The Truth About Dieting For Eczema

Strict dieting.
Strict dieting.

Dieting cured my eczema.

Which diet? I’ll tell you so you can Google it now?

No.

There is not a definitive answer. It’s like asking “is basketball or is soccer better?” or “is it football or is it soccer?”.

It’s an inevitable ongoing controversial question – there’s no one best diet that can cure eczema. Here’s the truth.

The New Concern About Dieting

Speed.
Speed.

The truth is, almost all healthy diets can cure eczema.

But what matters is, how fast the diet is going to be, because when you tell someone it can be cured, the next thing they want is speed.

So, the next question after “Which diet works?” becomes…

“Which is the fastest diet?”

Why Do Most Healthy Diets Work?

Because most healthy diets are based on the same principle of “eat healthy”.

When you eat healthy in this current society, you are stopping the intake of modern foods which are artificial, toxic and health-damaging. And you are increasing the intake of natural, organic, health-repairing and non-processed foods.

By eating healthy, you are allowing your body to repair the damages done from previous eating habits and allowing it to heal.

Most healthy diets work because they don’t continuously feed your body with damaging foods, but instead they give your body the healthiest sources of nutrients that promote recovery.

If you’re interested in how off-scale our diets today, read this. (it’s ridiculous)

Examples of “Eat Healthy” Diets

  • DASH Diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) – which promotes high consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole-grains and low fat dairy products and reduction in sweetened foods, red meat and fats.
  • GAPS Diet (Gut And Psychology Syndrome) – promotes the rebuilding of healthy gut bacteria through the key consumption of homemade bone broths and lacto-fermented foods. Learn more: 1, 2.
  • Paleo Diet (Paleolithic Diet) – focuses on eating habits of the Paleolithic era, or you could think of it as a caveman’s diet: “fish, grass-fed pasture raised meats, eggs, vegetables, fruit, fungi, roots, and nuts, and excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, potatoes, refined salt, refined sugar, and processed oils [Wikipedia].”
  • Gluten-Free Diets – does not allow the consumption of gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, barley…etc. It is primarily used to treat people with celiac disease but many people also tend to be sensitive to gluten and result in inflammatory symptoms e.g. eczema.
  • Vegan Diet – eats only plants and no animal products at all. This diet also excludes eggs and dairy products or else it becomes a vegetarian diet.

Here’s a list of diets, diets that work and 8 popular diets.

How Does Body Healing Work?

Body healing works via the time when your vital organs are not working on processing and digesting food. This is the crucial period of time where your body can repair itself of many chronic diseases caused by poor eating habits such as: asthma, psoriasis, eczema and even cancer.

Dieting is the solution to reversing the symptoms caused by your eating habits. It heals you permanently and effectively from the within, but it’s slow. Unlike conventional treatment: masking the symptoms from the outside, fast but temporary.

Healing For Acquired (Post-Birth) Cause

Accumulation of toxins.
Accumulation of toxins.

It is often the question “Why can other people eat exactly what I ate and face no problems?” that leaves us intrigued.

Genetic health is the answer to this unfairness. It is the answer to why my friends can eat unhealthily but their body are able to digest and detoxify unwanted substances.

They may not have obvious symptoms such as eczema show up in their early ages, but the build-up of artificial toxins will accumulate and expunge altogether at once via many possible ways: cancer, diabetes, heart disease, brain degenerative diseases and all ways worst than our early signs such as eczema.

In reality, eczema sufferers are better because we receive an early warning, although it comes at a price with early suffering. Steroetypical thinking believes that their eczema cannot be cured and most of them are stuck with it for life.

No. When we receive the early warning, we have to respond to it by fixing the damage down to our body, via dieting.

Healing For Congenital (Hereditary) Cause

Genetic cause.
Genetic cause.

Then the last doubt goes to “Why are some people born with diseases, allergies, eczema, asthma?”

Again, the simple answer is genetic health. This is determined by many factors including:

  • environmental pollutants.
  • during-pregnancy unhealthy eating habits.
  • unlucky random improper structure of genes.

To fix the body that naturally has a problem upon birth cannot be permanent because in today’s technology, it is near impossible for a perfect gene modification. The best solution to this problem is a maximum safety diet designed for that particular body.

