Research Report: Vitiligo and Your Diet

One of you who commented on my posts brought to my attention the concept of a Vitiligo diet, I became interested in this and decided to look into finding out more about it myself. One of the websites that was mentioned, antivitiligo.com, has a pretty good summation of what you should and shouldn't eat. Here is some of the list, taken straight from http://www.antivitiligo.com/vitiligo-treatment/vitiligo-diet.html 

• Eat vegetables "Like Green Leaves, Beetroots, Spinach Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots"
• Eat fruits "Like Peaches and Apricots, Apples, Banana Mangoes, Black Dates"
• Eat whole grains "Like porridge and whole wheat product are better than the highly refined carbohydrates like pasta"
• Eat legumes "Chickpeas have recently shown in India to be very helpful in Vitiligo"
• Eat protein "Vegetable proteins especially from Soya beans have been found useful for controlling the skin depigmentation. Animal proteins like meat and fish are however generally discouraged by herbalists"
• Stay Hydrated! "Adequate hydration is an important component of healthy diet which should not be ignored" [1]

Apparently Blueberries "contain more anti-oxidants than any other fruit or vegetables", they also contain "powerful photochemical anthocyanins that not only protect the skin but boost brain efficiency including memory". Spinach "contains phytochemicals that help prevent degeneration and protect your skin" just as most nuts contain "protective photochemicals and 'good fats'" [3]. Another website says that you should avoid "cold and phlegm producing foods" which it later says are things like: "fish, beef, brinjal, heavy and light food mixed simultaneously" and "milk, curd, buttermilk" and other citrus type foods as well [5].

More on citrus and Vitiligo, an article from Life Force Homeopathy written by Dr. Rajesh Shah says that all "foods that are excessively sour should be avoided" and that "Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is known to inhibit the production of melanin, the color pigment" [2]. Going along this same track, another site says that "stored sour things, junk food, tinned foods or drinks, chocolates, coffee or cocoa products should not be taken regularly" [4].

Overall, from the looks of things, if I were to completely undertake the Vitiligo Diet, it would pretty much be equivalent to becoming a vegan, because you're going to have to eat pretty much straight organic and no meats. While this is a bit too much for me to handle, I encourage anyone else out there with more will power than me to give this a shot. If it doesn't help with pigmentation, I guarantee it could help with your diet in general.

Works Cited

[1] http://www.antivitiligo.com/vitiligo-treatment/vitiligo-diet.html

[2] http://www.leucoderma.com/app/diet.asp

[3] http://www.vitiligoguide.com/vitiligo-diet/

[4] http://vitiligoleucoderma.com/

[5] http://www.wholisticresearch.com/info/artshow.php3?artid=270