Vanilla Extract Could Help Treat Psoriasis, Says Study

The holidays are, let's be honest, stressful. Just when you want your skin to look flawless for all those holiday party photos, the added stress can cause flare-ups of everything from acne to psoriasis. But in a bit of delicious science news, a new study suggests a certain sweet ingredient might be an effective psoriasis treatment. And the best part: It will be everywhere this holiday season.

"Psoriasis is a condition in which your immune system gets angry at your skin leading to characteristic red, scaly plaques," Joshua Zeichner, director of cosmetic and clinical research in dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, tells Allure. An estimated 7.5 million Americans deal with it, according to the American Academy of Dermatology.

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Under the best of conditions, psoriasis can be tough to treat. Holiday stress certainly doesn't help, but a new study published this week in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, found that your holiday sweet tooth might. Researchers found that artificial vanilla extract — like the stuff in pretty much all of your holiday treats — can help soothe psoriasis.

"We know that overproduction of certain inflammatory messengers, known as cytokines, promote inflammation in the skin leading to psoriasis," Zeichner, who was not involved with the study, explains. Previous research has found that vanilla extract (a.k.a. vanillin) has an effect on interleukins (a group of those inflammation-causing cytokines), so the researchers tested the idea on a group of mice with simulated psoriasis.

Each day, they gave the mice either 0, 1, 5, 10, 50, or 100 milligrams (per kilogram of body weight) of vanillin for seven days. At the end of the week, all the mice who had received a vanillin supplement had lower levels of interleukins, and those getting the 50 and 100 milligram doses had significantly reduced symptoms of psoriasis. Pass the Christmas cookies, please.

Using an ingredient found in your kitchen to treat psoriasis isn't a new idea. "Many of the treatments we have in dermatology come from botanical sources," says Zeichner. But before you go stuffing your face with ginger vanilla lattes and holiday cookies, there's no guarantee upping your vanilla intake will help prevent psoriasis flare-ups. At this stage, "we do not yet know exactly how it works, and we do not know if it will be effective in humans," says Zeichner. On the bright side, "it certainly holds promise in treating the disease," he says.

Until more tests are done in humans, consider this yet another reason to reach for the cookies.

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