Randomized, double-blind, controlled trials suggest that excluding certain foods, such as eggs and chicken, can significantly improve atopic dermatitis. Infants of mothers randomized to cut out eggs, milk, and fish were significantly less likely to have eczema even years later.
Friday Favorites: Best Foods to Avoid for Eczema & Exclusion Diets for Eczema
Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
Eczema is a common skin disease and there are plenty of drugs on the market to combat it. But what about diet? Are there foods that trigger eczema, and can dietary changes be used to treat it? Watch to find out.
Eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis, “is a chronic inflammatory skin disease”; in fact, the leading cause of healthy years of life lost due to common skin diseases, because it’s just so common—affecting about a fifth of us. And, it’s not just an itchy rash; it’s associated with other diseases, too. Yes, it can be itchy, exhausting, and embarrassing, but in kids, may increase risk for ADHD—though that may just be from the sleep deprivation. And, in adults, may increase the risk of major depression.
And, it’s on the rise.
There are drugs for it; of course, there are always drugs. Steroids are the first-line therapy, but then there are immunosuppressants as well, with more in the drug pipeline. You know the medical profession is desperate when they’re forced to go back to the basics, and start applying leeches to people.
Previously, I talked about the safety and efficacy of other, more natural treatments. But, what about diet? Our story begins in 1920, a year doctors were realizing how good this oxygen stuff was—though maybe not as good as injecting people with mercury. But, a researcher at Johns Hopkins reported a number of cases in which, “[b]y omitting eggs, meat[s], and milk from the diet, [patients’] eczema improved.” Who’s going to profit off of that, though? No wonder it took 58 years before it was put to the test.
Figuring eggs and milk were the two foods most likely involved in eczema, they excluded them— and chicken and beef, since it may just be chicken and cow proteins more generally—in a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial swapping in soy milk instead. And…70% of the patients improved.
One person got worse on the no-egg, no-chicken, no-milk, no-beef diet, but almost everyone else got better. So, the researchers conclude that for many kids, avoiding those foods may “induce a clinical improvement.” And interestingly, it didn’t seem to depend on whether allergy tests showed that they were allergic to milk and eggs. Either way, they tended to get better, regardless.
You can do randomized, double-blind, food challenges, where you like give kids with eczema various foods in opaque capsules—like one with egg powder, one with wheat powder, etc. And egg was found “by far [to be] the most…offending food.” For example, in this study, where they just cut out the eggs, dramatic improvements were documented for both the amount of skin involvement and the severity of the eczema lesions, after removing eggs from the diet.
But, in about 90% of cases, the mom had no idea that eggs were a problem. Why? Because it wasn’t like they were eating scrambled eggs or something. Almost all the egg exposure was hidden; they were exposed to hidden egg products in like packaged foods. So, they had no idea why their eczema was so bad—until this study, where they removed all eggs and egg products from their diets.
Eggs are evidently “the most frequent cause of food…sensitivity in children.” Out of hundreds of kids with eczema tested, “egg allergy was documented in two thirds” of those with sensitivities. In fact, a child having a blood reaction to egg-white proteins appears to be one of the best laboratory tests for predicting future allergic diseases in general. It appears to be the ovomucoid protein within egg white that seems to be causing most of the mischief.
About 40% of kids with eczema have some form of food allergy. And, the more food allergies they have, the more likely it appears they’re going to suffer from eczema— and, make it worse. Those who react to cow’s milk protein are significantly more likely to suffer severe eczema, showing the important role cow’s milk proteins may play “in the induction and increased severity of eczema in children.”
Often, parents switch from cow’s milk to goat’s milk, in an attempt to improve their children’s eczema. But goat’s milk should never be given to kids with a cow’s milk allergy, because they often cross-react with one another, which has been confirmed with double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenges.
Ass milk, on the other hand, is a different story. Switching kids to donkey milk improved their eczema, and, for that matter, horse’s milk might, as well.
