What dietary taboos should you pay attention to with eczema?

In fact, there is no uniform list of dietary taboos for eczema. There is only one core principle - avoid foods that are clearly aggravating eczema, and don't blindly follow the trend and avoid so-called "fat foods".

When I was helping out at a community skin health science popularization post, I met quite a few patients who fell into the wrong trap. The one that impressed me the most was a 32-year-old mother who had suffered from chronic eczema for almost three years. The rashes on her elbows and calves broke out repeatedly, and she was so itchy that she couldn't sleep all night. I heard the elders in my family said that eczema should avoid all hair products. I stopped eating beef, seafood, mangoes, and even eggs. In half a year, she lost almost ten pounds, her face turned sallow, and her eczema didn't get much better. Later, she went for an allergen test and kept track of her food diary for more than half a month, only to discover that her only food allergen was cashew nuts. She had no reaction at all after eating the things she had previously avoided. After returning to a normal diet, her nutrition kept up, and with the topical medication prescribed by the doctor, the rash completely disappeared in less than two months.

That’s not to say that the traditional view of “hair-raising foods” is completely unreasonable. Nowadays, many people think that spicy and fishy foods can aggravate the inflammatory response. This does have some reference during the acute attack period: If your eczema is in the stage of redness, hotness, and exudation, foods with high histamine, such as pickled foods, Prepared salted fish, fermented fermented bean curd, leftovers that have been stored for two or three days, and high-alcohol alcohol will indeed increase the release of histamine in the body and make the itching more obvious. It is okay to temporarily avoid this stage for 1-2 weeks. When the rash is almost gone, you can add it in small amounts slowly. Most people will have no problem if they eat it during the stable period.

There is also a lot of debate about whether you can eat spicy food. In fact, it all depends on your personal tolerance. I met a patient from Chongqing who grew up eating spicy food. After he got eczema, he heard people say that he should avoid spicy food. ； However, there are also patients who are sensitive to capsaicin. After eating hot pot, a red rash will appear on their face and neck the next day, making them itchy and scratching. Of course, this should be avoided actively.

If you are really not sure which food you are allergic to, just spend two or three weeks keeping a simple food diary. Every time you eat a food that you don’t eat often, write it down. At the same time, mark the itchiness and rash status of the eczema that day, and find out your own exclusive minefield. This is much more reliable than searching for various taboo lists online. After all, everyone’s body is different. Taboo rules that suit others may not necessarily suit you.