not a good source of omega-3 fatty acids. See Omega-3 fatty acids and major depression: A primer for the mental health professional. Women of reproductive age can take flaxseed oil, if they don't like oily fish, or take about ten 1,000mg fish oil capsules each day. Women not of reproductive age & men need to supplement with vegan DHA in addition to flaxseed oil, if they don't like oily fish or fish oil capsules.

3. Diets low in greens are low in magnesium. Excessive stress and/or alcohol consumption increases loss of magnesium in urine. Magnesium deficiency can cause all of the above symptoms. Epsom Salts are a very cheap source of Magnesium. 1 level teaspoonful/day (~4g/day) of Epsom Salts (spread the dose out over 24 hours to prevent it from having a laxative effect by dissolving the crystals in 250ml of warm water, then adding the solution to drinks to spread the 250ml out over 24 hours) provides ~400mg/day of Magnesium. See Magnesium and the Brain: The Original Chill Pill and  Magnesium in Man: Implications for Health and Disease.

4. Vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids are anti-inflammatory. Inflammation that's worsened by stress and/or anxiety may be alleviated by magnesium.


Difficult-to-treat health problems such as depression are often multifactorial (with physiological AND psychological causes), so it's advisable to try 1. 2. and 3. (with your GP's consent). If you get improvement, you can discontinue supplements one at a time with a washout period of two months for 1. and 2. to see which supplement(s) was/were effective.

Here's a picture to go with the title.

And finally...
I'm so glad that I don't work with David Thorne.