The original randomized, double-blind, controlled trial of diet and eczema found that cutting out eggs, chicken, milk, and beef significantly improved eczema in 70% of the kids that completed the study. Subsequent studies found similar results; though in this case, for example, it only seemed to work for a quarter of the kids. But, bottom line, out of 13 studies on avoiding milk, eggs, or both: “Ten [out of 13] studies documented overall clinical improvement.”
The economic burden of eczema caused by just regular cow’s milk formula alone may be hundreds of millions of dollars a year, though eggs appear to be worse “in terms of [predicting] persistence and severity of the disease.” Sensitization to egg white and cow’s milk can occur even in breastfed infants, though. And so, presumably the source of the exposure is the passage of egg and cow proteins through the mother’s milk. But, you don’t know until you put it to the test.
New mothers were randomized to cut out eggs, cow’s milk, and fish from their diet during the first three months of breastfeeding after giving birth, or to continue their regular diet. And indeed, the infants of mothers who cut out the eggs, milk, and fish were significantly less likely to have eczema by age six months—though after that age, the decreased rates of eczema in the no eggs, milk, or fish group was no longer statistically significant.
Follow those same kids out to four years, though, and those whose moms cut out the eggs, milk, and dairy for just three months while breastfeeding had significantly lower eczema rates, even years later. Consuming that hypoallergenic diet during breastfeeding cut childhood eczema rates in half.
Eating more plant foods may also help. “The majority of fruit and vegetable studies [suggest that] higher consumption…by mothers during pregnancy and children in early life result[s] in reductions in…asthma,” another allergic-type disease. Maybe it’s the phenolic phytonutrients in plants that are helping, supported by evidence that “certain vegetarian diets” appear to alleviate “the severity of skin diseases” in adults with eczema—though if you look at that citation, it was a very strange diet.
They found striking benefits in terms of reducing the severity of eczema, and even two months after they went off the diet, they were still doing better than when they started. But, the diet was just vegetable juice, brown rice, kelp, tofu, tahini, and “persimmon leaf tea,” and severely calorie-restricted. And, just straight fasting alone can improve eczema, as can a strictly plant-based diet—which is not so surprising, given the data on children showing how much better they can do cutting out eggs and dairy.
“In spite of these data Dermatologists and Pediatricians have, for many years, denied the role of food…in [eczema],” even though as many as 80% of kids may benefit cutting out milk and/or eggs, regardless of what the various allergy tests showed. You can’t necessarily tell if diet is going to help until you yourself put it to the test in your own body. And, that’s what parents are doing. They’re not waiting for their pediatricians to catch up; 75% of parents with eczema-stricken kids have “tried some form of dietary exclusion”—most commonly cutting out dairy and eggs, though only about 40% of parents who tried it feel that it worked. But hey, why not give it a try?
A typical recommendation you see in the medical literature is like, “Look, if you have a child with some bad eczema, and the drugs aren’t working, then why don’t you try cutting out some foods?” But, that seems to me backwards. If foods are contributing, why not treat the cause and eliminate the offending foods, and then do the drugs if diet isn’t enough?
Now, there are some pretty nutty eczema diets out there, like the so-called “few food” diet, excluding everything except like “lamb, potatoes,…Rice Crispies,…broccoli, [and] pears.” To my surprise, it was actually put to the test—I told you docs were desperate! But it “failed to show [a] benefit.” Basically, if you don’t know where to begin, “the simplest approach [may be to just cut out dairy] and egg[s],” and see what happens. That’s a controversial recommendation, though. Avoiding fish, beef, eggs, and dairy “without medical supervision”? That might “trigger… malnutrition-related pathology.” What? I checked out that citation, and it’s just another article making an unsupported claim.
Now, if you exclude everything, like 99% of your diet is rice milk, well then, obviously, that’s completely insufficient. But for most parents, the #1 thing they add to their child’s diet for eczema is vegetables, and the #1 thing they cut down on is junk food. And I don’t think we have to worry about a junk-food deficiency.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Weidinger S, Novak N. Atopic dermatitis. Lancet. 2016 Mar 12;387(10023):1109-1122.