Why? Because genetic health can be changed through dieting and lifestyle choices.

Although acquired eczema can be treated and cured with dieting, congenital eczema at its best can be brought to near-perfection through a strict ongoing diet.

The Inuit Paradox

Inuit diet. (image credit)
Inuit diet. (image credit)

The Inuit are people who live in extremely northern regions of the globe and their food sources are based heavily on protein (whales (esp. bowhead whale), walrus, caribou, seal, The Narwhal, polar bears, muskoxen, birds) and fat.

In fact, 75% of their daily sources of energy come from fats. Their environmental conditions allow very scarce supplies of plants: grasses, tubers, roots, stems, berries, and seaweed.

If the so-called “healthy diet” is based on eating a balance of high vegetables and moderate amounts of carbohydrates and protein, how can the indigenous people of the arctic regions survive? (with half the rates of heart disease and cancer caused by today’s diets)

Here’s a detailed post and a magazine article on the Inuit Paradox.

I believe the answer to this anomaly is the evolutionary adaption of genetics. Through generations of reproduction, the people who live under such harsh (for us) conditions have managed to adapt to the circumstances around the place and sustain life.

Eating their “normal” high-protein high-fat diet is considered healthy. I suspect if they had suddenly switched eating habits with someone else from the current Western society, they would get sick and fall into many diseases because their genes have yet to be able to respond to our artificial foods.

What Is The Best Diet For Eczema?

Eczema is triggered by a combination of a variety of factors. There’s not a best diet for everyone because different people have different triggers for eczema, some could be genetic issues, some could be environmental, allergens…etc.

To find out which eczema diet is best for you in terms of speed and accuracy, regardless of afterbirth or congenital cause, I suggest following these criteria:

  1. The diet does not contain any substances you are allergic to.
  2. It does not have anything that you could be sensitive towards, including those that are not strong enough to show obvious effects.
  3. It does not have anything that hinders the repairment of your gut.

Here’s my slideshow for simplicity:

The diet will include these restrictions:

  • Nothing artificial.
  • No dairy products.
  • No gluten.
  • No excessive intake of flavourers e.g. salt, vinegar, sugar.
  • No more than 20% of acidifying foods in any one day.
  • No foods high in natural chemicals.
  • No known allergens.

Here’s an eczema-safe food list.

While on the strict diet, make sure you keep track of foods that you could be sensitive to – this is the reason why no one diet is perfect, everyone has their own sensitivities, even to natural foods.

To keep track of food items, I suggest introducing new food choices one at a time, or else it would be unclear between multiple choices.

I highly recommend taking an allergy test.

I know a blogger friend who has written her experience with blood tests, I suggest getting a grasp of this information on food allergies: here’s part 1, part 2 and part 3.

My Typical Meal Plans

Breakfast

Each morning, I blend two apples (or a variant of an apple and a pear) with a banana, with a cup of water. I drink everything from the blending including all the residue because during pure juice extract cannot give you the majority of the essential nutrients, which is a waste.

I also drink 3 teaspoons of flaxseed oil on top of my juice.

Lunch

For lunch, I fill a pot 33% up with water and boil veggies into it.

Vegetables (combinations/amounts vary):

  • Carrot
  • Parsley
  • Cucumber
  • Zucchini
  • Lettuce
  • Cabbage
  • Purslane
  • Celery
  • Bean sprouts
  • Black fungi
  • Garlic
  • Ginger

Then I have a bowl of carbohydrates, either one:

  • Rice noodles
  • Sweet potatoes (these taste awesome)
  • Brown rice, never white rice
  • Millet
  • Buckwheat
  • A mix between several gluten-free grains

Protein, either one:

  • Chicken
  • Fish (low mercury breeds)
  • Minced beef

I like to chop everything to bite-sized pieces for easy chewing.

Note that the proportion of each meal should be 50% vegetables, 25% carbohydrates and 25% protein.

Dinner

My dinner is often the same with my lunch but I try to switch around the vegetable list so I don’t eat the same stuff twice. This gives my body a more luxurious variety of nutrients and for better taste.

