Neurodermatitis diets that work!

Neurodermatitis diets that work!

It is recommended that the right eczema diet can prevent flare-ups as well as reduce or even eliminate symptoms. Most sufferers react to a trigger food within two hours of eating it, while others see no symptoms 24 hours later. Since every person is different, the list of unfavorable foods varies from person to person. This means you may have to deal with a few rashes during your trial and error phase to make a list of foods to stay away from.

Determine your trigger foods

The most common foods that cause eczema rashes are dairy, berries, eggs, wheat, gluten, nuts, citrus fruits, soy, tomatoes, fish and chocolate. The best way to determine which foods are causing your eczema is to serve yourself a small portion of one of these foods daily. Allow at least 24 hours for a fair evaluation before trying another one. Any foods that cause a rash go on your list of foods you shouldn't eat.

Popular diets

• •Wheat-free diet– For some, a wheat-free diet is all that is needed to prevent eczema. These include refined wheat, whole wheat, wheat bran, semolina, couscous, durum wheat, stone flour, bulgar, einkorn, matzo, kamut, triticale and seitan. However, you can still enjoy foods that contain amaranth, almond flour, brown or white rice, arrowroot, corn, tapioca, coconut flour, flaxseed, corn, quinoa, rye, and barley.

• •Gluten free diet– There is a common misconception that wheat-free and gluten-free are the same thing, but they are not. Gluten is actually a plant protein. Therefore, while the list of foods is similar, gluten-free is a little more strict. For example, a person taking this diet to treat eczema might eat the safe foods on the list above except rye and barley because they come from plants. You can safely eat frozen or canned vegetables as long as gluten has not been added as a preservative or thickener.

• •Vegan diet– Provided you don’t have wheat or gluten allergies, a vegan diet has become a popular option for eczema. This eliminates a large proportion of trigger foods such as diary, eggs, fish and meat. Vegan diets are also recommended for current cancer patients to prevent cancer, diabetes, heart disease and high cholesterol.

It's important to understand that a particular diet may not be the best option for you. While you may find that wheat is to blame, there's still a chance that other foods can also cause rashes. It is always recommended when trying new foods not to overdo it until you know how your body will react.

Don't be discouraged if there are foods on your list that you love that you can't eat. These days there are many replacements for every diet, so you can take advantage of this opportunity to expand your daily diet and find new things to love!

Inspired by Benjamin P Wills