- Shankar KM, Rao SD, Umar SN, Gopalakrishnaiah V. A clinical trial for evaluation of leech application in the management of Vicarcikā (Eczema). Anc Sci Life. 2014 Apr-Jun;33(4):236-41.
- Bernhisel-Broadbent J, Dintzis HM, Dintzis RZ, Sampson HA. Allergenicity and antigenicity of chicken egg ovomucoid (Gal d III) compared with ovalbumin (Gal d I) in children with egg allergy and in mice. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1994 Jun;93(6):1047-59.
- Yu HS, Tu HP, Hong CH, Lee CH. Lifetime Increased Risk of Adult Onset Atopic Dermatitis in Adolescent and Adult Patients with Food Allergy. Int J Mol Sci. 2016 Dec 27;18(1). pii: E42.
- Atherton DJ, Sewell M, Soothill JF, Wells RS, Chilvers CE. A double-blind controlled crossover trial of an antigen-avoidance diet in atopic eczema. Lancet. 1978 Feb 25;1(8061):401-3.
- Sampson HA. Role of immediate food hypersensitivity in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1983 May;71(5):473-80.
- Sicherer SH1, Sampson HA. Food hypersensitivity and atopic dermatitis: pathophysiology, epidemiology, diagnosis, and management. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1999 Sep;104(3 Pt 2):S114-22.
- Lever R, MacDonald C, Waugh P, Aitchison T. Randomised controlled trial of advice on an egg exclusion diet in young children with atopic eczema and sensitivity to eggs. Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 1998 Feb;9(1):13-9.
- Bellioni-businco B, Paganelli R, Lucenti P, Giampietro PG, Perborn H, Businco L. Allergenicity of goat's milk in children with cow's milk allergy. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1999;103(6):1191-4.
- Webber SA, Graham-brown RA, Hutchinson PE, Burns DA. Dietary manipulation in childhood atopic dermatitis. Br J Dermatol. 1989;121(1):91-8.
- Vita D, Passalacqua G, Di pasquale G, et al. Ass's milk in children with atopic dermatitis and cow's milk allergy: crossover comparison with goat's milk. Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2007;18(7):594-8.
- Foekel C, Schubert R, Kaatz M, et al. Dietetic effects of oral intervention with mare's milk on the Severity Scoring of Atopic Dermatitis, on faecal microbiota and on immunological parameters in patients with atopic dermatitis. Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2009;60 Suppl 7:41-52.
- Blackfan, K. A consideration of certain aspects of protein hypersensitiveness in children. Am J Med Sci. 1920;160:341–350.
- Sigurs N, Hattevig G, Kjellman B. Maternal avoidance of eggs, cow's milk, and fish during lactation: effect on allergic manifestations, skin-prick tests, and specific IgE antibodies in children at age 4 years. Pediatrics. 1992 Apr;89(4 Pt 2):735-9.
- Hattevig G, Kjellman B, Sigurs N, Björkstén B, Kjellman NI. Effect of maternal avoidance of eggs, cow's milk and fish during lactation upon allergic manifestations in infants. Clin Exp Allergy. 1989 Jan;19(1):27-32.
- Tait C, Goldman RD. Dietary exclusion for childhood atopic dermatitis. Can Fam Physician. 2015 Jul;61(7):609-11.
- Bhanegaonkar A, Horodniceanu EG, Ji X, Detzel P, Boguniewicz M, Chamlin S, Lake A, Czerkies LA, Botteman MF, Saavedra JM. Economic Burden of Atopic Dermatitis in High-Risk Infants Receiving Cow's Milk or Partially Hydrolyzed 100% Whey-Based Formula. J Pediatr. 2015 May;166(5):1145-1151.e3.
