Healing Psoriasis Naturally: My Journey

See before and after photos at the end of the post!

During most of 2023 and 2024 I struggled with severe Psoriasis.. After a trip to Japan in April 2023, I developed patches of psoriasis on my neck, hairline, scalp, and a few other miscellaneous places like my elbow and back. This condition developed after a severe case of travelers diarrhea (sorry super tmi, but I want to share the full story!). This experience really solidified in my mind the immense connection between our gut health and skin health.. I had occasionally gotten bouts of eczema as a kid in the winter (which shows a genetic predisposition to skin conditions), but never did I ever think I would develop an autoimmune related skin condition such as psoriasis.

I won't go on and on about the struggle with this condition, as I would like to stay solution focused. But for background, essentially all of 2023 and 2024 I tried different things to rid myself of the psoriasis, such as raw vegan cleanses, intermittent fasting, cutting out red meat, lots of green juices, etc. I used steroid creams such as Triancinalone, that would calm the rashes for a week, only for them to return more red, larger, and itchier than before.

In October 2024, my skin became the most inflamed and horrendous it had ever been before. I will link photos below. During this time, I was going through a breakup, moved in with my mom, and waitressing while looking for a full time job. My stress levels were at an all time high and I felt so lost in life, and worst of all, lost in the fact that despite studying Integrative Health, I had no idea how to heal myself.

I decided to take drastic changes, and for the first time I was seeing some results in my flare ups reducing, without using any steroid creams.. Here the key principles of what helped me:

#1 Stress Management: I began chanting, praying, meditating, and doing everything I could in a given day to calm my nervous system during these times. I prioritized my sleep and cut out alcohol / any smoking.

#2 I cleansed my body for a few days only having tons of water, fresh juices, fruits, and steamed vegetables. You can do this for just 1 day or all the way up to 7 days. This should always be discussed with your health professional first to assess for any risks or potential issues.

#3 After cleansing, I tried to eliminate (I wasn't perfect but did my best) highly processed gluten, dairy, spicy, or fried foods. I focused on whole foods like lean proteins, sweet potato, tons of vegetables and fruits, some whole grains like quinoa and organic oats, etc. I essentially followed an anti-inflammatory diet.  I am going to write a separate blog post about what to eat.. as this is a big topic to cover here! There are also so many online resources if you google "anti-inflammatory diet."

#4 in December 2024 I stopped ALL steroid creams, and never used them again.. I made the switch to only using CeraVe moisturizer on the psoriasis patches. MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE BLOG BELOW:

Fast forward to the beginning of February 2025, I am back in Miami, working, and feeling much more grounded and happy. The psoriasis is still there, but nowhere near as bad as it was in October. One sunny day I am sitting at the bus stop on Miami Beach after visiting with a friend. My hair is up in a bun and my neck is having a bad flare up.. I wont get to into the "woo woo" miracle chatter I have told my friends and family about.. But let's just say, for the interaction I am about to describe, it feels like a million tiny miracles had to happen in order for this meeting to take place. So back to the story, I am sitting there and the guy sitting next to me at the bus stop, I can see is looking at me and kind of examining my neck. I am quite embarrassed because like I said, things had been better, but were still flaring. I look over at him and he points to my neck and says to me, "I have that too." He shows me his palms, and sure enough he clearly has some signs of psoriasis.. He goes on to ask me if I would like to know how he keeps his under control naturally. -> He says many things I already am aware of being that I studied Nutrition and Integrative Health in grad school.. He mentions how the microbes in our gut are usually the main culprit in the case of skin issues. He mentions how cheese and other foods that are highly microbially active should be consumed in moderation. The part of me that has a big ego was saying to myself, "Trust and believe I know all of this already..." But Thank God I kept listening...

He then gave me a recipe for a tea, and he said drink this every day 3 times a day with meals until the psoriasis gets better. And I had never tried this tea before, when it felt like I had tried everything... So with nothing left to lose, I decided to trust him and try his recipe / instructions. Spoiler alert: this chance encounter changed everything. What he shared with me—something so simple—ended up being the key to my healing. I tried it… and to my shock, it worked.

Since I started drinking this tea, my Psoriasis is 90% CLEAR! And I eat a healthy overall anti-inflammatory diet, but don't really restrict anything at all.. I am still having pizza, ice cream, etc, all in moderation of course, every now and then. But I truly feel I owe my healing to these herbs.. SO, without further due ado, the tea recipe:

• 1 stainless steel pot

• 4 - 6 cups of filtered water

• 2 - 3 sprigs of fresh organic Rosemary chopped up (to release healing oils)

• 3 tablespoons of whole organic cloves OR 1.5 tablepssons of ground organic cloves

• NOTE: these measurements are kind of rough estimates, I just eyeball it

Put the water, rosemary and cloves into the stainless steel pot and bring to a rolling boil. From here turn off the heat and let it sit for 15 minutes. Pour into a mug, let it cool to drinking temperature, and drink a mug full with breakfast, lunch and dinner (3 times a day). After about two weeks I cut back and have a mug just once or twice a day.

After 2 years of horrendous psoriasis and tanking self esteem, I am now 90 % clear, and I truly attribute this to this tea (i.e. the wisdom of herbal medicine) and managing my stress. Which for me, stress management has looked like a lot of faith, prayer, and meditation. Also of course following a mostly anti-inflammatory diet which I will post about in its own blog soon. Please take everything I say with a grain of salt, I am not a doctor and this is NOT professional medical advice. This is just what helped me.. I wanted to share this in the sincere hope it will reach the right people, and help someone else. :) I will post more on my diet and my journey soon... here are the before and after photos as promised. Of course my skin today is not perfect, but the healing is extremely dramatic. I am forever grateful.

October 2024:

April 2025: