It's not the food itself but the chemicals in food - Mary, St. Paul, USA

I would like to encourage you to clarify that people aren’t allergic to food, but the chemicals in the food. Our food supply is horribly polluted. Our family has experienced many reactions to conventionally grown food, but organic food we do well with. This information would greatly help people. I am currently sending a newsletter to interested people about everyday chemicals. There is no cost to receive the e-mail newsletter. I started it last May, and will be starting it again mid-2006. If anyone is interested in being put on the mailing list for next year, please contact me. Thank you for considering my comments, and the information in the newsletter. (October 2005) Contact Mary

My Eczema is due to Food Intolerance! - Lori, Nelson, New Zealand

I have had very mild eczema since I was a child, usually only in summer. Since the age of about 18 it has got progressively worse. Not just the horrid itchy rash that we all know so well, but extreme sensitivity - no make-up or perfume, no nice lacy underwear, non-scented deodorant etc. etc. I am sure everyone here can sympathize, and many of you will be worse than me. This summer my eczema reached the worst ever, with a solid rash from the back of my thighs to my bra line, and my entire stomach, places that while not visible, are extremely bad to itch in public. I finally bit the bullet and went for allergy testing! I found I am allergic to wheat, dairy, corn, vinegar, lima beans, green beans, and cucumber. Changing my diet drastically had an immediate effect, and within a few days, my eczema was bearable, and in a couple of weeks it was almost totally gone. One thing that my doctor described to me was to think of my allergies as a 'box of irritants'. My body can only handle so much, before the familiar rash arrives. I have now started to gradually reintroduce my 'bad' foods, so I can find the level that allows me a kind of normal diet/life, alongside an itch free back. I recommend everyone with this problem to check out allergies, from what I can figure out, dairy and wheat intolerance is EXTREMELY common in eczema sufferers. My grandmother has put up with it all her life, but after seeing my recovery, she tried cutting out wheat only, and noticed an immediate improvement. It's a matter of finding the balance. I also found a great cream called renew from Mallalluca which seemed to help at the worst times. (April 2005) Contact Lori

Eczema was due to Food Allergy - Jude, Australia

At 3 months of age one of our twins (Thomas) started to develop what we thought was cradle cap - he was mainly bottle feeding & part time breast feeding.

Gradually his skin had worsened and we did some investigation to find out he had atopic eczema, we made appointments with a dermatologist who suggested putting a prescribed ointment (aqueous) & bathing in qv oil or similar. This did not appear to help whatsoever, we returned to the dermatologist to find out we were doing all we could and were told he would eventually grow out of his condition.

His condition was worsening all the time to the point where his arms & legs were weeping, excessive itching prevented him from sleeping for more than 3 hours at a time, his body was hot compared to the other twin who showed no problems at all & he would drink nearly twice as much than normal, we mainly treated his skin with all of the creams, ointments & oils we could find out about - I can supply if you would like !!! We found bathing him twice a day in a QV bath oil, helped with the itching the best, and found pawpaw cream the best to keep his skin moisturised.

We found his eczema would vary the most by what type of milk we gave him, ie... S26 formula, rice milk, goats milk, oat milk, HA low allergy formula & soy formula. His eczema would be quite severe with some of these milks, but soy had the most easing result.

We finally were able to assume he might have allergies with his oral intake, so we found an eczema specialist in Melbourne & arranged an appointment. But we had to wait 5 weeks, so we continued to find a remedy, we found 2 things that helped the most "a plant called prairie sage boiled and put in his bath" began healing his skin, but then went back to where we started. The other was a juice derived from a fruit called mangosteen, which a friend of mine had good results treating her child's eczema so we began using, by giving 30 ml. per day in his milk, results were amazing within 1 week his eczema had improved 30% , the weeping stopped, his itching reduced & he started to sleep through the night. We had our appointment with the eczema specialist, Thomas had a prick test to find out he had allergies to "egg, peanuts & soy " so we have since changed his formula to a prescribed low allergy one, a cream to apply to the weeping skin areas called "advantin" fatty ointment, up to today his skin continues to improve. We cannot recommend this juice more highly & wish to let people know how to help their children with this horrible disease. (March 2005) Contact Jude

Eating and eczema - Patricia, Atlanta, USA

I've dealing with eczema for 21 years, I'm 28 and for the first time in my life I can say that I have the eczema in control. Who knew that the first thing that I was doing wrong was to EAT! Yes, what we eat affect s our condition more and more. I avoid junk food, sweets, pork, beef, tomatoes, peppers (all of them) and potatoes. I stick to the alkaline forms food and as far as I can from the acid formers. Mother!! If you have a kid and you are desperate change his diet, give your baby green leaf juices and salads. I cleared my skin in 3 weeks! That is my experience I hope you can get something good from it. (Feb 03)

Wheat free diet - Emma, Bradford, Yorkshire, UK

I'm, in my 20's and have suffered with mild eczema since I was a child. I recently cut out wheat in my diet having read an article in a magazine about wheat intolerance. Things have definitely improved and my eczema is much better - not so dry and itchy. PS, great website!

Dairy intolerance - Karina, Norfolk, UK

I am allergic to dairy products but take a calcium + vitamin supplement which seems to help.

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Page updated: 10 October 2005