- Wolkerstorfer A, Wahn U, Kjellman NI, Diepgen TL, De Longueville M, Oranje AP. Natural course of sensitization to cow's milk and hen's egg in childhood atopic dermatitis: ETAC study group. Clin Exp Allergy. 2002 Jan;32(1):70-3.
- Businco L, Businco E, Cantani A, Galli E, Infussi R, Benincori N. Results of a milk and/or egg free diet in children with atopic dermatitis. Allergol Immunopathol (Madr). 1982 Jul-Aug;10(4):283-8.
- Johnston GA, Bilbao RM, Graham-Brown RA. The use of dietary manipulation by parents of children with atopic dermatitis. Br J Dermatol. 2004 Jun;150(6):1186-9.
- Działo M, Mierziak J, Korzun U, Preisner M, Szopa J, Kulma A. The Potential of Plant Phenolics in Prevention and Therapy of Skin Disorders. Int J Mol Sci. 2016 Feb 18;17(2):160.
- Nurmatov U, Devereux G, Sheikh A. Nutrients and foods for the primary prevention of asthma and allergy: systematic review and meta-analysis. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2011 Mar;127(3):724-33.e1-30.
- Tanaka T, Kouda K, Kotani M, Takeuchi A, Tabei T, Masamoto Y, Nakamura H, Takigawa M, Suemura M, Takeuchi H, Kouda M. Vegetarian diet ameliorates symptoms of atopic dermatitis through reduction of the number of peripheral eosinophils and of PGE2 synthesis by monocytes. J Physiol Anthropol Appl Human Sci. 2001 Nov;20(6):353-61.
- Lithell H, Bruce A, Gustafsson IB, Höglund NJ, Karlström B, Ljunghall K, Sjölin K, Venge P, Werner I, Vessby B. A fasting and vegetarian diet treatment trial on chronic inflammatory disorders. Acta Derm Venereol. 1983;63(5):397-403.
- David TJ, Patel L, Ewing CI, Stanton RH. Dietary regimens for atopic dermatitis in childhood. J R Soc Med. 1997;90 Suppl 30:9-14.
- Guibas GV, Makris M, Chliva C, Gregoriou S, Rigopoulos D. Atopic Dermatitis, food allergy and dietary interventions. A tale of controversy. An Bras Dermatol. 2013 Sep-Oct;88(5):839-41.
- Nosrati A, Afifi L, Danesh MJ, Lee K, Yan D, Beroukhim K, Ahn R, Liao W. Dietary modifications in atopic dermatitis: patient-reported outcomes. J Dermatolog Treat. 2017 Sep;28(6):523-538.
- Hon KL, Leung TF, Kam WY, Lam MC, Fok TF, Ng PC. Dietary restriction and supplementation in children with atopic eczema. Clin Exp Dermatol. 2006 Mar;31(2):187-91.
- Neild VS, Marsden RA, Bailes JA, Bland JM. Egg and milk exclusion diets in atopic eczema. Br J Dermatol. 1986 Jan;114(1):117-23.
- Scott JF, Hammond MI, Nedorost ST. Food Avoidance Diets for Dermatitis. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep. 2015 Oct;15(10):60.
- Mabin DC, Sykes AE, David TJ. Controlled trial of a few foods diet in severe atopic dermatitis. Arch Dis Child. 1995;73(3):202-7.
Icons created by Gabriele Masaspina, Nestor Arellano, Iconic, Herman Susanto and Harden Dwi Lester from The Noun Project.
Image credits: Kai Schreiber and psyberartist. Images have been modified.
Motion graphics by Avocado Video.
Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
Eczema is a common skin disease and there are plenty of drugs on the market to combat it. But what about diet? Are there foods that trigger eczema, and can dietary changes be used to treat it? Watch to find out.
Eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis, “is a chronic inflammatory skin disease”; in fact, the leading cause of healthy years of life lost due to common skin diseases, because it’s just so common—affecting about a fifth of us. And, it’s not just an itchy rash; it’s associated with other diseases, too. Yes, it can be itchy, exhausting, and embarrassing, but in kids, may increase risk for ADHD—though that may just be from the sleep deprivation. And, in adults, may increase the risk of major depression.
