Sugary Drinks and High-Fat Foods are Associated with Poor Treatment Response in Psoriasis: A Prospective Study in
Jiankun Song1, Yue Luo2, Rui Zhang3
1Central Laboratory, Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, Institute of Dermatology, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200443, People's Republic of China.
Purpose:
While dietary factors are known to be associated with the development and progression of psoriasis, their effect on treatment efficacy remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to elucidate the influence of tea consumption, sugar drinks, and high-fat foods on the treatment response in psoriasis.
Patients And Methods:
We undertook a prospective cohort study comprising 559 patients with psoriasis from Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital between 2022 and 2024. Data on demographics, lifestyle (including tea, sugary drinks, and high-fat food consumption), and disease severity (PASI, BSA, PGA) were collected via structured questionnaires at baseline, week 4, and week 8. The primary endpoints were the proportions of patients achieving PASI 50 responses at week 8. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals, adjusting for age, sex, BMI, smoking, alcohol, and treatment regimen. Data were analyzed using SAS 9.4 software.
Results:
In the psoriasis cohort (mean age 48.5 years; 73.2% male), 37.1% and 68.7% of patients consumed sugar drinks and high-fat foods ≥2 times/week, respectively. Frequent sugar drinks consumption (≥4 times/week) was independently associated with significantly reduced odds of achieving PASI 50 (adjusted OR=0.24, 95% CI: 0.08-0.75) and PASI 75 (adjusted OR=0.27, 95% CI: 0.07-1.00) at week 8. Moderate intake of high-fat foods (2-3 times/week) showed an inverse, borderline significant association with PASI 50 at week 4 (adjusted OR=0.68, 95% CI: 0.45-1.00). Tea consumption showed a non-significant association with treatment response (e.g, week 8 PASI 50 adjusted OR=1.44, 95% CI: 0.88-2.35), warranting further investigation in larger cohorts.
Conclusion:
This study demonstrates that high consumption of sugar drinks and high-fat foods is associated with suboptimal treatment response in psoriasis. Tea consumption was not significantly associated with treatment outcomes, although further investigation with larger cohorts may be warranted. These findings highlight the importance of integrating dietary assessment and counseling into comprehensive psoriasis management.