Eating the right food and not eating the foods that trigger eczema inflammation is much more important for healing eczema than people realize. I have been fighting eczema my whole life, and I always thought that it was a skin problem; well, at least that is what my mother and my doctors told me, but that is far from the truth.
Eczema is inflammation of the skin, and instead of treating the symptoms with overpriced creams like I did for years, or even worse, immunosuppressants that they gave me as a kid that will probably affect me for the rest of my life, you have to attack the root cause, which is leaky gut.
Leaky gut is a term for gut damage that many people with eczema have; I believe that all people with eczema have it to at least some extent. It is created by years of alcohol, processed foods, antibiotic, and corticosteroid abuse.
When this damage happens, tight junctions stop holding the cells in your gut together closely; foods you ingest can make their way into your bloodstream, which causes your body to respond with inflammation to fight these foreign food invaders.
Learn which foods create and worsen leaky gut so you can heal from eczema and reclaim your health, which you deserve.
Foods that trigger eczema inflammation
Here is a list of foods that cause and worsen eczema the most, by tricking your body and causing leaky gut.
#1: Gluten and Wheat
Gluten is very inflammatory and bad for all people. Yes, I believe that nobody should consume gluten. Gluten is composed of two proteins, which are Gliadin and glutenin, and gliadin is especially terrible for everyone. Personally, throwing gluten out was one of the hardest things I ever did, and this is because, from a young age, I loved bakeries, and before changing my diet and starting the Ultimate Eczema Protocol, I used to go every day to at least one local bakery.
Also, gluten is in most processed foods; believe me, if you check the ingredients of the things you buy that you wouldn’t expect to have gluten, 90% of the time they do.
It broke my heart, and it will probably break yours, but gluten has to go for at least some time until your gut heals because there is undeniable evidence that it causes a lot of inflammation.
Research from Healthline agrees with this and says that there could also be a genetic link between gluten and atopic dermatitis.
#2: Soy
Soy is extremely inflammatory; it is added to all of the processed foods like chocolate, and it can also be found in soy milk, soybean oil, vegan products, etc.
In recent years, it has been promoted as something that is healthy and a healthier version of protein compared to animal proteins like red meat, eggs, fish, etc. This is a complete lie from processed food companies and vegan organizations that want to promote cheap protein that is nowhere near as bioavailable as protein from red meat.
Just like gluten, nobody should eat soy, and it is not food for humans, but this is especially true for people like us who struggle with eczema.
#3: Processed and Ultra-Processed Foods
This is preaty self expleinatory and there are a dozen of diferent reasons why you should not eat processed foods, but I will tell you the most important ones.
All processed foods most likely contain gluten and soy, but believe me, what is inside all processed foods makes gluten and soy look like the healthiest food in the world.
- Flavor enhancement
- Texture manipulation
- Color additives
- Aroma engineering
- Portion distortion
- Hyper-palatability
- Mouthfeel optimization
- Flavor layering
There are just some of the ways that processed food companies make these foods more addictive, and they have dangerous consequences to your body, which cause eczema.
Some of these companies have teams of dozens of scientists that work constantly to make you as addicted and sick as possible, and it is no wonder that when you and I try to escape this life, we struggle a lot because of how addicted our bodies are.
Cleveland Clinic says that the number one step in finding a good diet for eczema is to only eat whole, unprocessed foods.
#4: Industrial Seed Oils
I would go as far as to say that if you don’t cut seed oils completely out of your body, you will never be able to heal your eczema no matter what you do. Believe me, there is no mainstream medicine for eczema that I have not tried, and I trusted my doctors blindly for years, and many of those could have been prevented by never eating seed oils.
Processed seed oils were first manufactured in the 20th century as a farming waste product. With decades of marketing and corruption, they have been normalized as real food.
They contain high concentrations of omega-6 fatty acids, which promote chronic inflammation and are linked to obesity, diabetes, eczema, and heart disease
You need to replace your seed oils with animal fats like butter or tallow when cooking, but the problems don’t stop there because seed oils are EVERYWHERE. They are in all processed foods; all the fast foods and restaurants use them, etc.
