Nutritional supplementation for vitiligo

Last Updated on 25th March 2022 by Caroline Haye

The deeper I delve into the subject of nutritional supplementation for vitiligo (and general health, for that matter), the more I realise that getting it right is a real balancing act. A lot of people mistakenly believe that eating a varied diet provides enough good nutrition to maintain optimum health. This might have been true once upon a time… Before our soil became badly depleted and when all farming was organic by default. But modern farming and food processing methods have robbed even our “healthy” foods of a lot of their goodness. Meaning that supplementation has become essential for many of us. And even more so for those of us who suffer chronic illness.

Some vitiligo sufferers lack certain nutrients

The likelihood that vitiligo sufferers lack certain nutrients could explain why supplementation helps some sufferers regain lost pigment. Most family doctors still never mention nutrition to their vitiligo patients. (A sad reflection on their lack of nutritional knowledge, in my opinion.) But I was glad to read in this Recouleur blog that some dermatologists and other well-informed medical practitioners actually do.

According to the blog, one such specialist is Dr. Pearl Grimes of the Vitiligo and Pigmentation Institute of Southern California (also a member of the Medical & Scientific Advisory Committee of Vitiligo Support International and the Medical Advisory Board of the American Vitiligo Research Foundation) who recommends vitamins, along with topical treatments and phototherapy, to her vitiligo patients.

In Argentina Dr. Leopoldo Montes, who has also served on the same Vitiligo committees as D Grimes, has conducted research over several decades into the use of vitamin therapy for vitiligo, culminating in the publication of his book Vitiligo: Current Knowledge and Nutritional Therapy.

Dr. Ben Kim (a chiropractor and acupuncturist in Toronto and a vitiligo sufferer himself) also advocates dietary and lifestyle changes… Including nutritional supplementation. And for every health care practitioner who – like the examples above – recognises the link between vitiligo and nutrition, there must be thousands, like me, whose own experiences have clearly demonstrated the connection.  

I regained my lost skin colour 

If you are familiar with my story you will know that I regained virtually all my lost skin colour several years ago. This was thanks to a combination of nutritional supplementation and moderate sun exposure. When I first tried the supplements, it was a case of “let’s give it a go and see what happens”. So I really didn’t give much thought to what all the individual ingredients were… Or to how they work together in the body. That side of things had already been taken care of by the manufacturers. The two main supplements I used contained a specifically balanced ratio of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and phytonutrients.

Supplements that boost pigment & fight free radicals

The natural tanning capsules (Boost) were evidently formulated specifically to provide the skin with the right combination of nutrients for creating healthy pigment. So the nutritional composition of this product was obviously formulated with this as its main purpose. The super-green food (Five a Day+V )which I believe to be so effective for vitiligo because it fights oxidative stress) is also a well balanced formulation. But, in this case, one created by nature… As it is a blend of whole green foods, rather than a supplement in the usual sense.

Because of their ready-made formulations, using these products has never required any guesswork or nutritional knowledge on my part. But, when it comes to other supplements (and my everyday food choices) I realise that – since there is no nutrition guru in a white coat looking over my shoulder. So it’s up to me to do my homework and try to achieve the right balance for optimum health for myself.

Good health is a work in progress

Taking the supplements every day and coaxing the process along with regular bouts of sunshine has certainly worked dramatically well for me as a vitiligo protocol. It rid me of around 98% of my white patches over a period of a year or so. And the improvement has so far been permanent.

Ecstatic though I am about this (and I really am – I never take my recovery for granted) I realise that keeping my vitiligo away and maintaining good general health is a work in progress. My vitiligo genes and poor nutritional absorption mean I can never simply rely on eating a “healthy diet”. This is why I have become so interested in learning more about nutritional supplementation. And it is why I continue to look for products that will create the best possible “internal environment” for my body… Which is where the question of balance comes in.  

So, in future posts (as in recent ones) I plan to revisit the important topic of nutritional balance.  I hope that you will find these posts informative. And above all, I hope they help you achieve better health, better skin and a better quality of life.