And, it’s on the rise.
There are drugs for it; of course, there are always drugs. Steroids are the first-line therapy, but then there are immunosuppressants as well, with more in the drug pipeline. You know the medical profession is desperate when they’re forced to go back to the basics, and start applying leeches to people.
Previously, I talked about the safety and efficacy of other, more natural treatments. But, what about diet? Our story begins in 1920, a year doctors were realizing how good this oxygen stuff was—though maybe not as good as injecting people with mercury. But, a researcher at Johns Hopkins reported a number of cases in which, “[b]y omitting eggs, meat[s], and milk from the diet, [patients’] eczema improved.” Who’s going to profit off of that, though? No wonder it took 58 years before it was put to the test.
Figuring eggs and milk were the two foods most likely involved in eczema, they excluded them— and chicken and beef, since it may just be chicken and cow proteins more generally—in a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial swapping in soy milk instead. And…70% of the patients improved.
One person got worse on the no-egg, no-chicken, no-milk, no-beef diet, but almost everyone else got better. So, the researchers conclude that for many kids, avoiding those foods may “induce a clinical improvement.” And interestingly, it didn’t seem to depend on whether allergy tests showed that they were allergic to milk and eggs. Either way, they tended to get better, regardless.
You can do randomized, double-blind, food challenges, where you like give kids with eczema various foods in opaque capsules—like one with egg powder, one with wheat powder, etc. And egg was found “by far [to be] the most…offending food.” For example, in this study, where they just cut out the eggs, dramatic improvements were documented for both the amount of skin involvement and the severity of the eczema lesions, after removing eggs from the diet.
But, in about 90% of cases, the mom had no idea that eggs were a problem. Why? Because it wasn’t like they were eating scrambled eggs or something. Almost all the egg exposure was hidden; they were exposed to hidden egg products in like packaged foods. So, they had no idea why their eczema was so bad—until this study, where they removed all eggs and egg products from their diets.
Eggs are evidently “the most frequent cause of food…sensitivity in children.” Out of hundreds of kids with eczema tested, “egg allergy was documented in two thirds” of those with sensitivities. In fact, a child having a blood reaction to egg-white proteins appears to be one of the best laboratory tests for predicting future allergic diseases in general. It appears to be the ovomucoid protein within egg white that seems to be causing most of the mischief.
About 40% of kids with eczema have some form of food allergy. And, the more food allergies they have, the more likely it appears they’re going to suffer from eczema— and, make it worse. Those who react to cow’s milk protein are significantly more likely to suffer severe eczema, showing the important role cow’s milk proteins may play “in the induction and increased severity of eczema in children.”
Often, parents switch from cow’s milk to goat’s milk, in an attempt to improve their children’s eczema. But goat’s milk should never be given to kids with a cow’s milk allergy, because they often cross-react with one another, which has been confirmed with double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenges.
Ass milk, on the other hand, is a different story. Switching kids to donkey milk improved their eczema, and, for that matter, horse’s milk might, as well.
The original randomized, double-blind, controlled trial of diet and eczema found that cutting out eggs, chicken, milk, and beef significantly improved eczema in 70% of the kids that completed the study. Subsequent studies found similar results; though in this case, for example, it only seemed to work for a quarter of the kids. But, bottom line, out of 13 studies on avoiding milk, eggs, or both: “Ten [out of 13] studies documented overall clinical improvement.”
The economic burden of eczema caused by just regular cow’s milk formula alone may be hundreds of millions of dollars a year, though eggs appear to be worse “in terms of [predicting] persistence and severity of the disease.” Sensitization to egg white and cow’s milk can occur even in breastfed infants, though. And so, presumably the source of the exposure is the passage of egg and cow proteins through the mother’s milk. But, you don’t know until you put it to the test.
