Salicylate Sensitivity Food Tables

|Karen Fischer

Feeling itchy after eating fruit? Here's why ...

According to research by Loblay and Swain from the RPA Hospital Allergy Unit in Sydney, ingesting salicylate-rich foods can cause a worsening of eczema symptoms. In fact, salicylate sensitivity is the most common chemical sensitivity that eczema sufferers present with.

What are salicylates?

Salicylates are natural chemicals found in many fruits and vegetables, herbs, nuts, teas, coffee, wine, beer, herbal medicines and spices. Artificial and natural salicylates are also present in many skin creams and perfumes. 

Symptoms of salicylate sensitivity

  • eczema, hives, itchy skin and other skin rashes
  • headaches or migraines
  • irritable bowel symptoms (wind, diarrhoea and/or constipation)
  • reflux 
  • nausea
  • vomiting
  • stomach bloating and discomfort
  • cystitis
  • asthma
  • irritability, restlessness
  • allergy symptoms (stuffy or runny nose, nasal polyps, frequent throat clearing)
  • behaviour problems, poor attention span, ADHD, ADD
  • sleep disturbances (difficulty falling asleep, night terrors, frequent night waking, sleep apnoea)
  • bedwetting
  • anxiety, panic attacks
  • depression
  • rapid heart beat and arrhythmias
  • tinnitus, hearing loss
  • joint pain, arthritis

NOTE: these conditions can be caused by other factors, so speak with your doctor for a formal diagnosis.

How many people are salicylate intolerant?

Most people with salicylate intolerance have no idea what could be affecting them. Research shows that about 60% with of people with food-induced itchy rashes, eczema or headaches or migraines, 70% of people with irritable bowel symptoms, 20% of adults with asthma and 75% of children with behaviour problems may be sensitive to salicylates.

The main way to identify salicylate sensitivity is to avoid consuming salicylate-rich foods for a period of time (anywhere from 1-3 months), then re-introduce salicylate-rich foods into your diet and note any reactions - use a diet diary to document reactions.

Tips from The Eczema Diet book: 

Your liver processes salicylates so it's important to improve the health of your liver. Through my work with eczema patients I have found that salicylate sensitivity slowly improves if you eat a healthy diet that is also lower in salicylates to give your liver a temporary break from salicylates. Typical low salicylate diets are often rich in sugar, wheat and dairy ... However, rather than replacing salicylate-rich foods with sugar, wheat and dairy (which are all low in salicylates but a burden to your liver), eat healthy and low-salicylate recipes and the therapeutic broth recipe from The Eczema Diet.

There are handy Salicylate Food Tables PDF for all our members who sign up here or at the bottom of the page. This PDF has taken years to put together and it is the accurate and complete tables. I have an incredible success rate with my program at the Eczema Life Clinic... check our testimonials here.

Products 

At Eczema Life, we recommend nutritionist Karen Fischer's low food chemical program (The Eczema Detox) along with additive-free supplements for skin health and wellbeing. Click on the images to view more details:

           

 

The Eczema Toolkit

the holistic way to clear skin

The Eczema Detox is Karen Fischer's latest best-selling eczema manual designed to help you find relief. Through her work she found some patients needed a special program to identify personal triggers, so the FID Program was created. The Eczema Clear Skin Toolkit combines gut health and nutrition with soothing, barrier repair skincare and supplements to calm the itch and support skin repair, the immune system and more. If you’ve tried everything and nothing has worked, this is the skin calming toolkit you've been praying for.

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Eczema Friend

the itch buster  |  rash cream

The low pH eczema cream that helps to relieve itchy skin, red skin rash and mild eczema and dermatitis. Suitable for all types of rashes. It's the cream you'll wish you had tried first.

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Frequently asked questions

Does food allergy trigger eczema?

Food allergy and eczema are closely linked, and allergies can absolutely make eczema worse, but they're often not what starts it in the first place. In fact, research suggests the reverse may be more accurate: eczema itself may come first and increase the risk of developing food allergies, rather than the other way around (Tsakok et al. 2016). One study found that babies with eczema were up to six times more likely to become
sensitised to foods compared to those without eczema. In children with established eczema, up to 66% showed food sensitisation, with confirmed food allergy in up to 81% of cases (Tsakok et al. 2016).

If you or your child has a diagnosed food allergy, those foods should be avoided for now. For additional guidance, the Food Intolerance Diagnosis (FID) Program in The Eczema Detox book can help identify food intolerances that do not show up in allergy tests (see next FAQ).
Do food allergy tests help eczema?

Skin prick tests and other food allergy tests including blood tests and patch tests can be unreliable on their own, so an oral food
challenge (supervised by an allergy specialist if you are prone to anaphylaxis), is the most accurate way to confirm whether you or your child is reacting to a particular food. For additional guidance, the FID Program in The Eczema Detox book can help you to identify your personal triggers.
About the authors

Ren Karen Fischer is a nutritionist, mother of two, and award-winning author of seven books, including the bestsellers The Eczema Diet and The Eczema Detox. Fischer is also a peer-reviewed published researcher, and is currently undertaking eczema research as part of a Master's by Research at Bond University. Combining clinical research with real-world experience, she is dedicated to advancing evidence-based care for eczema.

Nutritionist Bonnie Taylor holds a Bachelor of Health Science degree and helps people with eczema identify their individual triggers through the FID Program. Taylor has worked alongside Fischer for many years and offers nutrition consultations by appointment.