3 Common Foods That Make Eczema Worse

Everyone’s experience with eczema is different and there are many different ways to manage flare-ups. One way to prevent flare-ups from happening is to carry out changes in your diet and lifestyle. There is no single food that can be blamed for eczema, but your overall diet and lifestyle can have an impact on your condition. We have put this blog together to help you understand 3 common foods that could make your eczema worse. 

1. Cow’s Dairy 

When it comes to any skin issue, the most common food or even food group that you should remove from your diet is pasteurised dairy. This is due to the fact that cow’s milk can be pro-inflammatory in the body, especially pasteurised or homogenised dairy which contains large amounts of protein molecules that are difficult to digest. 

However, not all dairy products have to be eliminated forever. It is very helpful to remove this from your diet for a month if you are suffering from eczema and then reintroducing specific foods will help you determine if dairy is really causing your eczema to flare up. 

2. Sugar and refined carbohydrates

As we all know sugar and refined carbohydrates shouldn’t be taking up much of our diets, they do not build health in any way and can instead prevent us from reaching joyous health. The real issue with sugar is that it is hidden in everything including things such as condiments, salad dressings and canned tomatoes.  

Sugar is a pro-inflammatory for the body and inflammation is a contributing factor to eczema. Eczema has been found in cases where bad gut bacteria and fungus, such as candida are present in the gut. Candida is an opportunistic fungus in the form of yeast that feeds off sugar. In small amounts, candida is not something to be too concerned about but if it overproduces you will start seeing adverse effects on our skin and also the intestinal lining which can lead to an even greater effect of eczema which is a leaky gut. 

Our tip is to avoid all obvious sources of refined sugar and carbohydrates, try to keep natural sweeteners to a minimum and try to avoid things that can contribute to candida overgrowth. 

3. Bad Fats 

Fats are an important part of your diet, not any fats but healthy fats! Processed bad fats such as fried foods and oxidised vegetable oils are a concern and should be avoided, especially when trying to heal/control eczema. We recommend you use coconut or avocado oil when cooking at high heat. When dressing salads, we would recommend using a variety of oils such as olive oil, flaxseed oil, hemp seed oil and even pumpkin seed oil. All of these are extremely health-promoting and tasty. 

We understand that everyone suffers from eczema in a different way, avoiding these foods could help you control your eczema flare-ups! For more advice on healthy living head over to our blog today.