Hippocrates once declared, “Let food be thy medicine, thy medicine shall be thy food.” The foods we eat everyday maintain our health and is fundamental to healing illnesses. Eczema in fact, is no exception. When it comes to eczema, diet may be a determining factor of the frequency and severity of flare-ups. The great news is modifying your diet for the better can be easily achieved by identifying/eliminating food allergies, maintaining an alkaline/acid balance, eating fresh whole foods, and limiting your consumption of processed foods.
Identifying and Eliminating Food Allergies: The Eczema and Diet Relationship
You can customize your own diet for eczema by identifying and eliminating the aggravating foods. Food allergies are known to commonly lead to eczema outbreaks, affecting roughly 1/3 of individuals with eczema. Foods such as dairy, eggs, wheat, soy, and peanuts are among the most common eczema offenders , although anyone may experience adverse reactions to a variety of other foods. Undergoing a food allergy screening is the best way of identifying food allergens. In addition to a screening, keeping track of what you eat in a food diary may also help to pinpoint allergens..
Please note that eczema may occur due to a variety of factors, and avoiding food allergens alone may not always be enough to eliminate symptoms.
Maintaining An Alkaline/ Acid Balanced Diet to Cure Eczema
One alternative medicine principle argues that acid-producing food is the reason for food allergies leading to eczema. Reducing acid foods from your diet and increasing alkaline foods may lessen food allergies as well as eczema symptoms. But what are acid and alkaline foods?
All foods are either alkaline or acid. This refers to the “ash residue” that is left behind after the digestion process, and eating these type of foods affect the body’s natural pH. The body in its optimal state has an internal environment is slightly alkaline–a pH just above 7. When the internal environment is more acid, the body attempts to prevent the blood from getting acidic by neutralizing the acid with alkaline minerals. If there isn’t enough alkaline substances in the body to neutralize the acid, the body compensates by taking alkaline minerals from the cells. The cells then become acidic, and the body becomes vulnerable to disease.
Ideally, an eczema diet treatment should consist of more alkalizing foods than acidifying foods, proportioned at 75-80% alkalizing foods and acid foods between 20-25%. Here is a chart of typical alkaline and acid forming foods found on wolfeclinic.com:
ALKALIZING FOODS | ||
| VEGETABLES Garlic Asparagus Fermented Veggies Watercress Beets Broccoli Brussel sprouts Cabbage Carrot Cauliflower Celery Chard Chlorella Collard Greens Cucumber Eggplant Kale Kohlrabi Lettuce Mushrooms Mustard Greens Dulce Dandelions Edible Flowers Onions Parsnips (high glycemic) Peas Peppers Pumpkin Rutabaga Sea Veggies Spirulina Sprouts Squashes Alfalfa Barley Grass Wheat Grass Wild Greens Nightshade Veggies | FRUITS Apple Apricot Avocado Banana (high glycemic) Cantaloupe Cherries Currants Dates/Figs Grapes Grapefruit Lime Honeydew Melon Nectarine Orange Lemon Peach Pear Pineapple All Berries Tangerine Tomato Tropical Fruits Watermelon PROTEIN | OTHER Apple Cider Vinegar Bee Pollen Lecithin Granules Probiotic Cultures Green Juices Veggies Juices Fresh Fruit Juice Organic Milk (unpasteurized) Mineral Water Alkaline Antioxidant Water Green Tea Herbal Tea Dandelion Tea Ginseng Tea Banchi Tea Kombucha SWEETENERS SPICES/SEASONINGS ORIENTAL VEGETABLES |
ACIDIFYING FOODS | ||
| FATS & OILS Avocado Oil Canola Oil Corn Oil Hemp Seed Oil Flax Oil Lard Olive Oil Safflower Oil Sesame Oil Sunflower Oil FRUITS GRAINS DAIRY | NUTS & BUTTERS Cashews Brazil Nuts Peanuts Peanut Butter Pecans Tahini Walnuts ANIMAL PROTEIN PASTA (WHITE) OTHER | DRUGS & CHEMICALS Chemicals Drugs, Medicinal Drugs, Psychedelic Pesticides Herbicides ALCOHOL BEANS & LEGUMES |
Please note that not all acidifying foods should be eliminated from the diet. Healthy grains, legumes, good oils, and nuts all have essential nutrients needed in every diet. Eating healthy acid foods can benefit your health as long as your diet consists of mostly alkaline foods.
Other Eczema Diet Tips:
- The quality food you eat is just as important as the type of food you eat. The more whole, raw fresh foods you can incorporate into your eczema diet plan the better. If possible, eat fresh organic locally grown foods that are in season.
- Eliminate or reduce your intake of pre-packaged foods. Packaged foods are highly processed with little to no valuable nutrients, and may create toxic by-products in the body.
- Stay away from artificial sweeteners such as aspartame (Equal), sucralose (Splenda), and saccharine (Sweet ‘n Low). A rtificial sweeteners are man-made chemicals that your body doesn’t recognize and can be detrimental to your overall health. If you need a low glycemic, low calorie alternative to sugar, try using Stevia. Stevia naturally comes from the juice of the stevia plant and is 30-40 times sweeter than sugar.
- Add essential fatty acids to your diet. Essential fatty acids are essential for healthy skin, and are abundant in oily fish, avocados, and flaxseeds.
- Take whole food supplements daily. A healthy diet should include the necessary 20 or 21 minerals, 13 vitamins, 8 to 11 essential amino acids, 2 essential fatty acids to function properly. Unfortunately, it is difficult to get all the nutrients needed even with the healthiest diet. Taking a food-based supplement can help you get all of the needed nutrients.
You don’t have to restrict yourself from eating delicious foods you enjoy with an eczema diet. You can have a healthier and satisfying diet that will not only help to reverse eczema, but can also help to improve your overall health.
February 4th, 2010 at 9:01 am
That was a serious illness. I never know that there is a diet that could cure it. That is very good news. Thanks.
February 11th, 2010 at 6:16 pm
Very good information. Keeping your digestion from over-acidity is key to controlling and getting rid of this condition. In Chinese medicine, we talk about dampness vs. dryness, rather than acid/alkaline but its much the same thing.
And I’m glad you mentioned the foods to avoid at the top because most people just want to add things to their diet, instead of taking garbage out. My list of things to take out of the diet: citrus, seafood (esp herring, oysters, shrimp), alcohol, coffe, black tea, sugar, spicy food, fried food, meat, and dairy. Avoid these for a while and if results are good, add your favorite back in little by little to be able to identify *your* triggers.
Again, good list of acid/alkaline foods. Certain foods, from the Chinese med perspective are especially helpful too. See http://ping.fm/g1qmS
March 10th, 2010 at 10:14 pm
chiropractic marketing To be healthy and happy we must eat a balanced diet. By eating as much of each kind of food as the body needs we can get this balanced diet.