Vitiligo is a long-term skin disorder that makes white patches to appear on different parts of the body. Many experts believe that nutrition plays an important role in vitiligo. Hence, changing diet has had helped some vitiligo fighters.
Even though making dietary changes might not work for everyone who has vitiligo, it is indeed something worth experimenting. Besides, your diet is probably one of the easiest things that we can control on our own. There’s no evidence to prove that the foods mentioned below are bad for a vitiligo fighter. However, some people have reported that their condition worsened whenever they consumed them. Hence, it’s worth a try to avoid the following foods:
Fruits containing hydroquinone
Hydroquinone is the main depigmenting agent, which is why; it has been used in skin bleaching creams. Hence, it is best to avoid pears and blueberries that contain hydroquinone.
Foods with good amount of vitamin C
Vitamin C inhibits the formation of pigments, therefore, avoid consuming any fruit or vegetable that has a good amount of vitamin C. In vegetables, prevent the usage of eggplant and tomato. In fruits, avoid lemons, gooseberry, and orange.
Excessively sour foods
Excessively fermented foods can make your white patches even wider. They contain ascorbic acid, which lightens the skin color.
Processed foods
To be able to maintain a diet without having processed food is impossible, but just keeping them at a minimum is essential. You might ask what that minimum is as everything in the a grocery store is processed. At least, 50% of your food shouldn’t be processed. Avoid oily spicy, processed packaged and canned foods. Reduce consuming wafers, pickles, and chocolates as they are processed too.
Other foods to avoid
Lastly, cut down on fish, red meat, beef, pork, dairy products (milk curd and buttermilk) and all the high-calorie fatty and sugary foods (carbonated and sweetened drinks, packaged fruit juices). Keep saturated fats and fried foods minimum. If possible, eliminate them completely. Why? Because, sometimes, the immune system may misread them as foreign agents and fight them causing adverse reactions, including vitiligo.