HS and Diet:

Many people with HS say that what they eat can influence their HS. In recent years, many researchers have investigated possible links between HS and diet. Many of these studies have shown that diet can influence HS severity. Restricting the types and amounts of certain foods you eat is something that you can do immediately to help with your HS. Barry, one of our contributors, reports on the studies around this here.

More recently, Dr. Jennifer Fernandez and colleagues in the USA have reviewed the research on the influence of diet and have published a very useful guide with various recommendations for nutrition (Fernandez et al., 2021).

Below, Figure 1 displays a nutrition handout with recommendations for anti-inflammatory foods, dairy intake, and healthy snack options. Other useful handouts include recommendations for sugar intake (Figure 2), general tips for healthful eating and portion sizes (Figure 3), and tips for eating out (Figure 4).

As well as following the researchers’ suggestions, you may fight it useful to keep a diary of what types and amounts of foods you are eating. By doing this, you may be able to find out what foods are making your HS. A useful food and symptoms diary may be found here. If this diary does not suit you and your eating habits, an online search will lead you to many other useful food diary suggestions. Find and use one that suits what and how you eat.

Reference:

Fernandez, J.M., Lenczowski, J., Hsiao, J.L., and Shi, V. (2021) ‘Nutrition Education Toolbox for Hidradenitis Suppurativa’, SKIN The Journal of Cutaneous Medicine, 5(3), 240–249, DOI: https://doi.org/10.25251/skin.5.3.5