Week 4 (My Rosacea Story)

More background

Between all my stories, I will tell you something about rosacea and demodex.

Those are two seperate issues! You can have them both (most people who suffer with rosacea are also suffering with the “bumps” of demodex) but not everybody has both of them.

“Rosacea is a common chronic relapsing inflammatory skin condition which mostly
affects the central face, with women being more affected than men.
The pathophysiology is not completely understood, but dysregulation of the immune system,
as well as changes in the nervous and the vascular system have been identified.
Microbes that are part of the normal skin flora, and specifically in the pilo-sebaceous unit – including Demodex mites and Staphylococcus epidermidis – may also play a role as triggers of rosacea.

Symptoms are initially transient.
This is followed by persistent erythema due to repeated vasodilation,
then telangiectasia and skin inflammation in the form of papules, pustules, lymphoedema and fibrosis.

Rosacea can seriously affect a patient’s quality of life.”

Rosacea = blushing, flushing (transient redness), heat, an uncomfortable warm feeling in your skin.
Rosacea is actually a vascular disorder.
Blood vessels in the skin suddenly become dilated. The blood flow increases, which results in flushing and redness of the skin.

Food

Most of us have chosen a healthy lifestyle, which include healthy food, recently or many years ago.

……or have even chosen a “Raw Food”-lifestyle”.

That sounds perfect, but for people with rosacea it isn’t always that perfect…. Unfortunately, a lot of this healthy food contains a lot of histamine!

Histamine sources in food

Many people with rosacea and other skin complaints start eating consciously; Weekly a lot of fruit and vegetables and liters of tea are flushed through.
The health shop is happy with you (and me ;-)!
But there are quite a few vegetables, fruits and herbs that are full of histamine.
Tomatoes, spinach, avocado, mango, kiwi, strawberries and spices such as cinnamon and coriander are notorious sources of histamine.

And my favourite herb; nettles….

Your oh so healthy spinach, avocado and mango smoothie may be full of antioxidants, but with some little bad luck your skin problems will also get worse.

The list of histamine sources is a long one; hereby some examples:

• Cheese – yoghurt;
• Soy, chocolate and nuts;
• Tomatoes, spinach, eggplant, pumpkin, avocado, mushrooms, sauerkraut, pickles, peppers;
• Mustard;
• Alcohol;
• Herbal tea;
• Citrus fruits, strawberries, pineapple, cherries, apricots, papaya, dryed fruit, raspberries;
• Smoked or not fresh fish, shellfish;
• Coriander, curry, cinnamon, chilli, paprika, anise, nutmeg.
• All long lastings products that contain moisture;
• Yeast;
• Coffee.

Reaction

Will all food products give you a flush? No, certainly not, it’s different for everybody.

But; it’s also very important how the foodproduct has been processed.
Of course, the amount is relevant, too!
A pinch of a herb doesn’t have the same effect as halve a plate of fish.
Keep in mind; the riper the product, the more histamine it might contain.

I know my skin reacts immediately after eating some citrus or after drinking a little bit of red wine.
So, you have to find out which products are your triggers.

And remember; 1 + 1 = 3…

I mean; you can probably drink 2 cups of coffee during the day, eat a few strawberries and a slice of avocado but the third cup of coffee gives you a flush.

That doesn’t mean the coffee was your trigger.
No, it means you have reached the total amount of histamine your body can handle.

Keep your own diary, it’s the best way to find out which are your triggers.

With Love,
∼ Wilma