Q: My husband is disabled by osteoarthritis and psoriatic arthritis. He experienced frequent muscle cramping and was eating yellow mustard for relief.
His psoriasis was treated for years by a dermatologist. After a few weeks of taking large amounts of mustard, he noticed his psoriasis was greatly improved.
After his muscles stopped cramping, he stopped eating mustard. His psoriasis started returning. He has now resumed taking mustard - this time for psoriasis.
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A: Many readers have reported that a teaspoon or two of yellow mustard eases leg cramps, but you are the first to suggest that this condiment might be helpful for psoriasis.
Your story led us to do some digging in the medical literature. A mouse study published in China demonstrated that when mustard seed was fed to rodents, it suppressed psoriasislike inflammation (Journal of Southern Medical University, September 2013). Japanese scientists concluded that the results of their research "provide a basis for mustard seed to be used as a promising intervention for psoriasis in the future" (Journal of Dermatology, July 2013).
Your husband's experiment with mustard appears to confirm the preliminary research carried out in animals. Thanks for sharing his experience. Perhaps others will benefit from his discovery.
