Rosacea is a skin disease that typically affects people over the age of 30. It involves a red rash on the face that initially comes and goes. Sometimes the rosacea rash includes small, red, pus-filled bumps. The number of people suffering from rosacea today is growing rapidly with the age of onset getting younger and younger.
I’ve seen a number of teenagers with rosacea recently which was unheard of only 10 or so years ago. Big Pharma has definitely taken notice! Trials for drug-based treatment for rosacea are currently ongoing to hurry profitable pharmaceuticals to market. An enormous billboard in my community is aggressively advertising for candidates to participate in the required FDA approval process for these drugs.
Rosacea Drugs Don’t Treat the Cause
For those who wish to avoid the drug route with its inherent side effects that are likely as bad or worse than rosacea itself, natural remedies fortunately abound!
The first thing to realize about rosacea is that it is what I call a “canary illness”. Canaries, if you recall, were used in the early days of coal mining to detect deadly gasses and potential explosions. If a canary keeled over inside a mine, this was a sign for the mining crew to get out quickly!
Be thankful for your rosacea! It is a very visible sign of inflammatory issues going on within the body. You have time to take action to resolve the problem before the inflammation gets worse, damaging something much more critical such as your vital organs!
Think about it – the redness from rosacea is triggered when tiny blood vessels called capillaries become inflamed and literally break underneath the skin. What about inflammation and/or breakdown of larger vessels in a related portion of the circulatory system, arteries, and veins? You can’t afford for these larger vessels to become compromised. Problems in this portion of the circulatory system can be extremely dangerous to health.
Hence, ignoring rosacea and considering it only a cosmetic nuisance is sweeping a potentially big health problem down the road under the proverbial rug.
The same goes for using creams, drugs or lasers which help reduce the rash’s appearance without addressing the underlying reasons for the inflammation.
Best to avoid the band-aid approach with rosacea.
Can Rosacea be Cured with Diet?
Conventional doctors will tell you that rosacea is common, chronic, and incurable.
In other words, “there is nothing you can do” (except take drugs for it of course).
Is this really true?
Functional medicine and lifestyle doctor Sachin Patel has an answer to this common statement.
Why are patients told “there is nothing you can do” for a disease that is caused by something they are [in fact] doing?
There is most certainly something you can do to help resolve problems with rosacea! The first thing to recognize is that what you are eating on a regular basis can have big effects.
Common Causes
To their credit, conventional practitioners will often tell patients with rosacea to avoid hot, spicy foods and alcohol. These foods tend to worsen symptoms. Coffee, chocolate, yerba mate, matcha and other caffeinated foods can aggravate things for some people too. Perhaps this is because caffeine dilates already inflamed blood vessels making them more prone to breakage. Exposing the skin to very cold temperatures or skin icing has the same damaging effect.
But here’s potentially the biggest bugaboo causing rosacea that is rarely mentioned let alone considered by conventional medicine: SUGAR!
Sugar, particularly if processed like white refined sugar or high fructose corn syrup, encourages inflammation of all kinds. And, if rosacea is your weak link, plan on that Dunkin’ Donuts binge costing you when you look in the mirror.
Another problem with sugar consumption if you suffer from rosacea is that Candida and other pathogenic yeasts in the gut convert dietary sugar into alcohol. Even a meal heavy in carbohydrates would potentially aggravate rosacea symptoms for those with unbalanced gut issues.
It is extremely important to get sugar and refined carbohydrate issues under control if you want to successfully treat rosacea naturally!
If you need help getting off the sugar train, this four-step plan to get off sugar really works and won’t make you crazy or feel deprived in the process.
I have known people whose most effective treatment for rosacea simply involved their sugar and carb consumption under control.
Rosacea from Parasites?
Besides dietary intervention, there can be a parasitic aspect to some cases of rosacea too.
Researchers studying effective approaches to treatment for rosacea have determined that the skin mite Demodex folliculorum can cause dry rosacea-like symptoms. In one study, a random sample of 16 female patients with rosacea was examined. All were found to harbor skin mite infestations in the inflamed areas using light and scanning electron microscopy. The patients were treated with 10% topical sulfur ointment to kill the mites.
After treatment, 3 cases were completely cured, 10 cases were moderately improved, and 3 cases showed no improvement (1).
Here’s the really gross part. It wasn’t actually the mites that caused rosacea in some of these patients. It was the bacteria feeding on the fecal matter inside the mites that caused an inflammatory immune response (2).
But why did the mites get entrenched in the skin in the first place? Exposure to heat and humidity – conditions that let mites thrive – certainly doesn’t help. But, the real reason is actually nutritional deficiency.
Nutritive Rosacea Treatment
The B vitamins are the most important nutrients to consider for the avoidance of skin mite infestation and treatment for rosacea. Not surprising that people with gut imbalance issues (overgrowth of Candida and other pathogens) frequently have issues with B vitamin status too. Good bacteria in the gut actually produce these nutrients naturally supplementing dietary forms (3).
Of these, riboflavin, vitamin B2, is especially critical when it comes to avoiding rosacea. The Textbook of Natural Medicine by naturopaths Joseph Pizzorno and Michael Murray describes how easily the skin of riboflavin deficient rates is infected with rosacea inducing skin mites. The skin of rats with normal riboflavin status was not affected.