During the initial periods of my recovery, I often blended raw vegetables and drank everything, it was the most healthiest and nutritious choice, but it tasted quite off-putting, so it is ultimately your choice.

Other

I only drank room-temperature water as a drink and for snacks I ate bananas, carrots sticks, celery sticks and sweet potatoes.

To Eczema Sufferers

Regardless of the cause of your eczema congenital or post-birth, the one simple answer towards the elimination of symptoms of eczema requires a persistent obedience to a strict diet.

I assume the whole process took over a year for my eczema (which is fast considering I had it for 10 years) to have entirely healed, including the times when my skin had only scars, I felt that the inner body still hasn’t fully repaired itself.

The absence of skin symptoms doesn’t necessarily mean the completion of healing, it just means the level of toxins in your body isn’t strong enough to expunge externally via skin passageways, you are simply in the late recovery stage.

Three more important things contribute to the overall success of healing: persistence, patience and hope. Having these traits means the second half of the battle.

So, here’s the truth about eczema and dieting.

It is definitely possible.

Published by Harrison Li

HARRISON LI is a typical example of an eczema sufferer who had gone through the waves and storms of steroid therapy, Chinese herbal medicine, numerous general physicians, dermatologists, and to no avail, in recovering from eczema. Until ten years later, he discovered the possibility of using an integrated evidence-based approach by applying nutrition and lifestyle strategies to reverse autoimmunity. Since 2013, he has established a web presence for the mission of eliminating worldwide eczema and spends his spare time advocating for eczema patients. He is undertaking the Food and Nutritional Science program at The University of Hong Kong. Harrison is also a guest contributor to several publications, particularly at Health Union. Visit him online at www.CureEczemaSlowly.com.

Join the Conversation

35 Comments

  1. Hi Harrison,
    I am an eczema sufferer since October last year. The rashes looked horrible mostly on my legs and arms. They receded in December after I took medication (antibiotics, cortisone and antihistamine) but left white scars on my skin.
    The rashes came back by end of January this year, not as bad as before but more spread all over my skin. I had the feeling that medicines only suppressed the rashes but didn’t really cure it. So I stopped taking medication and started my diet. The progress seemed slow and more rashes came out. It scared me but I kept my diet. I had the feeling it’s better to just let the rashes out rather than suppress them. However I saw the rashes began to recede after a week of my diet.
    I was searching for better solutions or better diet methods. Before I found your blog, I went through some blogs with eczema stories but all ended up only trying to sell their books about Paleo Diet.
    I was so glad to finally found your blog, I found it simple, open and to the point. I wrote this to say thank you for your work.

    1. Hey Gabriella,

      Thanks for your kind words, I do this to help 🙂 It’s great to hear that you have finally arrived to the ultimate step, we actually had quite a similar journey, in fact, many people do. Some people eventually realize chemical medications are not the way to go, but some people never reach this point and suffer, my goal is to help those acknowledge it. Actually, many places promote Paleo Diet ebooks, I won’t completely disagree with them that it won’t work, most diets actually work similarly. Perhaps they are just too rushy on the sale. I’m also working on a book that will simplify everything up, but recently I don’t have the time for it. (most info are on the blog anyway)

      Thanks for stopping by, I’m glad to have helped you in some way!

      Keep in touch,
      Harrison Li

  2. Thank you so much for taking time to share all that you have learned. My baby (15 months old) has severe eczema. I want to follow your diet (including eliminating dairy), but how do I do this for a baby that needs milk to grow? Any substitutes for milk for a baby or infant? Thank you for everything you’ve done to educate others. Your blog gives me hope.

    1. Hey Lilly,

      No problem! Babies need milk to grow, but try not to think of milk as only milk from cows. Of course, “milk” doesn’t come only from cows, common alternatives for dairy allergies include: coconut, rice and almond. There are also soy, hemp and others but those three are more common and healthy-wise.

      Cheers,
      HL

  3. Hello I wanted to ask, after the healing process has the texture of your skin returned to normal? Is it soft? Or scarred ? I have really really soft skin apart from the random eczema flare ups, I’ve only have eczema since November 2012 I was 18, ill be turning 20 this July and I’ve had enough of the typical steroid creams I’ve been prescribed they’ve given me skin atrophy 🙁 and I have no idea if ill be able to reverse that, I currently have a flare out on my hands no where else (it’s always my hands /arms)

    So I’m hoping to deal with it correctly this time, and not cause any further damage

    I’m considering using protopic just to reduce the existing inflammation but I’ve never tried it before, I suffer with anxiety and feel it provokes break outs so maybe if the eczema is physically improved I’ll be less stressed and more able to keep it away?