New mothers were randomized to cut out eggs, cow’s milk, and fish from their diet during the first three months of breastfeeding after giving birth, or to continue their regular diet. And indeed, the infants of mothers who cut out the eggs, milk, and fish were significantly less likely to have eczema by age six months—though after that age, the decreased rates of eczema in the no eggs, milk, or fish group was no longer statistically significant.
Follow those same kids out to four years, though, and those whose moms cut out the eggs, milk, and dairy for just three months while breastfeeding had significantly lower eczema rates, even years later. Consuming that hypoallergenic diet during breastfeeding cut childhood eczema rates in half.
Eating more plant foods may also help. “The majority of fruit and vegetable studies [suggest that] higher consumption…by mothers during pregnancy and children in early life result[s] in reductions in…asthma,” another allergic-type disease. Maybe it’s the phenolic phytonutrients in plants that are helping, supported by evidence that “certain vegetarian diets” appear to alleviate “the severity of skin diseases” in adults with eczema—though if you look at that citation, it was a very strange diet.
They found striking benefits in terms of reducing the severity of eczema, and even two months after they went off the diet, they were still doing better than when they started. But, the diet was just vegetable juice, brown rice, kelp, tofu, tahini, and “persimmon leaf tea,” and severely calorie-restricted. And, just straight fasting alone can improve eczema, as can a strictly plant-based diet—which is not so surprising, given the data on children showing how much better they can do cutting out eggs and dairy.
“In spite of these data Dermatologists and Pediatricians have, for many years, denied the role of food…in [eczema],” even though as many as 80% of kids may benefit cutting out milk and/or eggs, regardless of what the various allergy tests showed. You can’t necessarily tell if diet is going to help until you yourself put it to the test in your own body. And, that’s what parents are doing. They’re not waiting for their pediatricians to catch up; 75% of parents with eczema-stricken kids have “tried some form of dietary exclusion”—most commonly cutting out dairy and eggs, though only about 40% of parents who tried it feel that it worked. But hey, why not give it a try?
A typical recommendation you see in the medical literature is like, “Look, if you have a child with some bad eczema, and the drugs aren’t working, then why don’t you try cutting out some foods?” But, that seems to me backwards. If foods are contributing, why not treat the cause and eliminate the offending foods, and then do the drugs if diet isn’t enough?
Now, there are some pretty nutty eczema diets out there, like the so-called “few food” diet, excluding everything except like “lamb, potatoes,…Rice Crispies,…broccoli, [and] pears.” To my surprise, it was actually put to the test—I told you docs were desperate! But it “failed to show [a] benefit.” Basically, if you don’t know where to begin, “the simplest approach [may be to just cut out dairy] and egg[s],” and see what happens. That’s a controversial recommendation, though. Avoiding fish, beef, eggs, and dairy “without medical supervision”? That might “trigger… malnutrition-related pathology.” What? I checked out that citation, and it’s just another article making an unsupported claim.
Now, if you exclude everything, like 99% of your diet is rice milk, well then, obviously, that’s completely insufficient. But for most parents, the #1 thing they add to their child’s diet for eczema is vegetables, and the #1 thing they cut down on is junk food. And I don’t think we have to worry about a junk-food deficiency.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Weidinger S, Novak N. Atopic dermatitis. Lancet. 2016 Mar 12;387(10023):1109-1122.
- Shankar KM, Rao SD, Umar SN, Gopalakrishnaiah V. A clinical trial for evaluation of leech application in the management of Vicarcikā (Eczema). Anc Sci Life. 2014 Apr-Jun;33(4):236-41.
- Bernhisel-Broadbent J, Dintzis HM, Dintzis RZ, Sampson HA. Allergenicity and antigenicity of chicken egg ovomucoid (Gal d III) compared with ovalbumin (Gal d I) in children with egg allergy and in mice. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1994 Jun;93(6):1047-59.
- Yu HS, Tu HP, Hong CH, Lee CH. Lifetime Increased Risk of Adult Onset Atopic Dermatitis in Adolescent and Adult Patients with Food Allergy. Int J Mol Sci. 2016 Dec 27;18(1). pii: E42.
