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Battling Psoriasis with a Cup of Tea

Drinking oolong tea daily eased one reader's psoriasis plaques.

Q. Your readers did it again! I’ve been drinking oolong tea for over a month now, and the patches of psoriasis have disappeared along with the flaking. I still have a couple of areas that need some ointment now and then but overall I can wear shorts now without being embarrassed about my skin. (My skinny legs are another matter.) Thanks.

A. A study more than a decade ago in Japan found that oolong tea was effective in easing treatment-resistant eczema (Archives of Dermatology, Jan. 2001), but we have found no studies of oolong tea for psoriasis. The subjects in the eczema study drank a liter a day, or approximately four cups.

Oolong tea is intermediate between green and black tea in the amount of fermentation/oxidation the leaves undergo. It is also intermediate in caffeine content. Some people find that they need to acquire a taste for oolong tea, while others take to it immediately.

Several visitors to our website have reported that drinking oolong tea eased their psoriasis. Others have noted that turmeric or cilantro also can be helpful. You’ll find a number of natural approaches to psoriasis in The People’s Pharmacy Quick & Handy Home Remedies, from National Geographic.

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About the Author
Terry Graedon, PhD, is a medical anthropologist and co-host of The People’s Pharmacy radio show, co-author of The People’s Pharmacy syndicated newspaper columns and numerous books, and co-founder of The People’s Pharmacy website. Terry taught in the Duke University School of Nursing and was an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology. She is a Fellow of the Society of Applied Anthropology. Terry is one of the country's leading authorities on the science behind folk remedies..
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