Its made from squashed apples and it makes your flakes cry. Every man or woman with psoriasis needs a bottle of it. I have two.

There are two types of people in this world. Those who use apple cider vinegar (known as ACV) for salad dressings, and those who drink it and rub it onto their skin. Guess which category flakers fall into? The weird kind. To find out why apple cider vinegar and psoriasis isnt as crazy as it sounds, read on!

I currently have two bottles in my cupboard: Bragg, the big daddy brand of ACV that all hippies swear by, and a random Italian brand that I picked up from my local shopkeeper Vimal for cooking with that cost just $2.

You might think that Im bonkers, but there are tonnes of people out there with psoriasis that swear by ACV.Over the centuries, its been used time and again to treat skin conditions cultures as diverse as the ancient Egyptians, to the Romans, and even American used it, the latter in the 19th century, when it was used as a wound disinfectant. Ive even read that the Victorians lathered it on as a perfume called Vinegar de Toilette!

Tonight, were drinking from the bottle! (Just kidding. Please dont try this unless you have dentures handy.)

The first time I came across using apple cider vinegar for psoriasis was when I was researching the effects of bad diet.One popular, albeit alternative theory, is that it is caused by a leaky gut and candida overgrowth, which allows toxins to infiltrate the body.

This, in turn, can be down to a highly-acidic modern diet, full of processed foods and empty carbs.What ACV does for us flakers is that it reverses this by making pH levels in the body more alkaline, thus helping the digestive tract to function better, and by killing toxins as it is anti-fungal and anti-viral.

You might be thinking, Wait a minute, isnt it acidic!? and thats true, but the end products it creates while being digested turn out to be alkaline. It also includes a boat load of essential nutrients (such as Vitamins C, A, B1, B6, potassium & iron for starters), and alpha hydroxy acids, which exfoliate the top layers of the skin and are now used in a lot of dermatological creams.

To me knowledge there are no clinical studies out there supporting the use of ACV for psoriasis probably because theres no way a company could slap a label on it, patent it and sell it for a million dollars but the anecdotal stories of it working are plenty. There are also Amazon reviews for Braggs apple cider vinegar from people who have psoriasis.

Heres what Nigel, from the UK, says on a website called Curezone:

About 2 weeks ago I was surfing this forum when I saw several posts about ACV. Not knowing what it was, I proceeded to read the posts and finally I figured out it was apple cider vinegar. I set out to my local grocery store and started on the treatment of 2 teaspoons mixed with honey. 2 weeks later here I am, VERY HAPPY and giddy! The ACV treatment is working. The patches are diminishing. They are no longer rough and flaky. Instead, smooth, REGULAR, HEALTHY skin is now there (only thing that remains is a mark where the patch once was!)

This comment was left by Sreenivas, from India, on a site called EarthClinic:

I read your comments and bought the organic ACV and the result was amazing. I drank 1 tea spoon of ACV with 250 ml of water for about 2 weeks and I see 90% improvement. I got psoriasis in 2007 on my hands and my feet. Cracks, blisters and discharges was something I have lived with while trying all kinds of creams, tablets. It worked like magic for me.

I also found this testimonial from a mid-50s flaker in the US:

Drank 2 teaspoons of natural ACV with 16 oz. of water each day and the red, painful, scaly condition just disappeared! This is the cloudy version of ACV with all the active nutrients. Not the clearer, grocery-store ACV. My skin was freaking me out and scary painful when acting up. And no, I would not have believed something so simple would have worked.I thought this psoriasis was going to flat out eat me alive!

This is one of the original posts that made me want to experiment with ACV, left by a guy in London!

ACV definitely works.I was on prescription topical steroids and it just made it worse. Every time I came off the steroids the psoriasis would bounce back worse.I apply ACV at least twice daily with a sponge and bowl to affected areas and here are my observations.Day 1-3)Massive reduction in skin production & much cleaner appearance.Day 3-7)Small amount of outer shrinkage of spots of psoriasis.Week 3)Hollowing out of spots of psoriosis to form a ring of psoriosis with healthy skin on the insideWeek 6)Ring breaks up into smaller spots which turn into scabs that reveal deep itchy lesions if picked at.Week 12)Lesions slowly heal and close up.

ACV is quite versatile

Most people recommend drinking apple cider vinegar for psoriasis, and thats how I normally take it.What I do is mix two to three tablespoons of ACV in a tall glass of water, normally once a day in the evenings, just before dinner in order to get those gastric juices flowing, baby.

The best kind to get is organic ACV, without preservatives or any other additives. The cream of the crop is organic ACV with what is known as the Mother,a little tangled clot of enzymes, bacteria and living nutrients. It is created during the fermentation process and is the most nutritious thing in the whole bottle!

Ive been drinking it for around a year, off and on, and I really like the effects. It takes around 2 weeks to see the main improvements, but I find that when Im using it my skin doesnt feel like a pile of wood shavings, and its a nice light-pinkish in colour.

Apart from slurping it up, you can also use ACV topically. I normally do this with cotton pads or a sponge, but you can also apply it straight to the scalp or soak your hands and feet in a bowl. Ive even heard of people with penile psoriasis dipping their bits in it, but remember, only try this if you have nuts of steel as the stinging and pain will be pretty, pretty high!

Mmm, vinegary elbow

Research shows that when used externally, it promotes blood circulation in the small capillaries of the skin, has antiseptic qualities which prevent bacteria, and regulates pH levels on the skin.

Most people Ive spoken to apply it on their body for 20 to 30 minutes before rinsing it off, but you can also leave it on overnight. You can even pour some into a bath if your psoriasis coverage is extensive.

Related flaky goodness

Tags: ACV, apple cider vinegar, psoriasis

redblob I'm just an average 28 year old living with psoriasis. Over the last decade, I've tried everything, from real snake poison to rubbing banana peels over my body. I've finally found an approach that's working for me, and I'm sharing it with all the flakers out there. But Psoriasis Blob is not about one man, it's a growing community of great, red people.

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Apple Cider Vinegar Melts Away Psoriasis Flakes