eczema remedies - foods to eat/avoid/ juice fast??

[Minitoots]

Has anyone with severe eczema found foods or supplements which help it? And ones to avoid?

I've had chronic eczema all over my body for the past 7 months and want to try alternative approaches to the course of steroids that the consultant has recommended. I've looked at quite a few eczema diet websites but some seem to have conflicting information so it would be good to hear from anyone who had tried it. What about juice fasts? Someone in a health shop recently told me about the juice fast that urticaria sufferer Joe Cross did - sounds miraculous!

[Robert Poste's Child]

Lots of people with eczema seem to have a problem with dairy.

If you have some money and time to do it, I recommend Homefield Grange in Northants, where you can do a supported juice fast including treatments like live blood testing (ETA and allergy testing) before and after so you can see the difference after taking dairy etc out of your system, plus detox treatments and colonics to help clear things. Sometimes just taking a break from everything helps the body tell you more clearly what the problem is.

https://www.homefieldgrangeretreat.co.uk/

[Jenny1]

My brother-in-law sorted his eczema out with cbd oil (not sure how many drops a day he took - expect there's advice online about that).

[Calsug]

My wife has eczema and she was told to avoid cows dairy, wheat and sugar where possible

We have switched to goats milk and minimise the amount of wheat and sugar we eat and it has definitely made a difference

Other than that you need to make sure the soaps and shampoo you are using are not irritating your skin so need to use something like Aveeno oat wash and moisturise with Cetraban after showering / having a bath

That said if you are having a bad flare up then steroids are often seen as a way to try and "reset" things

[Pugwash]

My grandchildren had eczema and drank goats milk or almond milk, had soya yoghurts. Took several years to clear but still have minor flare ups.

[SpringTime]

Sometimes had it as a child and swimming in the sea used to help. Good excuse for a weekend getaway especially whilst it's warm.

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

Check out Hannah Sillitoe https://mygoodnessrecipes.com

[Sue]

Minitoots, I posted this on your other thread, but the foods you are allergic to may be specific to you (though of course no harm in avoiding certain things to see if that helps!).

https://www.burghwoodclinic.co.uk/

ETA: Eczema is specifically mentioned on their website. I was treated here in the past (not for eczema) and they are very thorough and helpful.

It is not "alternative". To the best of my knowledge all the staff are medically qualified.

[Soane]

For me, it wasn't so much diet that helped as taking a good look at what was in contact with my skin.

I switched to fragrance-free detergents for washing clothes and programmed an extra rinse cycle into my washing machine. Don't use fabric softener, there's no need for that greasiness, which can cause eczema. Watch out for methylisothiazolinone used as a preservative; it's a known skin allergen. It's in ecover laundry gel and their bio-degradable wipes, so you can't just rely on a brand name. Ecover powder and wash tablets don't seem to contain this allergen. Many cosmetics, including moisturisers for the face, may contain methylisothiazolinone, so I now read labels carefully. Obviously avoid shampoos and liquid soaps containig sodium laurel sulphate and sodium lauryl sulphate, which are just added to make foam and are known skin irritants.

Religiously applying 100% pure shea butter twice a day on my eczema patches on my elbows finally cleared them up after about nine months. They had originally appeared after my skin had reacted to Waitrose cream cleaner and nothing had shifted them for over five years.

Good luck and I hope the eczema clears up soon.

Soane

[Sue]

Minitoots, have you seen this?

The printed article was in the Observer on Sunday, but this is the online version:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/aug/05/daughter-eczema-dr-aron

[Minitoots]

thanks Sue, I hadn't seen that- I'll check him out thanks.

[Gadge]

I had eczema as a kid up to around 7 years old. An eastern European doctor gave my mum excellent advise that worked for me some of which she was practising already.

1. I have to use a body lotion in the cooler weather. In the UK I use it around 10 months of the year. Any cheap low fragrance will do, I currently use Sainsburys ?1 per bottle,

2. We do not use biological soap powder.

3. I use only liquid soaps, the soap in bars are too strong for me.

4, The most important one after moisturising is keeping the house dust free. We hoover twice per week and remove dust weekly from surfaces. When I walk into a house that's dusty any uncovered limbs start to tingle immediately.

5 Finally eat lots of fruit and veg in particular tomatoes and tomato purees. I didn't have to stop eating anything, the fruit and veg just strengthens the skin so it has more resistance to what life throws at it.

I hope this helps. I have not had any problems since 7 years old so together everything is working.

[Minitoots]

thanks for the info, Gadge. Glad yours has cleared up.

[Elphinstone's Army]

hello Minitoots, has anyone suggested oil of evening primrose to you? directly applied? this cured my son's eczema when he was about 7 and no flare ups since.

