Quick starting the Eczema Diet

|Reception Support

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.

Deb from the eczema life clinic

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.

The Eczema Diet

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.)

3 comments

Sometimes, natural treatment with diet can cure a skin problem like Eczema. Thanks for sharing your story and experience with us as it really helps the patients suffering from this problem.

Rebecca Johnson •

Hi Deb, you shouldn’t have to start over. Keep persisting. Recovery for some can take time. Remember to view this as an experiment. You’re discovering what your triggers are, what’s safe. It’s a learning curve.
Reacting to a food you’re testing doesn’t mean you start over. You just stop eating that food and go on to the next test.
Hang in there, you’re on the right track.

Deb x

Deb •

Hi Deb – I have been on the diet for over a year and a half. Still not fully healed, but still eating Stage 1 (only 8 foods) and getting frustrated. I don’t know what to do, or eat. Every time I try something new my skin freaks out and I have to start all over. Should I go do the 3 day cleanse and start over?

Debbie •

Leave a comment

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.

learn more

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.

learn more

Eczema News
Best and Worst Cleansers for Sensitive Skin, Eczema & TSW

Best and Worst Cleansers for Sensitive Skin, Eczema & TSW

|Ren Karen Fischer
Each time you shave or cleanse your skin, you may be silently damaging your skin barrier and biome. Skincare companies often put profits before skin barriers—and it could be contributing...

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.