Vitamin B Complex Can Work Wonders
The best whole supplements to obtain concentrated, 100% food-based Vitamin B complex including riboflavin (recommended brand with no synthetics).
Other excellent sources include nutritional brewers yeast (quality source) and/or a desiccated liver supplement.
Beware of multi-vitamins and other lab-created supplements to obtain this nutrient, as the B vitamins are synthetic in many cases.
Other ways to help resolve rosacea-related nutritional deficiencies as described in the Textbook of Natural Medicine include:
- Supplementation with hydrochloric acid (HCL) before meals for additional stomach acid to properly digest proteins. Another option is to eat a small amount of raw or fermented cabbage (sauerkraut) before meals. This greatly stimulates the production of HCL according to Natasha Campbell-McBride MD.
- Supplementation with 300-500 mg of the pancreatic enzyme lipase with meals to assist with the digestion of fats. Using herbal bitters with meals can also be of help.
There is simply no need to use pharmaceuticals as a treatment for rosacea in the majority of cases. Eliminating parasitic influences, dietary modification, and resolution of likely nutritional deficiencies is a three-pronged attack that can work to resolve rosacea naturally and permanently.
Hi Sarah, Just read you page on natural treatment for Rosacea, so happy there is something I can do. You are a life saver, thank you.
I am 61 years old and was just diagnosed with rosecea and perioral dermatitis in May after my Dad died in March and I started using ” anti-aging” products due to my vanity. I also moved to hot and humid SC from the mountains of NC 3 years ago. I’ve NEVER had skin issues other than occasional hormonal pimple with my cycle. Now post menopausal. I did however have ulcerative colitis for 24 years of my life for which I took various steroids and immunomidulators. I’ve been healed since 2006 and medication free. I eat very clean, ( mostly plant based, specific carb, no cow dairy) make sauerkraut and take supplements. Could the rosecea be related to past UC and steroids or do you think it’s something else? I go back to dermatologist tomorrow. Refused antibiotics but have been on a sulfur wash and a nicinamide and ivermectin cream. Seems to be responding but slow.
Hello, i have an early onset of rosacea. I am only 28 and have been dealing with this for some time. My mother had, what we think was rosacea, but what i am aware was never treated. She also passed away witg stomach cancer. There is an unnerving correlation to those with stomach cancer and who also have rosacea. It makes me very paranoid, especially as a mother to 2 young girls. I would love any further suggestions for natural remedies to not mask the redness but deal with the problem. Thanks
Thank you so much for sharing this information. I’ve had rosacea for years and never knew it was correlated to gut issues. If I clean up my diet and heal my gut, will the redness on my cheeks go away? Or is that permanent damage? I tried some sort of laser treatment for it years ago, but it didn’t really make much of a difference. The doctor recommended trying another method that involved needles, but I didn’t want to try that one. After that – I gave up on trying to fix it and just accepted the redness.
I would suggest trying laser treatment again. They have VASTLY improved in recent years. A series of IPL treatments can make a world of difference for just a few hundred dollars. I know a number of people who have gotten rid of the redness that way after it didn’t clear up completely with diet changes.
How would someone treat the mites to get them and symptoms under control before then using preventative measures through diet a d supplementation?
An over the counter sulfur ointment may help to get rid of the mites if you suspect that might be the cause of your rosacea. https://amzn.to/2eoax6o
If this doesn’t work, you may need prescription strength from a dermatologist.
Kombucha is great. The probiotics plus numerous b vitamins including b12 and prolly b24 too make it ideal. It has helped me a great deal. Just make sure it is not too sweet and more green tea than black tea, and again not too much tea either. Store bought is not so good. Make it with less sugar and less tea than normally recommended.
Hello! For three years I’ve had rosacea on my cheeks. For me, it has been really difficult to accept it. A few months ago, I couldn’t even leave my house without makeup. The treatment that is helping me a lot is DermaalMD’s treatment for rosacea.
Does Brewers years have MSG? I’m looking for a B vitamin but I’m afraid of anything with yeast because MSG gives me a headache and facial swelling.
There is natural glutamate in brewers yeast, but not MSG. Some folks who are very sensitive to MSG also develop a sensitivity to natural glutamates in bone broth and brewers yeast too.
What is IPL
It is a type of mild skin laser treatment offered by dermatologists and plastic surgeons. It is done with no anesthesia and you can go back to work right after treatment. Doesn’t require any recuperation either.
I’ve had rosacea since the age of 12. No one else in my extended family has it. I don’t have any of the usual triggers like coffee or spicy foods. It turns out I have a nasty version of the MTHFR c677t mutation, and it causes mitochondrial symptoms when my methylation is off. My treatment protocol includes large amounts of vitamins and minerals. It helped my face a little. What really helped my face was addressing a long-standing serotonin deficiency. Two months after starting 5-htp supplements, my face was noticeably better, along with my mood. I also discovered, completely by chance, that taking vitamin A orally stops the burning sensation. Genetic testing, along with a review of symptoms, revealed that I don’t convert beta-carotene to retinol efficiently, so I need periodic doses of “real” vitamin A. I haven’t responded to any of the topical rosacea meds, but 5-htp, methylation support, and Vitamin A were almost magical. I believe rosacea is only a symptom, not a diagnosis, and if you keep looking for the cause, you might be surprised. Doctors are educated people, but they are not omnipotent.