Spicy foods What is good for lichen planus is to avoid foods seasoned with pepper, chilies, chillies. In general, hot peppers can significantly worsen the condition of papules (even sores) if you suffer from oral lichen planus, increasing irritation or pain in the mouth.
Also mustard or hot sauces , such as wasabi, mojo picón, or any other that includes a good amount of garlic, or horseradish, should be avoided. The intake of spicy food could not only affect the mouth, since, when absorbed by the body, its effects could be noticed in any other area with manifestations of lichen planus.
For this reason, in addition to this list of the 10 prohibited foods for lichen planus, we provide you with this other article so that you know how to remove the spice from food while still enjoying food.
Nuts
In some people, healthy nuts cause allergic reactions that could aggravate the inflammation caused by lichen planus in certain areas, or even cause new spots or inflamed areas to appear, increasing the extension of the affected areas and making it difficult to treat lichen planus .
In addition, the texture of nuts, such as almonds or hazelnuts, is hard and can be difficult to chew for a person with oral lichen planus.
Tea and coffee
In this list of prohibited foods for lichen planus, tea and coffee could not be missing, since they contain theine and caffeine, respectively. Both substances have natural arousal properties , a quality that can encourage further development of the inflammatory rash involving lichen planus.
Highly cured cheeses
Heavily aged cheeses are another food to avoid if you have lichen planus. Its texture and strong flavor are often enhanced by the inclusion of spices such as paprika in the recipe. For this reason, it is preferable to opt for other softer dairy products such as cottage cheese, yogurt or fresh cheese.
Very hot food
People who have lichen on the skin and especially in the mouth, should be especially careful with soups , especially when a specific and especially aggressive episode of the disease is triggered, since they would further favor inflammation and irritation.
In other words, the prohibited foods for lichen planus are all those spoon dishes in general or with thick sauces that are very hot. But if you do not want to give up eating soups or purees with vegetables, we leave you the following recipes for cold dishes that can come in handy:
Chocolate
Chocolate, in all its varieties, including soluble cocoa, is also a prohibited food for lichen planus. Not only because, like coffee, it contains exciting substances ; but because, in addition, it can suppose an extra contribution of fats and sugars , nutrients that, although the investigations continue, it is considered that in excess they can worsen the symptoms of this disease.
Citrus
Oranges, lemons, grapefruit… the degree of acidity of this type of fruit is high and, therefore, they contribute to increasing the irritation suffered by the mucous membranes affected by lichen planus. The fruit cannot be missing in a balanced diet but, in case of suffering from the disease, it is preferable to opt for others.
A good alternative is red fruits that, like citrus fruits, provide a good amount of vitamin C without favoring irritation or inflammation of the tissues. Check our post What are the red fruits to know exactly what fruits you can eat with lichen planus
Alcoholic or carbonated beverages
Another food to avoid for lichen planus is any type of alcoholic and/or carbonated beverage. These are equally unfavorable in a diet designed to help relieve the discomfort caused by this disease, whether you have lichen on the skin or in the mouth. Both types of drinks are irritating to the stomach and to any mucosa that comes in contact with them.
Processed or precooked foods
Keep in mind that, in many cases, it is difficult to determine which substances trigger or aggravate the body's exaggerated autoimmune response, which causes the spots and other symptoms of lichen planus to appear.
However, within the list of prohibited foods for lichen planus, it was necessary to include processed or precooked foods, since in this type of food it is common to use dyes, preservatives or food additives that could cause or increase adverse effects. of the illness. Here we leave you a list of processed foods that are bad for your health that you should avoid.
Raw hard-textured vegetables
For the treatment of lichen planus, it is necessary that the person suffering from the disease can (and should) eat enough vegetables that a balanced diet requires. However, it is preferable to eat vegetables boiled or steamed .
On the other hand, special care must be taken with vegetables such as peppers, tomatoes or aubergines; At the time of eating them, they must have optimal cooking to be healthy and not increase the inflammatory process. To do this, in this article we teach you how to steam vegetables.
