subject: Have You Considered An Eczema Diet? [print this page] If you suffer from eczema, you probably will have noticed some connection between your diet and how your skin reacts. An eczema diet requires knowing what foods to stay away from and what foods are good for your skin.
Science has increasingly made clear to us the correlation between what we put into our stomachs and how our skin reacts. Everyone's biochemical makeup and genetics are different, of course, so what affects one person's skin condition in a negative way may actually benefit another person.
Your dermatologist can give you some good advice, but she or he can't be there to monitor your daily eating habits and how your skin responds over the next 24 hours after eating. You are the best witness and evaluator of what you eat and what your skin does not like.
It's important to understand that stomach discomfort and excess gas after eating certain foods is a good indicator that your body doesn't like what you put into it. Very often, the foods that are causing the gas and discomfort, are also causing your skin to react defensively.
What I mean is that your body may be reacting abnormally to an egg, or a glass of milk, or a piece of bread. It misreads it as something toxic to your system and reacts to fight the misdiagnosedtoxicity.
That battle between your body and what it sees as a toxic intruder causes the stomach discomfort. But the stomach alone is not able to handle the intruder by itself. As the "toxins" go into your blood stream, they migrate out to your skin as well. And your skin reacts to these intruders also. The result is an imbalance in your skin. An example would be an itchy red rash, such as occurs with an eczema flare-up.
To minimize the aggravation of skin disorders such as eczema, you first need to figure out what is triggering exacerbations. One of the best things you can do is keep a daily food journal. It should only take a couple of minutes a day. Jot down the date, time, what you ate, and how your stomach and skin reacted over the next 24 hours.
Some foods will cause a reaction in as little as an hour. Others may take up to 24 hours to leave their mark. Through process of elimination, and a little patience, you should be able to identify those foods or drinks that wreak havoc on your skin. Eliminate those from your diet and your eczema condition will improve.
Foods known to cause eczema flare-ups include shellfish, wheat (gluten), peanuts, milk, eggs, soy products, preservatives like MSG, and tomatoes. There are many others, so you need to be alert.
Be sure that you are getting the right minerals and best vitamins for your skin in your diet as well. Vitamins A, B Complex, C, D, E, and K provide antioxidants that help prevent and reverse skin damage. They help maintain strong, healthy skin structure at the cellular level, making your skin more resistant to disease, premature aging, and skin ailment exacerbations.
Deficiencies in these vitamins, as well as in the minerals selenium, zinc, and copper, leave your skin more vulnerable to skin disorders, aging, and even skin cancer. An eczema diet requires supplementation of these vitamins and minerals if you are not getting sufficient amounts in your food.
Foods high in fiber and high in antioxidants are great for your skin (of course, unless you are allergic to that particular food). Whole, rather than refined, foods are always better options. Foods high in Vitamin C help rejuvenate aging skin.
The following are great choices: blueberries, blackberries, apples, plums, squashes, pumpkins, and sweet potatoes. Additional supplements that have also helped people who suffer from eczema include flaxseed oil, the Omega-6 fatty acid, gamma linolenic acid (GLA), and evening primrose oil.
Most of all, an eczema diet involves awareness on your part as to what foods to avoid, what vitamin and mineral levels to maintain, and what foods and supplements to add to your daily diet.
