Why diet elimination with eczema?
I just want to start this off by saying it is hard work avoiding foods that our little ones are sensitive or allergic to, so I see you, and you are doing such an amazing job! If you’re unsure that food needs to be removed, or what foods to remove keep reading :)
There are two schools of thought when it comes to allergens and sensitivities. One says keep the foods in your diet and slowly expose the body to them at small amounts to avoid a reaction, and the other that says to remove the foods completely to allow for healing. Then after some time, introduce them slowly again after some time. I have personally tried both methods, and I think there is a time and place for both, but the second one allows for more healing. Most medical professionals today seem to say that diet has nothing to do with eczema. I was told this by a dermatologist after explaining to her that I had seen successes with many different health concerns by removing foods from my diet. I personally think the research is behind on this, and we are seeing so many more kids now with food allergies, sensitivities and eczema, and the go-to solution at pediatricians offices is a steroid. Even if you or your little one doesn’t end up with TSW, it suppresses the inflammation and steroids often just end up on a constant refill because the eczema just continues to come back.
When you are experiencing something like eczema, asthma or allergies, your body is dealing with a constant state of inflammation. Things like foods and environmental allergens that can naturally be more inflammatory can be a big problem for these individuals because it leaves the immune system on overdrive every time it is exposed. Also, if you’re dealing with a chronic illness, there is almost certainly “leaky gut” going on. When our guts are “leaky”, food particles that we eat cross into the bloodstream and our body can start to view it as something to attack. This ramps up our immune systems and drives inflammation causing the symptoms of itchiness, wheezing, hives or whatever the case may be. When we remove the trigger, our immune system can settle down and then the gut can work on repairing itself. The goal is that after some time you can re-introduce the foods and not have a flare because your gut lining has been repaired, your inflammation is reduced, and your immune system isn’t going hay-wire. While foods often times aren’t the “root cause” for eczema, they have played a huge part in our healing process while we figure out what went wrong in the first place.
There are some common foods that are a trigger for eczema and allergies.
Gluten and dairy are unfortunately the biggest culprits. When following different gut healing protocols the first step is often removing these two foods. There is a Facebook group called Erasing Eczema that is extremely helpful in laying out the foods to remove, and the foods to add to allow the gut to heal. We have personally removed much more than just gluten and dairy, but if you start there and see success then that is wonderful!
Something that is helpful for me is keeping a food journal. Food sensitivity symptoms can arise anywhere from immediately after exposure, to a few days later, so it can be tricky to figure out what is causing the flare. Another really helpful Facebook page that lays out all the details about removing certain foods while breastfeeding is The Dairy Free Diet- Breastfeeding group. Once I know what symptoms I want to avoid, I pay attention to when they happened and look at what I ate. If I suspect a certain food, often a common trigger food for eczema, I remove it from my diet and see if it improves. If not, I would move on to the next food. My suggestion would be to only remove one food at a time so you don’t end up removing more foods than you need to.
If keeping a food journal isn’t working or is too confusing, muscle testing and chiropractic care has been an incredible help for us. I owe a huge part of our healing success to our chiropractor.
A practical way to test for food allergies is a blood or skin allergy test. These are often less expensive than a sensitivity test. The allergen test wont tell you what you are sensitive too, but if you have a IgE response to a food which definitely needs to be out of the diet to heal.
While the foods are removed its go time to heal the gut and work on overall wellness. To do this we are adding Biofulvic and humic minerals which supports mineral status and helps detoxify (often times kids with eczema have mineral imbalances or are just low on minerals), an antimicrobial/antifungal to address internal overgrowth, supporting the liver and making sure detox pathways are open, and adding in gut healing supplements which for us right now are Acemannan and Mega IgG.
Another good way to determine what your child needs if their healing is at a standstill is ordering a stool test. We are holding off on giving any probiotics until we have the gut tested because everyone is so unique in what strains they need and what they are sensitive to. We just ordered one from Tiny Health, and I will be writing a blog on my thoughts on how it goes and if its helpful in my daughter’s healing journey. They walk you through your gut health results and how to support your specific needs.
The goal is that the eczema starts to fade, the itch decreases, and their tolerance increases. So while the foods are out now, the goal is that eventually you can have them back in the diet. I don’t know what the timeline is, and choose to take it day by day. Healing often is not a linear process and things are always changing.