- Atherton DJ, Sewell M, Soothill JF, Wells RS, Chilvers CE. A double-blind controlled crossover trial of an antigen-avoidance diet in atopic eczema. Lancet. 1978 Feb 25;1(8061):401-3.
- Sampson HA. Role of immediate food hypersensitivity in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1983 May;71(5):473-80.
- Sicherer SH1, Sampson HA. Food hypersensitivity and atopic dermatitis: pathophysiology, epidemiology, diagnosis, and management. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1999 Sep;104(3 Pt 2):S114-22.
- Lever R, MacDonald C, Waugh P, Aitchison T. Randomised controlled trial of advice on an egg exclusion diet in young children with atopic eczema and sensitivity to eggs. Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 1998 Feb;9(1):13-9.
- Bellioni-businco B, Paganelli R, Lucenti P, Giampietro PG, Perborn H, Businco L. Allergenicity of goat's milk in children with cow's milk allergy. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1999;103(6):1191-4.
- Webber SA, Graham-brown RA, Hutchinson PE, Burns DA. Dietary manipulation in childhood atopic dermatitis. Br J Dermatol. 1989;121(1):91-8.
- Vita D, Passalacqua G, Di pasquale G, et al. Ass's milk in children with atopic dermatitis and cow's milk allergy: crossover comparison with goat's milk. Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2007;18(7):594-8.
- Foekel C, Schubert R, Kaatz M, et al. Dietetic effects of oral intervention with mare's milk on the Severity Scoring of Atopic Dermatitis, on faecal microbiota and on immunological parameters in patients with atopic dermatitis. Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2009;60 Suppl 7:41-52.
- Blackfan, K. A consideration of certain aspects of protein hypersensitiveness in children. Am J Med Sci. 1920;160:341–350.
- Sigurs N, Hattevig G, Kjellman B. Maternal avoidance of eggs, cow's milk, and fish during lactation: effect on allergic manifestations, skin-prick tests, and specific IgE antibodies in children at age 4 years. Pediatrics. 1992 Apr;89(4 Pt 2):735-9.
- Hattevig G, Kjellman B, Sigurs N, Björkstén B, Kjellman NI. Effect of maternal avoidance of eggs, cow's milk and fish during lactation upon allergic manifestations in infants. Clin Exp Allergy. 1989 Jan;19(1):27-32.
- Tait C, Goldman RD. Dietary exclusion for childhood atopic dermatitis. Can Fam Physician. 2015 Jul;61(7):609-11.
- Bhanegaonkar A, Horodniceanu EG, Ji X, Detzel P, Boguniewicz M, Chamlin S, Lake A, Czerkies LA, Botteman MF, Saavedra JM. Economic Burden of Atopic Dermatitis in High-Risk Infants Receiving Cow's Milk or Partially Hydrolyzed 100% Whey-Based Formula. J Pediatr. 2015 May;166(5):1145-1151.e3.
- Wolkerstorfer A, Wahn U, Kjellman NI, Diepgen TL, De Longueville M, Oranje AP. Natural course of sensitization to cow's milk and hen's egg in childhood atopic dermatitis: ETAC study group. Clin Exp Allergy. 2002 Jan;32(1):70-3.
- Businco L, Businco E, Cantani A, Galli E, Infussi R, Benincori N. Results of a milk and/or egg free diet in children with atopic dermatitis. Allergol Immunopathol (Madr). 1982 Jul-Aug;10(4):283-8.
- Johnston GA, Bilbao RM, Graham-Brown RA. The use of dietary manipulation by parents of children with atopic dermatitis. Br J Dermatol. 2004 Jun;150(6):1186-9.
- Działo M, Mierziak J, Korzun U, Preisner M, Szopa J, Kulma A. The Potential of Plant Phenolics in Prevention and Therapy of Skin Disorders. Int J Mol Sci. 2016 Feb 18;17(2):160.