#5: Alcohol
As I already said, leaky gut is probably the number one cause of eczema and inflamed skin or any inflammation problem whatsoever.
And besides seed oils, there is nothing that promotes leaky gut as much as alcohol. There are multiple reasons why this could be, but mainly because it is naturally high in histamine and kills beneficial bacteria- yes, the same bacteria that we already struggle with because of corticosteroids and antibiotics that many people with eczema use for years, unaware of the consequences.
Alcohol also depletes zinc and all vitamins B, which are incredibly important if you have eczema.
And my advice is to not just limit alcohol but to completely throw it out; this is what I did and what I still do, and the benefits are amazing.
#6: Farm-Raised Salmon
If you know anything about me, you know that I am a big believer in wild-caught salmon, and I believe that it is one of the best foods you can eat if you have eczema. This is largely because it contains a lot of omega-3, which is anti-inflammatory, and it is one of the only foods that contain vitamin D3. You might ask yourself, if wild-caught salmon is one of the best foods I can eat for my eczema, why is salmon on this list?
Well, there is a huge difference between wild-caught and farm-raised salmon. You see, wild-caught salmon gets its natural diet, which makes it orange, but because these salmon don’t get their natural diet in salmon farms, they are not orange. Because of this, they are fed synthetic food coloring, which could make you think that you are eating healthy, but you are not.
Also, they are fed soy and cheap slop that no animal in the world should eat to maximize profits, which means that you indirectly eat those things as well.
#7: Vegetables
Even though I believe vegetables and the KETO diet are amazing for most people, for people with eczema who already have leaky gut, they can be very toxic and inflammatory.
This is because naturally they contain high doses of defense mechanisms to defend themselves against predators who want to eat them.
These antinutrients and defense mechanisms are not very harmful for humans, but if you already have leaky gut, like you probably do, and as I did, then they can be very inflammatory.
This is why I always tell the people I work with to try carnivore for at least two months before going to KETO so their guts can heal properly.
Conclusion
Healing eczema takes many sacrifices, and the biggest one is eliminating the foods that we love the most. I struggled with eczema my whole life until I started learning about leaky gut and how it affects eczema. After that, I started researching the foods that potentially can cause leaky gut, and after eliminating these 7 foods from my diet, my eczema finally started healing.
It is important to understand that not all foods are equal, and for some foods even moderation is not an option. Foods in this list create leaky gut and kill good bacteria, which makes your body respond with inflammation, which ends up on your skin.
FAQ
What is the biggest food trigger for eczema?
Seed oils are by far the worst thing you can consume for your eczema. They are theoretically not even a food but a farming waste product that is extremely high in omega-6, which causes inflammation. They damage DNA and cause leaky gut, which is the number one reason for eczema.
What foods should I avoid if I have eczema?
If you have eczema, you should avoid gluten, processed foods, seed oils, alcohol, and soy. I would also recommend avoiding dairy and vegetables until your gut heals on a carnivore diet.
Can food actually cause eczema, or just make it worse?
Eczema is mainly caused by leaky gut, which is caused by years of alcohol, antibiotic, and processed foods abuse. After that leaky gut happens, people are more likely to be inflamed by healthy foods like vegetables and dairy. To heal the leaky gut, you have to eliminate all processed foods, alcohol, sugars, and foods like soy until your gut heals.
How long does it take for a food to trigger an eczema flare?
Depends on the food and on the person. Because we eat a lot of different foods throughout the day, it is hard to say which one has that negative effect on you. This is the reason why it is best to try the low-diet for a few weeks and then introduce foods back to see which one has that negative effect on you.
Is gluten-free necessary for everyone with eczema?
This depends on who you ask, but in my experience, both with myself and people I worked with, it is necessary to cut out gluten for eczema healing.
What foods help calm eczema inflammation instead of triggering it?
There is no food that will help with eczema unless you cut out the foods that create it in the first place. Eczema is mostly created by the leaky gut, and your gut will not heal unless you throw out the foods that cause it. The best solution for this is to eat only red meat for at least a couple of weeks until your gut heals.
