It is suggested that the proper eczema diet can prevent flareups as well as reduce or even eliminate symptoms. Most sufferers will experience a reaction to a trigger food within two hours of consuming it, others won’t see symptoms for 24 hours later. Since every person is different, the list of unfavorable foods will vary from one individual to another. What this means is that you may have to deal with quite a few rashes during your trial and error phase to create your list of foods to stay clear of.
Determining Your Trigger Foods
The most common foods that cause eczema rashes are dairy, berries, eggs, wheat, gluten, nuts, citrus fruits, soy, tomatoes, fish and chocolate. The best way to determine which foods are causing your eczema is to serve yourself a small portion of one of these foods everyday, allowing at least 24 hours for a fair evaluation before you try a different one. Any foods that cause a rash go on your list of foods not to eat.
Popular Diets
• Wheat-Free Diet – For some, a wheat-free diet is all that is needed to prevent eczema. This includes refined wheat, whole wheat, wheat bran, semolina, couscous, durum, stone-ground, bulgar, einkorn, matzo, kamut, triticale and seitan. You can however, still enjoy foods that contain amaranth, almond flour, brown or white rice, arrowroot, corn, tapioca, coconut flour, flax seed, maize, quinoa, rye and barley.
• Gluten-Free Diet – There is a common misconception that wheat-free and gluten-free are the same thing but they’re not. Gluten is actually a plant protein. Therefore, while the list of foods are similar, gluten-free is a little stricter. For example, a person on this diet for eczema treatment could eat the safe foods on the list above with the exception of rye and barley because they are plant derived. You can safely eat frozen or canned vegetables as long as no gluten has been added as a preservative or thickener.
• Vegan Diet – Providing you don’t have any wheat or gluten allergies, a vegan diet has become a popular option for eczema. This eliminates a large portion of triggering foods such as diary, eggs, fish and meat. Vegan diets are also being recommended for current cancer patients as well as to help prevent cancer, diabetes, heart disease and high cholesterol.
It is important to understand that one specific diet may not be the best option for you. While you might find that wheat is to blame, there is still a chance that other foods will cause rashes as well. It is always recommended when trying new foods, to not overdo it until you know how your body is going to react.
Don’t get discouraged if there are foods that you love on your list you cannot eat. Today, there are plenty of substitutes available to accommodate any diet so you can take this opportunity to expand your daily diet and find new things to love!