    Thank you so much for helping people who suffer with this skin reaction xo

    1. Hey Amy,

      No worries, glad to hear your shout-out!

      I’m going to dive straight into the truths you need to know; your skin atrophy is going to require a tough process to heal. Yes it’s possible to revert back to your normal state of skin, but after all those days of steroidal suppression of your immune system, the bad stuff is going to come out as you heal – which means more itching and gets even worse (aka the healing crisis), which is a positive sign for recovery. To heal so, you’ll need to get start dieting – to heal yourself inside out, which is the only way. But since your case sounds mild, you might not have to go through an extremely restrictive diet.

      As for Protopic, I’ve never used it but from peer reviews I’ve known that it has no steroids and will help suppress the eczema; initial users commonly get burning sensations though (which is not to be confused with a rash). I personally don’t recommend medications (definitely slows down the healing) and prefer the natural route, but this is your choice between the symptoms (perhaps in the social context) and the healing.

      As for stress, it directly affects your eczema symptoms. I suggest stress-alleviation techniques e.g. yoga, deep breathing. Also, the more you exercise the better, because it promotes detoxification.

      Let me know if there are further questions. 🙂

      Cheers,
      Harrison

  4. thanks man your a good person for doing this, im going through a bad flare up on my face right now, had to leave the university and everything, its been a long and depressing year, it came from no where, but i just found out about these diets and ive been on the strict diet for a week, my face went through that terrible phase of getting worse, but i know its normal, but hopefully this thing will get cured, but i promised myself if i get cured by doing this diet, im going to dedicate my life to help people who have skin problems, its just nice to see someone out there doing the same, good stuff man

    1. Hey Jon!
      Thanks for the praise, I agree with you. When I had the problem really bad, my intention was that once I would have it cured I would spread it around to other sufferers, and this is what this blog is for.
      Just a word of caution, most people who start the strict diet will face difficulties and somehow reach a plateau because of some unknown reason. If you get there, don’t give up because a problem can always be fixed, there must be a reason!
      Keep it up. Please update me on your progress 🙂
      Harrison

      1. Is fat in the diet important? Is so, how much fat should we consume each day?
        Thank you so much!
        Mary

        1. Fat is important. We’ve had a long popular perception from the food industry that all fat is bad. Again, as all nutrients, are good and bad types.

          Good fat: fatty fish, saturated fat from beef, red meats, white meats. Butter is good if you’re wondering.

          Bad fat: trans fat, hydrogenated oils, like margarine (imitation butter), processed food fats.

          Takeaway: eat good fats liberally, don’t count the calories. Ban bad fats.

  5. Hi Harrison,

    I am so glad to find your blog. I have a 14 year old son who is currently undergoing extreme eczema pain. He has never been this bad. Although he was born with eczema, the symptoms are went into remission for about 7 years! For the past 6 months, it has all returned with a revenge and it is affecting his gace, neck, hands/knuckles and folds.

    The first thing that came to my mind after reading your blog is – hey, my son can relate to you so easily as you guys are about the same age. It would be really encouraging to show him your videos and let him know that there is hope and anyone, just anyone just him can suffer eczema. His is more of a congenital issue, we all know.

    Thanks a lot for sharing your experience and knowledge here. Unlike all other websites who focused on selling the books, you meant well to impart what you have gone through.

    Meanwhile, I have not been able to receive your 13 eczema Questions pdf format although I signed up for it. It asked that I check my emails to confirm subscription but I didn’t receive any such email…

    God bless you Harrison!

    1. Hey Ms. Lim,

      Thanks for your praise. I try my best to help. If there’s anything he needs or if he just wants to have a simple Skype chat, I don’t mind and we can schedule a time for it. As for people with the congenital cause, it’s harder to heal up but it is still possible to alter the genetic health (with tighter dieting). If his eczema would come back like that, it must mean he has crossed the line with his immune system where it can longer hold on to the inflammatory responses happening inside the body. Hopefully, we can both encourage him to make some changes (the earlier the better and less painful). Just try not to use steroids.