- Nurmatov U, Devereux G, Sheikh A. Nutrients and foods for the primary prevention of asthma and allergy: systematic review and meta-analysis. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2011 Mar;127(3):724-33.e1-30.
- Tanaka T, Kouda K, Kotani M, Takeuchi A, Tabei T, Masamoto Y, Nakamura H, Takigawa M, Suemura M, Takeuchi H, Kouda M. Vegetarian diet ameliorates symptoms of atopic dermatitis through reduction of the number of peripheral eosinophils and of PGE2 synthesis by monocytes. J Physiol Anthropol Appl Human Sci. 2001 Nov;20(6):353-61.
- Lithell H, Bruce A, Gustafsson IB, Höglund NJ, Karlström B, Ljunghall K, Sjölin K, Venge P, Werner I, Vessby B. A fasting and vegetarian diet treatment trial on chronic inflammatory disorders. Acta Derm Venereol. 1983;63(5):397-403.
- David TJ, Patel L, Ewing CI, Stanton RH. Dietary regimens for atopic dermatitis in childhood. J R Soc Med. 1997;90 Suppl 30:9-14.
- Guibas GV, Makris M, Chliva C, Gregoriou S, Rigopoulos D. Atopic Dermatitis, food allergy and dietary interventions. A tale of controversy. An Bras Dermatol. 2013 Sep-Oct;88(5):839-41.
- Nosrati A, Afifi L, Danesh MJ, Lee K, Yan D, Beroukhim K, Ahn R, Liao W. Dietary modifications in atopic dermatitis: patient-reported outcomes. J Dermatolog Treat. 2017 Sep;28(6):523-538.
- Hon KL, Leung TF, Kam WY, Lam MC, Fok TF, Ng PC. Dietary restriction and supplementation in children with atopic eczema. Clin Exp Dermatol. 2006 Mar;31(2):187-91.
- Neild VS, Marsden RA, Bailes JA, Bland JM. Egg and milk exclusion diets in atopic eczema. Br J Dermatol. 1986 Jan;114(1):117-23.
- Scott JF, Hammond MI, Nedorost ST. Food Avoidance Diets for Dermatitis. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep. 2015 Oct;15(10):60.
- Mabin DC, Sykes AE, David TJ. Controlled trial of a few foods diet in severe atopic dermatitis. Arch Dis Child. 1995;73(3):202-7.
Icons created by Gabriele Masaspina, Nestor Arellano, Iconic, Herman Susanto and Harden Dwi Lester from The Noun Project.
Image credits: Kai Schreiber and psyberartist. Images have been modified.
Motion graphics by Avocado Video.
Republishing "Friday Favorites: Best Foods to Avoid for Eczema & Exclusion Diets for Eczema"
You may republish this material online or in print under our Creative Commons licence. You must attribute the article to NutritionFacts.org with a link back to our website in your republication.
If any changes are made to the original text or video, you must indicate, reasonably, what has changed about the article or video.
You may not use our material for commercial purposes.
You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that restrict others from doing anything permitted here.
If you have any questions, please Contact Us
Friday Favorites: Best Foods to Avoid for Eczema & Exclusion Diets for Eczema
LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Content URLDoctor's Note
For even more on eczema, see:
- Treating Asthma and Eczema with Plant-Based Diets
- Eczema Treatment with Coconut Oil, Mineral Oil vs. Vaseline
- Eczema Treatment with Evening Primrose Oil, Borage Oil vs. Hempseed Oil
Other videos on skin health include:
- Beauty Is More Than Skin Deep
- Preventing Wrinkles with Diet
- Flaxseeds for Sensitive Skin
- Preventing Skin Cancer from the Inside Out
- Natural Treatment for Acne and Fungal Infections
The original videos aired on December 1 and 4, 2017
If you haven't yet, you can subscribe to our free newsletter. With your subscription, you'll also get notifications for just-released blogs and videos. Check out our information page about our translated resources.