Maryska's Glowing Vegetarian Skin

Today's guest blogger is naturopathic student, Maryska Taylor. She has been battling psoriasis with a vegetarian lifestyle. Take it away Maryska... 

P.S. Today is also her birthday!

Maryska is rocking her veggies!

I was very excited to get my copy of the Eat-Clean Diet Vegetarian Cookbook in the mail last week! Newly vegetarian this past month, I have been finding it hard to come up with recipes that are still Clean but not full of starches. Before this I was a major carnivore – loving my steak, my chicken and my turkey. However, I have learned that, though those foods are not inherently bad, they have been potentially wreaking havoc on my poor body.

I am a Naturopathic medical student at CCNM in Toronto, and have had psoriasis for several years. I have tried everything under the sun to heal my skin, and have always been aware of the connection between my intestinal health and my skin. Through my recent research I have learned that people with psoriasis often have difficulty digesting protein and that these foods are hardest on your intestines. Red meat is especially bothersome as it contains arachidonic acid, which aggravates inflammation in the body.

Following naturopathic philosophy and wanting to get to the root cause, I have explored many different food eliminations over the last several years to see the effect on my skin – but I have never eliminated meat completely. This has been mainly because I enjoy lifting weights and was concerned that I would not be able to get enough protein to support my efforts in the weight room and build a lean physique. However, I have learned that this is not true and Tosca’s cookbook is proof that muscle-building protein and Clean Eats are not limited to chicken breasts and steamed broccoli!

So, here I am embarking on what I am hoping will be a healing journey with my tools in hand – one of which is my new Eat-Clean Diet Vegetarian Cookbook!

I’m looking forward to the results!