Quick starting the Eczema Diet

Variety on the Eczema diet is a great thing. Menu plans, shopping guides, recipes. They’re all great. Yet, it can be incredibly overwhelming to be dealing with eczema and then synthesising the Eczema diet to work for you.

In my case, when I was suffering from eczema, everything I was eating was rich in itch-promoting salicylates. I love vegetables and every single one was on the hit list. My recovery outlined here and here, was pretty quick once I got my head around the diet. To get to recovery I had to make a complete and drastic change to my diet and that just meant finding a starting point.

So I did what I do best, I simplified. I looked at the book and the shopping lists and I picked those things that would sustain me over a one to two week period.

• I chose 2 grains/legumes that I could eat for breakfast and other meals
• 1 type of milk substitute without preservatives or additives
• I chose about 10 vegetables that I could mix in across lunch and dinner.
• I ate 3 fruits for snacks and also for my breakfast.
• I chose 2 proteins for lunch and dinner.
• Skin Friend AM and PM supplements

With my own simplified shopping list it was easy to get what I need from the supermarket.

For the cleanse I chose the same breakfast, same lunch and same dinner for the 3 days. Not being fussy helps. A porridge with fruit for breakfast, a salad for lunch, and a casserole recipe for dinner. I’m a chronic salad eater, and I had a few colourful vegetables in my lunch and sometimes included a protein. The dinner stew had most of the remaining vegetables in it and a legume, so I felt I was getting all of the nutrients I needed on a daily basis.

Moving into Stage 1 of The Eczema Diet, I expanded the recipe repertoire slightly. I included seeds and nuts and generally still had the same breakfast and lunch. Dinner had the most variation. I would try new recipes from the book, or be inspired for the shopping lists. Overall I had about 4 different dinner recipes I liked with a few different proteins. Sometimes I would often just have steamed vegetables and cooked protein for dinner, such as fish.

Once in the swing of things, I began expanding the diet with other ingredients that are in the safe shopping lists in the book. Once a week I would experiment with something new that allowed me to buy a new ingredient to keep in my pantry. It was either a snack or a meal recipe. This gradually allowed the change over and gave me a fuller pantry of resources to work with.

Looking back, it seems my diet didn’t change that much over the course of my first 3 months as I gradually included additional Stage 1 items and attempted new recipes.

The initial start was mentally the toughest part, but making those upfront decisions to make it easier for myself really did make it manageable!

Deb x

 

NOTE: Since this post Karen has released her latest book, the Eczema Detox which is her most updated version. You can read more on how these books differ 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:

           

 

(We offer healthy options for people who do not wish to use drugs to control their eczema. Note we do not claim to cure eczema or any skin disease and your results may differ from our patient testimonials and photos shown here.)