      On my system it tells me it’s awaiting for your confirmation. Please check your spam folder. Sometimes it gets trapped in there. If not, I’ll resend one.

      Cheers,
      Harrison

      1. Hi Harrison,

        I have started my son on the diet, not the high restrictive diet for about 5 weeks now but there aren’t much improvement. In fact, it has spreaded to his arm and folds on his legs these days. It’s pretty sad but I know I have to persevere.

        Well, as his condition is congenital, we recognise it takes a while. We’ve just brought him to do the blood test and result came back with just dust mite allergy, a severe one! The rest of the food allergens are perfectly low. So do I still have to continue with the elimination diet or I can explore reintroducing the food, one at a time?

        He currently adhere to the following diet regime:
        Breakfast: 2 green apples, blended with either sweet potatoes, brown rice flakes, steam rice ball or just cucumber, avocados.

        Lunch: rice or rice noodles with chicken or pork meat, with 2 kinds of vegetables.

        Dinner: same as lunch but we add in fish to go with either pork or chicken.

        He has had a challenging time finding the right food to eat for snacks. Bring a meat eater, he just can’t chomp down carrots, cucumber etc for snack so will usually ended up not eating. Sad..

        Despite taking this diet for 5 weeks now, there isn’t much improvement! I am so lost! Can eczema really be cured via diet?

        I am trying very hard to keep him away from steroid. He’d taken oral steroid when he has asthma attack, perhaps 2-3 times in the past 14 years. Applies steroid cream whenever there’s flare ups..

        Look forward to hear from you soon. Take care!

        1. Hi Lim,

          Great to hear from you again!

          The diet along with various lifestyle changes can definitely eliminate eczema – whether it is from birth or post-birth. Many people have done it. I understand your frustration, I was also once in a state where I felt really hopeless when everything couldn’t work like I wanted to but at the end it did anyway. Why? Because eczema is a reaction. It doesn’t just come without reason, which means it’s definitely fixable.

          The blood test can definitely give you some insight about what to avoid, but don’t take it word for word. Not everything shows and not everything shows are right. These tests are somewhat inaccurate. Anyway, for dust mites, either you will have to wash the bed sheets every week (in hot water to kill the mites) or an easier way is to install dust-mite proof cover sheets.

          The diet you set for your son is quite promising. Most of the food items are very healthy and fine, assuming no uncommon cases of sensitivities (e.g. I knew someone who was strangely sensitive to rice).

          For steroids, it MUST be stopped. This is not optional. In fact, there are two routes where eczema sufferers heal:
          1) The patients have used steroids for too long which had accumulated the toxins inside the body. This results in we call the Topical Steroid Withdrawal (TSW)/Red Skin Syndrome, which means once the steroids are stopped, eczema symptoms will get worse and then once this accumulation is removed the eczema is entirely gone.
          2) Like number one, however, these patients do not heal even after TSW. Why? Because their immune system is too weak to win over the internal imbalances causing eczema. In this case, the patient must undergo deliberate diet + lifestyle changes to rebuild the immune system to rid eczema.

          In order to identify which group your son is in, steroid usage must be put to zero.

          As of now, until steroids have completely stopped + TSW ends (the time depends on how long steroids have been used), there is no reason to drop the elimination diet. If he’s group 1, the diet will assist his recovery from TSW. If he’s group 2, the diet will assist his recovery for his immune system.

          I hope this helps, let me know if there’s more. Just don’t give up no matter how hard it might seem in the beginning. Give him support! He’ll need it. =)

          Cheers,
          Harrison

  6. Oh yes, we are thrilled to get hooked up. Let us know how!

    Cheers!
    Mun Yee

  7. Hi Harrison –
    I’m suffering from severe eczema on my face and eyelids. I’ve been on a candida diet for the last 5 weeks and my symptoms seem to be getting worse. I look like i have severe sunburn and my face and eyelids itch so badly and it is very painful. I’m ready to throw in the towel and go back to the steroids which i don’t want to do. Any suggestions as to how long this diet could take to help reduce the eczema symptoms? I’ve always had beautiful skin up to this past year. I don’t know what happened to it. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

    1. Hi Laurie.

      I’m not too familiar with the Candida Diet. But I checked their food list, it seems quiet promising. Except a list of such without different emphases on what types of food should be eaten more or less is a flaw of this program (correct me if I missed the info from their site). It’s great that you don’t want to go back on the steroids. What I can advise for you to do now is, begin to put on different weighting on what to eat (this is going to be included in a future post of mine regarding dietary weighting).

