Eczema Diet

I am suffering from eczema for almost two years now. The skin specialist prescribed cortisone, topical steroid and antihistamine which helped for a while. However every time I finished the medication, my eczema came back again. The unbearable itch made me scratch abruptly. Scratching only worsened my skin condition, once I was prescribed antibiotics and cortisone cream contains antibiotic to cure the infection and to reduce the inflammation. I noticed that all these medicines only suppressed whatever causes my eczema beneath my skin.

About 2 months ago, I decided to stop using cortisone cream/topical steroid and changed my diet. This diet helped although I had to suffer for a month from all the blisters, oozing watery flares and intense itch, they really spread on my back, arms and legs. I had many sleepless night but I was determine to stick to my diet and to not use cortisone/steroid anymore. I saw the progress on my skin, slowly but surely those oozing watery itchy red flares dried up and covered with scabs (like dried wound), still with intense itch every night. 

About 2 weeks ago, all the scabs peeled off my skin and the new skin underneath are still dark reddish but much less itch. I am now still doing my diet and hoping that one day soon I will be free from this freaking eczema.

Here is my diet on daily basis:

Breakfast :

Fresh fruits (2 bananas, 1 apple, 2 oranges, 2 slices of brown bread with fruit jam.) 

An hour later : 1 cup of coffee with 1/3 teaspoon sugar, 1 slice of brown bread with chocolate spread (eliminate coffee and chocolate from your diet if you suffer more severe eczema/psoriasis).

Lunch / Dinner:

-Boiled kale : eat the boiled kale for dinner, drink the water after dinner and before going to bed.

-Homemade salad for lunch or for dinner :

1. Baby spinach, rockets, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, coriander leaves, basil leaves, red beat, cress, carrots, fennel, iceberg lettuce. Wash, cut/slice into small dice when necessary, toss all into a large bowl. Dressing : olive oil, apple cider vinegar, a pinch of salt.
2. Spinach, pomegranate, walnuts, dried figs. Dressing : mustard, honey, olive oil, balsamic vinegar
3. Fennel, oranges, apples, pears. Dressing : apple cider vinegar, olive oil.

-Brown rice with baked or steamed fish, sauted vegetables (spinach, broccoli, bean sprout, paprika with shallots, garlic, cooking oil, a bit of salt and pepper.)

-Soup : choose one of these : broccoli/spinach/carrots/tomatoes/spring onions/pumpkin – I made soup of one of these veggies twice or once a week with 1 tablespoon of cooking oil, 1/2 teaspoon bouillon, 200ml water, salt and pepper. Eat this soup with brown bread.

Drink :

-The water from boiled kale 2-3 times per day.

-Plenty of water, water helps to flush toxic out of your body!

-Carrot juice : use a juice extractor to get the pure carrot juice, 8 large carrots, drink the juice all at once – no certain timing for this, I did it whenever I want.

I still I drink red/white wine in the weekend sometimes, and 2 cups of coffee (espresso) every day. 

If you suffer more severe eczema and want more rapid result, I suggest to eliminate alcohol and coffee from your diet. Change it with fresh juices (carrots / apples / watermelon or green juices made of raw vegetables: cucumber, kale, spinach, a green apple to sweeten it)

Snacks : 

Dried fruits, all kind of nuts (almond, walnut, cashew; I don't eat peanut as it caused acne on my face).

I am not an expert or a medical doctor, I learned all these dos and don's from my own experience. Based on reactions of my skin to certain food, I found out that these food are NOT good for eczema sufferer. Remove these on the first 90 days of your diet and see how your skin improve. :

• Pork (all pork meat such as bacon, ham etc), red meat (beef, buffalo, goat, lamb, deer etc). If you want to eat meat, choose free range chicken or fish. I love fish or seafood, so I often eat salmon, tuna, trout or shrimps, luckily my skin seems tolerant to fish / seafood. If you are allergic to all kind of fish or seafood, avoid it! The amount of food you consume is best at 10-20% of meat combine with 80-90% vegetables / fruits and carbohydrate every meal (lunch and dinner). An ideal diet should be proportioned at 75 percent alkalizing foods, and 25 percent acidifying foods. 
• Dairy products! Eliminate milk (all kinds including soy/rice milk), cheese, cream, yogurt, chocolate etc.
  
• Yeast, white bread, white rice, corn, wheat and cereal. Eat only brown rice or sweet potatoes! In my case I still eat brown bread with chocolate spread as my skin seems fine with it.
• Perfumed sanitary/cleaner products (soap, shampoo, lotion, hand/body/face cream, clothing detergent and softener). Use only NON Perfume and hypoallergenic type.

The ultimate tips!

• I suggest you to do an allergic test to find out what your body allergic with.
• DO NOT scratch, no matter how crazy the itch is, just rub your skin gently or apply an ice cube on the itchy part. It is impossible but do your best.
• Keep your skin moist by applying hypoallergenic non perfume body lotion on your skin, in my case  I'm using PHYSIOGEL A.I. (it was prescribed by the skin specialist for me) and it soothes my skin really well.
• Take a quick (less than 10 min) shower/bath with cold water or slightly warm water. Dry your skin by tapping a towel on your skin gently.
• Take antihistamine when the itch is unbearable.
• Do not stress and have enough sleep. 

Info :

-Salt and sugar trigger itchiness, use only little amount of it in your diet
-Dairy products are bad for eczema sufferer, eliminate these.
-Use apple cider vinegar for your dressing in your fresh vegetables salads.
-Fresh fruits, fresh organic green vegetables are effective to cure eczema.
-I found in many websites and testimonies that fresh green juice is good to cure eczema.