Can people with vitiligo eat lychees?
People with vitiligo can indeed eat lychees. Lychees have benefits such as stimulating the appetite, nourishing the blood, dispersing clumps, regulating qi, and relieving pain. Concerns about eating lychees mainly arise from their vitamin C content. It has been suggested that prolonged consumption of vitamin C supplements, such as taking more than 1-3 grams daily for several months, may potentially trigger vitiligo. However, normally consuming moderate amounts of vitamin C-rich foods or fruits does not significantly affect vitiligo. Moreover, it is now believed that reactive oxygen species within the body are one of the factors contributing to the development of vitiligo, and vitamin C, as an antioxidant, can help clear these reactive oxygen species from the body and protect melanocytes. From this perspective, eating vitamin C-rich foods normally does not have any adverse effect on vitiligo.