      Increase your consumption of fish.
      Eat sweet potatoes, 2-3 times per week (otherwise you overdose vitamin A).
      Vegetables are basis of meals. Eat different varieties.

      The other two explanations into why your eczema is worsening: 1) you’re not following the diet right; had cheating sessions; 2) the diet is working and you were in the healing crisis (symptoms get worse in the beginning as part of detox).

      Hope this helps.
      Harrison

      P.S. Sorry for the late reply. I couldn’t squeeze time out from exams. Please let me know if you have more questions!

  8. Hi, I have been suffering from chronic ezcema for the past 20 years. I have tried everything including acupuncture and uvb therapy. I have used cortisone consistently every few days when things would flare up. Since last February I have been off of my daily dosage id antihistamines and have been on a mostly vegan, nondairy, low gluten, low sugar diet, using probiotics both in pickled food and in pills. I have also been taking chinese herbs and have been doing acupuncture since may and I have not been successful. I feel like I am at a loss and would live some advice. I am trying not to use cortisone but the itchiness is very difficult to manage at night…

    1. Ilana. For me to answer questions like yours, we would need a much more detailed conversation. Otherwise, it’s kind of hard for me to give realistic help. Your diet seems practical but we would need to dive into specs. Please contact me via email (you can use the address from the subscription).

      Harrison

      P.S. Sorry for the late reply. I couldn’t squeeze time out from exams.

  9. How does eczema start? I had one regular blister on my foot that would not heal. Within 2 weeks, I had many tiny blisters. The initial blister did heal. I have been dealing with these blisters for 5 months now. I went to the doc 3 times. The last specialist said I am experiencing stress…which I am, which makes the eczema worse. She said leather shoes are better than tennis shoes. She told me to stay hydrated inside and out. She prescribed me a cream that I took to reduce the inflammation, but I try not to use. I wear socks with everything to avoid friction on my feet. I am on my feet most of the work day. Even power walking gives me blisters and irritates the tiny blisters. I miss my feet. I was eating healthy prior to all this…it is a struggle now, just balancing all of life’s demands. I am glad to find your blog. Any helpful advice welcomed.

    1. Trish.

      I am not too familiar with this type of condition. Do you experience any other eczema symptoms or immune problems? (I’m not qualified to speak on behalf of other medical conditions)

      Stress is definitely one part of the problem, despite not being the main trigger. Regarding the cream, I think you know already, steroids must be avoided. Please update me if possible. Is it getting better?

      Harrison

      P.S. Sorry for the late reply. I couldn’t squeeze time out from exams. Please let me know if you have more questions!

  10. Hello there.
    Im so lucky to find your blog. Reading your blog makes me understand further on eczema healing.
    I have started the diet about a month. I took a lot of supplements for faster healing progress. I took probiotic pills, omega-3 capsules, cal-mag,vit c. vco and raw garlic.

    I like to ask you the progress towards healing eczema completely. My eczema at both hands. I experience a few time of swelling, edema, tight plastic skin. Within 2 days or so the skin is like peeled off, leaving red new skin. Every morning when I get from bed, my hands will be so tight and I cannot move my hand and fingers. It was so bad. So how long to go at this stage?

    I cant take it anymore with this kind of diet. I lose 4kg within a month. I wish it would end faster so that I can enjoy my life as usual.

  11. Hi
    Just wondering, if you use a steroid cream on your hands for example, could this still affect the eczema coming out on another part of your body? For example the eyelids?

  12. Hi Harrison. Thank you very much for this very helpful site. I just want to know what is the best plant-based protein source for eczema sufferers. I am vegetarian btw. Thank you.