At the same time I had flaky skin and psoriasis. Our gp suggested cutting out milk and cheese, as we also had a daughter who needed an inhaler for asthma. We lived in the Thames Valley near Windsor, relevant because of the quality of the water, I know not fromwhence it came ; and that we were low lying, so limited airflow ; similar to here of course.

We duly cut out dairy, milk cheese yoghurt, cream and butter, substituting the latter for olive oil, the pale sort, and also with great difficulty cut out bread (so no use for butter/cheese etc) after a while we simply adjusted our diet, ate brown rice and rice cakes, lost weight and drank copious amounts of water, fresh veg and raw food as much as possible.

No sign of any outbreak, scaly skin, spots, rashes, apart from the time my son fell/pushed in the nettles, sigh,

We had a Vick candle in the bedrooms during the winter, (can we still buy these) wonderful curative smell, keeping airways clear, and somehow prevented the irritation/scratching associated with eczema or sensitive skin.

We are all soap sensitive and use Ecover or the stuff from Boots cannot remember the name, Persil or similar and powerful cleaning fluids upset my daughter's airways even now, and skin of course.

We have all learned to live with this and take precautions. it can be an expensive condition as we change pillowcases/towels daily and wash hair/shower twice a day. We all use Aveeno or Childs Farm now.

When we are in West Yorkshire or mid France, both places with soft soft water we notice the difference immediately,

no need for any moisturiser and happy skin.

Have you considered a water softener?

We are moving next month and will probably have a whole house unit fitted, the bliss of soft water will be well worth the expense.

Sometimes if I have a shower early morning (5/6 am) my skin will itch. Early morning additives perhaps ?Thames Water?

post shower we all use E.45,the pump action flask, often on offer in Lloyds, gentle and absorbs.

The one food which will inflame irritate and we all instinctively reject, is tomatoes !!!

even when my children were babies they refused it, the only thing.

house dust free : yes ! we have been 'having a sort out' for weeks now, packing to move, raising dust

and moving furniture/taking down curtains etc. I have been spotty as a teenager and itchy. Obviously

there is a correlation. My sister who suffers also said, coat your face in Vaseline before you start to

clean/vac, and then of course wash/shower it all off at the end of the day. Then moisturise.

Who remembers their Mum/Grandma wrappign her hair up in a scarf before setting to and vacuuming/mopping/dusting/

as they knew dust would fly, settling in hair/scalp and irritating faces.

We are moving closer to PRP so hopefully not allergic to pollen, grass or dog poo - rolls eyes.

good luck Minitoots, keep us posted, blameless babies have eczema, water, hormones, environment, who knows.

[Siduhe]

Interesting re tomatoes - I'm exactly the same. I had eczema badly as a child, grew out of it, and then it came back in my 30s on my shoulders, arms and back. The two foods that were guaranteed to make it worse for me were tomatoes and oranges.

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

I have psoriasis, quite bad to the point that steroids stopped working and I had to endure a form of chemo to clear. It took me two years to get over my steroids detox, my face was a mess and I only stick to natural remedies. I have to avoid all nightshades so no tomatoes, white potatoes (sweet potatoes is fine) no peppers and no aubergines. I also can?t have dairy, sugar or gluten. I find eating a mostly vegan/plant based/raw diet/green juices brilliant alongside taking D3 and Magnesium. I do fall off the wagon and flare badly if my naughty day turn into weeks but after a few months of sticking to a ?clean? diet I clear. I also find the London water harsh on my skin.

I tend to find if I?m very restrictive I clear quicker then I can get away with the odd gluten treat as it?s too hard for me to cut it out forever.

http://www.psoriasisbuddy.com

[Elphinstone's Army]

DB&B, yes, nightshades - giving up potatoes, was difficult, but necessary, now sweet potatoes rule in our house, yes D3 and Magnesium, forgot this : from HealthMatters, I think it is Natures Plus, also available at Wholefoods in Kensington.

Thank you for the link

also Siduhe, yes oranges, offered as a treat when I was young, Jaffa Oranges ! my mother said I recoiled, so you see, our bodies know what is right for us.

Yes I stoutly believe that hard water, albeit good for our dental health, exacerbates any eczema condition, from

personal experience.

Another thing I realised is that, during the winter when my boiler failed - and I was boiling kettles of water which had been through my water filter, and 'strip washing' my skin was calm, soft, clean, non itchy. ok this is personal information but relevant I believe.

Our skin is the largest organ we have. Years ago when I visited a dermatologist at St Mary's in Paddington, he advised me to drink more water and take a multivitamin. As though this was all that was necessary.

This was NHS

Water quality, pollution, stress, hormones, Persil, whatever.

If I could have three wishes, and through my life I knew this, the first would be clear skin, even after

fish and chips, chocolate, Guinness, fried bread, cake, biscuits, buns, cream, ice cream, alcohol, bread, sugar.