Improving Eczema (2): You must know about diet control!

From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, since the main cause of eczema is the syndrome of dampness-heat due to spleen deficiency, it is necessary to avoid hot, spicy, and sweet foods in the intestine to help relieve the situation. From the western medicine point of view, there are two aspects of allergic eczematous caused by foods: anaphylaxis and delayed-type hypersensitivity. Food anaphylaxis is an adverse reaction that occurs minutes or hours after eating. When the body comes into contact with allergenic proteins, the active allergic immune IgE in eczema allergy patients will bind to these allergenic proteins and further stimulate the body’s immune cells (mast cells) to produce a large amount of histamine, causing vascular congestion in the skin and mucous membranes, which induce the symptoms of eye and mouth swelling, respiratory tract and gastrointestinal edema, skin rash and itching.

As for delayed-type hypersensitivity, there is no definitive pathological mechanism for delayed-type hypersensitivity, but some patients may experience worsening eczema symptoms after a few days of eating certain foods. In recent years, studies have found that the imbalance of intestinal bacteria is an essential factor that induces eczema. When eczema patients eat fried, greasy, over-seasoned, high sugar-content, and overprocessed foods, the chemicals in these foods will stimulate the immune cells of the intestinal mucosa. It causes an imbalance in the intestinal immune system and further aggravates eczema allergy symptoms and skin inflammation. In conclusion, a healthy diet is essential to managing eczema allergies. Remember the eczema trilogy: repair the skin barrier and reduce bacterial invasion; reduce the chance of skin inflammation and reduce the chance of allergies; obtain a healthy diet and regulate intestinal probiotics to enhance the immune system. A multi-pronged approach should be carried out to solve allergy symptoms of eczema completely.