    1. Allen.

      Thank you. I try my best. Please do not try to single out best protein sources, as varieties would be nice to balance out nutrients. But asking for protein sources specifically, I’m assuming the intentions of weight loss or bodybuilding. In terms of that, nuts are fantastic but they are fattening. In terms of lean protein, soy protein power would be nice.

      Harrison

  13. Hi Harrison

    Really enjoyed your website! Thanks so much. My baby (5months now) has eczema and I have been trying to modify my diet to heal her symptoms – have already restricted a lot of the foods you mention. I’m at the stage now where I need to start thinking about introducing solids to her and want to bring them into my diet first to make sure they’re ok for her to eat. That being said, should I be on the highly restricted or lightly restricted diet since we’re talking about it from a breastfeeding context. Also you mention that ratios are important – 50/25/25 of veg, protein and carb – did you measure by cups or by weight? Also for the 80/20 alkali/acid – is this measured by cups or weight – just wanted to clarify since leafy grains etc are quite light. Thanks again!

    1. Hi Aarti.

      The level of restriction you want to do is your decision. Some say the baby can outgrow the eczema (as the immune system develops well enough), but this we know is really only leaving it to chance. Assuming you want to minimize risks of your child having stronger eczema, a highly restricted diet is preferable. As for ratios, don’t get too caught up with exact numbers and measurements. If I happen to eat 40/30/30 or 60/40, these fluctuations don’t mean I’m immediately cheating from the diet. Fluctuations are normal. And in terms of portions you can judge by the visual sense.

      Cheers,
      Harrison

  14. Hello Harrison,

    I enjoyed reading your articles. Wealth of info, thank you so much for sharing!!
    I’ve had eczema for approximately 4 yrs now. I went 2 years with out using any Rx steroids though I used OTC. Last January is when I was introduced to TS, about 5 months later I was prescribed oral along with topical. Crazy, I started to notice that my skin was worse and worse as time went by. My dermatologist keeps telling me my eczema is related to my occupation. I switched to accelerator free gloves a couple months ago. My last steroid use was a month ago. I was so depressed, then one day I decided to be a fighter. I’ve made my own natural salves, purchased numerous amounts of oils, etc…. so that way I’m guarded where ever I am. Only in the last 2 weeks have I started making big changes in my diet. I’ve made small ones in the past, but the more I read and learn I realize that it hasn’t been enough. My question to you is, because of past diet do you believe that taking digestive enzymes and trace minerals will help?
    I’ll admit that I had a terrible use of laxatives for some time. I am taking Probiotics. I’m committed to being healthier and ridding the eczema.

    Thank You so much!!
    Cynthia

    1. Cynthia,

      Thank you for the praise. I try my best. Your ability to get over steroids is amazing and I’m glad you did. And as you say, to combat eczema is much more than an external approach as eczema is internal. My answer to your question is a definite yes. As a person who has been taking laxatives for a while, digestive function is greatly reduce and to facilitate your recovery – you will have to intake strongly on probiotics, prebiotics and digestive enzymes. However, rather than in supplement form, it is advised you gather these nutrients in food sources – fermented vegetables, nuts, resistant starch, pineapples, papayas. Additionally, I recommend an increased intake of omega-3 as from fish. All of such will greatly boost your healing.

      Keep up the effort and I wish you best in your recovery!

      Cheers,
      Harrison

  15. Hi, Harrison.

    I sent a message to the email you let people subscribe to. I am really hoping that you could help me with my eczema. My student life is really suffering because of this 🙁
    Your advice and feedback would really mean a lot to me.
    And I hope you do not stop helping people because you are doing so much good in this world.

    1. Hi MJ,

      Thank you for your praise. Please give me a day or two while I respond to people who have emailed me months ago. Hope you can understand 🙂 I’ll try to speed it up.

      Cheers,
      Harrison

  16. Hi there! Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I have been struggling with eczema on my fingers for about a year now. I’ve been on cortisone on and off, each time the eczema came back much worse than before. This time it is the worst.

    I’ve become so fed up, I decided to google to find more information. I thank God that I came across your blog. I’m excited to try the new diets, with trust and hope that God will bring about a natural healing process.

    Thank you again!

    Stay blessed

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