There are some anecdotes of people who saw improvement in their psoriasis by eating a diet, which contained a lot of curry. Is there any scientific evidence to support this?
Curry is the generic name for spicy gravy-laced culinary dishes from Asia made with the brightly colored herb tumeric (curcuma longa). There are some laboratory studies, which show that specific compounds found in this herb (called "curcuminoids") have anti-inflammatory properties. Specifically, these compounds seem to block TNF-alpha, much like the powerful biologic drugs we use to treat psoriasis. So is curry "nature's biologic" and can it help treat psoriasis?
Unfortunately, and anecdotes of a few lucky people aside, there are no good clinical studies demonstrating a beneficial effect of curry on psoriasis. In fact, a large Phase II clinical trial, which was completed in 2007 and published this year, found that the response to curcumin was no greater than a placebo. This was a very small trial; however, and a larger trial was suggested. Two people in the study did achieve a PASI 75, which although quite remarkable, was attributed to the natural course of the disease by the study authors. One criticism of the study would be the relatively small dose of curcuminoids used, i.e. 4.5 grams daily. Since these compounds are very poorly absorbed by the digestive tract, a much larger quantity may be needed to provide for any sort of systemic treatment effect. Doses as high as 12 grams daily (nearly 3 times those used in the psoriasis trial) have been shown to be safe for prolonged periods of time. A smaller, uncontrolled clinical trial, using higher doses, saw some benefit from curcumin in several diseases, including psoriasis.
So what's the final verdict? I'm afraid it's not in yet. With no good clinical trial data either way, it's hard to recommend supplementation with curcumin as a treatment for psoriasis. I do continue to recommend that everyone, whether they have psoriasis or not, enjoy curry dishes just as much as they want!
Source: Kurd SK,e t al. Oral curcumin in the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis vulgaris: A prospective clinical trial. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2008;58:625-31
