Suffer from Eczema? How Best To Approach it With Nutrition and Alternative Remedies

How Best To Approach it With Nutrition and Alternative Remedies

By Isabelle Nunn, Head Nutritionist

As we looked into the previous blog, an immunological response is often how eczema appears amongst other contributing factors.

Identifying Food Allergens

This can be useful to help understand what could be triggering an immune response and a flare up of symptoms. Research shows that food allergens may in essence mediate an immune- IgE response in eczema sufferers, resulting in delayed responses (hours to days later). Ideally seek help from a registered nutritionist to help guide you through tests and how to best proceed. Simply cutting out those items from your diet is not advisable. Your digestive system or other organs such as the liver, may need additional support to help heal and repair. The liver is the organ that helps our detoxifying pathways, and if it is not working as it should, sometimes can show up through the skin and cause a flare up.

Nutrition Support

• * Pack your diet with ‘whole foods’ that are high in antioxidants, fibre and healthy fats. These support both overall gut health and the immune system. Think of variety and colours! Buying whole foods as fresh as possible, and cooking them from scratch also allows you to stay in control. If hard to do so, make smoothies or soups where you can have a whole.

• * Favour natural sugars, obtained from fruits and vegetables. Sugar obtained from cakes, alcohol, drinks including sodas and fruit juices or ready-made sauces can all trigger an inflammatory reaction and contribute to a worsening of symptoms. It is hard during this period especially if you are still working from home to plan all your meals, but you will feel the difference and be more comfortable in your skin.
  
  
• * Top up your intake of essential fatty acids, which are naturally anti-inflammatory but also provide our cells with beautiful oils to help restore a healthy skin barrier. Fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, and herring are great but also fats obtained from nuts and seeds, avocado or olive oil.  Seeds and nuts (other than peanuts) also contain great fats. Browse through Organic Traditions and super-cereals such as Golden Turmeric packed with flax seeds, chia, hemps seeds and lots of other nutritious goodies! We have a different flavour for everyone.
  
  
• * Watch out for some acidic foods that could make matters worse. These include citrus foods such as oranges and lemons, or tomatoes for example. Instead, replace them with foods that are high in Quercetin, a natural anti-inflammatory such as cherries, broccoli, apples, blueberries, spinach and kale.
  
  
• Foods supporting the healing process include Zinc and Vitamin C containing foods like pumpkin seeds, carrots, and sweet potatoes amongst others.
  
  
• * Protein also helps the healing process so aim for lean sources such as turkey, chicken, duck or fish. Keep red meat to a minimum throughout the week since it can contribute to inflammation. If vegan, sources like organic tofu, legumes such as lentils and beans, nuts and seeds all help contribute. If you struggle to meet your needs, or would like to add more protein explore our Raw Organic Garden of Life Proteins. They taste delicious and are packed with prebiotics, probiotics, greens, legumes and great antioxidants for your immune system.
  
  

• * If Turmericis a non-irritant for you, give it a go by adding fresh turmeric to your food, or simply buying a potent powder such as Organic Traditions Dual Extract Turmeric  that you can easily use every day. A powerful antioxidant, lowers inflammatory processes linked to conditions such as eczema, and also great for the immune system. It could do wonders for you.

Supplements & Alternative Remedies

Nettle: Nettle leaf is a wonderful plant that also supports the natural detoxifying abilities of the liver. It is available from Nature’s Answer. Choosing an alcohol-free extract is a great option as alcohol puts another strain on the liver even in small amounts. Extracts from the range are also far more potent than tinctures commonly found on the market, and therefore can be taken at a smaller dose or frequency and for a shorter period of time.

Turmeric: Holistically balanced turmeric extract, from Nature’s Answer supplies 3 active turmeric constituents standardised for 95% curcuminoids. Available in capsules  or liquid form.  Here you obtain a convenient liquid that is safe and authentic as well as potent and pure!

Vitamin D: Research has looked into Vitamin D3 as a preventative form and part of a treatment program for eczema sufferers. It is also the recommended supplement to be taken, on a daily basis.

Probiotics and Prebiotics:

The synergistic effect of prebiotics and probiotics have seen great clinical results in children over the age of 1 and in adults. Helping to stimulate the growth of a healthy intestinal bacterial environment (microflora), which allergy prone individuals seem to lack. Better results were seen if taken for a period over 8 weeks, with multiple strains of bacteria instead of a single strain and combined with prebiotics. Microbiome Organic Kids  formula is perfect for children over 4, with 14 clinical strains and certified organic prebiotics as well as the recommended dose of Vitamin D (10 mcg) and a good dose of wholefood Vitamin C! Supporting the immune system through the gut is very important!

Garden of Life Microbiome Mood Formula also is a great option for adults. Supporting your immune system, gut health and a healthy mood for a better quality of life. Formulated by an expert neurologist, this is the best product on the market. l

Essential fatty acids:

For many, fish is not a favourite of theirs! Or we simply struggle to meet our oily fish requirement per week. Omega 3’s are one of those supplements besides vitamin D supplementation that I would recommend on a regular basis! Not only have they been found to support immunity, lower inflammation, support achy and painful joints, hormonal balance, a healthy mood and skin health.

Omega 3 Fish Oil and the combination of Fish oil and Black cumin seed oil both provide incredible doses of essential fatty acids. 

Vegans can top up with Nature’s Answer Evening Primrose Oil  or the wonderful Ahi Flower Oil. The latter provides up to 4 times greater conversion rate to EPA, than flax oil! EPA is what we directly obtained from non-vegan sources of oily fish for example. Organic Traditions Ahi Flower Oil is efficient, safe, pure and of outstanding quality!

With the two blogs of the Eczema series, we hope you find yourself empowered with knowledge and have been offered a wide variety of options to handle eczema appropriately. If you need more support, do not forget to get in touch!

References

• Kim, J and Kim, H. (2019). Microbiome of the Skin and Gut in Atopic Dermatitis (AD): Understanding the Pathophysiology and Finding Novel Management Strategies. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30987008/ (Accessed on 17/09/2020)
• Murray, M. and Pizzorno, J. (2012) The Textbook of Natural Medicine. 4^th Edition. WA, USA. Churchill Livingstone
• Schlichte, M.J. Vandersall, A. Katta, R.(2016). Diet and eczema: a review of dietary supplements for the treatment of atopic dermatitis. Dermatology Practical and Conceptual. Jul; 6(3): 23–29. Available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5006549/ (Accessed on 23/0/2020)