It's been almost a year since I wrote about starting on a psoriasis-friendly diet. It hasn't completely eradicated it but is seems to have helped a bit.

I did a bit more reading on-line and found various lists of suspect foods, which often included:

• Tomatoes
• Peppers
• Aubergines
• Potatoes
• Caffeine
• Alcohol

There were also some foods which were recommended, such as dried fruits or oily fish.

An awful lot of this information seems to have originally come from an American psychic called Edgar Cayce who, according to an article in Fortean Times magazine, would often go into a trance and diagnose illnesses or suggest cures. His suggestions have been repeated over the years and regularly features in advice on reducing the symptoms of psoriasis. Normally I'd be sceptical but there is a lot of anecdotal evidence that it has some effect.

I initially stopped eating tomatoes and drinking red wine. I also started taking probiotic and omega-3/fish-oil supplements daily. As the psoriasis was mainly on my scalp I'd been keeping my hair short, but recently started having it cut even shorter (only no. 8 on the hair clippers but that's still shorter than I like it).

With all that going on it's hard to tell what has had the greatest effect but it has definitely got slightly better. It hasn't gone away but it isn't as thick on my scalp and areas of 'normal' skin have started to appear by my hairline. Cutting out the various prohibited foods helped but didn't stop it so I've returned to eating them but only in moderation. I've since started drinking squash drinks with red berries in, and having small amounts of tomatoes about every other week, and probably a bottle of red wine once per month. Other foods such as aubergines and potatoes are easier to avoid (I always have rice or pasta instead of chips).

I've been drinking green tea for a number of years, but increased my consumption because of anecdotal evidence of it being useful. This has since been confirmed by researchers. Sadly, I've not noticed any improvement through drinking it.

The psoriasis comes and goes in cycles - I'm not sure whether the waxing and waning is anything to do with diet. The weather may have some effect - ultra-violet light is known to help. I keep my hair short to let more light get to my scalp. As long as I don't let it get too thick, it doesn't cause many problems.

We were leaving Sainsburys yesterday when someone stopped me and started talking about Psoriasis. It wasn't a completely random event because I have suffered from it on my scalp for a couple of years and it's visible at the top of my forehead. He had suffered from it for several years and wanted to pass on some advice. He told me to avoid anything with red berries in it, and that included red wine. He also suggested the original Head & Shoulders 'all-in-one' shampoo and conditioner rather than the coal tar shampoos which are usually recommended for the condition.

We chatted for a few minutes, then thanked him and left the shop. It shouldn't be too difficult to follow his advice. It certainly won't cost much when the only thing we need to buy is a standard off the shelf shampoo. Some of his other suggestions, such as avoid processed food and additives, we do anyway.

We were back in the supermarket tonight. We realised that the definition of red berries was a bit ambiguous. It might mean:

• Red Grapes (and by extension, raisins)
• Strawberries and raspberries
• darker berries such as blackcurrants
• possibly even tomatoes

We had to buy some more squash because the ever-so-tasty Vimto and the blackcurrant drink in the house might be unsuitable. We had to buy apricot jam because the strawberry jam in the fridge might count. I had to put the malt loaf back on the shelf because of the raisins. I won't be able to drink the purple grape juice in the fridge.

I'll give it a few months and see if it improves.