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Eczema diet

, medical expert
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
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Diet for eczema is one of the conditions of treatment. With the help of a properly composed diet, you can not only cure eczema, but also prevent its relapses in the future. Let's consider the nutritional features for this skin disease.

So, eczema is a skin disease that often becomes chronic and has an allergic origin. The disease is accompanied by a severe rash and itching on different parts of the body. Redness, small cracks and blisters appear on the affected areas, which turn into wet areas and abscesses. According to medical statistics, every 15th child and 30th adult on Earth suffers from skin rashes. Dietary nutrition in this case improves the patient's condition and alleviates the symptoms of the disease.

The basis of treatment is the rejection of products that cause and increase skin itching, for example, sweets, citrus fruits, pastries. Such a diet prevents relapses and exacerbations of rashes. Nutrition is based on the use of products that normalize metabolism, provide the body with energy and improve digestion. Particular attention should be paid to the method of cooking. Food should be steamed, served boiled or fresh.

  • During a relapse, it is necessary to exclude from the diet: smoked, spicy and salty foods, baked goods, sweets, dairy products, semi-finished products, eggs, alcohol, citrus fruits, pork, canned food.
  • During periods of exacerbation, the diet should include the following foods: plant foods, that is, vegetables, fruits, greens, lean cereals, fermented milk drinks and products.
  • During periods of remission of the disease, to prevent its relapse, one should consume natural gifts: sea buckthorn, cranberries, currants, lingonberries, gooseberries, squash, nuts, pumpkin and watermelons.

If the diet is followed, the patient's condition improves in 30-40 days, after which the diet can be expanded. But proper nutrition is a must, as it allows you to cleanse the skin and normalize the functioning of the body.

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Treating Eczema with Diet

Treating eczema with diet is an effective method of therapy that has a positive effect on the entire body. The disease requires radically adjusted nutrition. Therefore, if you did not adhere to a healthy approach to food before the disease, then with eczema you will have to completely change your usual diet.

For example, during periods of exacerbation, the diet should consist of any vegetable soups, unleavened porridges, fermented milk products, lean fish and meat, as well as any plant foods. If the patient suffers from dyshidrotic or dry eczema, then special attention should be paid to soft lean foods, avoiding seasonings and hot sauces and minimizing salt intake.

Hypoallergenic Diet for Eczema

A hypoallergenic diet for eczema is relevant for many people, since about 20% of the population suffers from this type of disease. Skin rashes are the body's reaction to an allergen, this can be a product entering the body or an irritant affecting the skin. Let's consider food groups and their allergenicity for skin lesions:

High
allergenicity

Average
allergenicity

Hypoallergenic
product

Egg white

Pork

Mutton

Milk

Rabbit meat

Horse meat

Pisces

Turkey

Turnip

Strawberry

Apricot

Zucchini

Strawberries

Peach

Squash

Honey

Cranberry

Gooseberry

Blackcurrant

Corn

Plum

Pomegranates, grapes

Rice

Prunes

Pineapple, melon

Buckwheat

Bananas

Chocolate, coffee

Potato

Apples

Beet

Peas

Watermelon

Mustard

Broccoli cabbage

Green salad

Soybeans, wheat

Pepper (green)

Pumpkin

The menu should be complete and aimed at preventing relapses of the disease, reducing its manifestations. However, it is necessary to consume about 130 g of protein, the same amount of fat and 200 g of carbohydrates per day. The daily diet should include fresh fruits, vegetables and greens, which enrich the body with useful vitamins and microelements. Hot sauces and ketchups, seasonings, and salt should be excluded from the diet. The therapeutic diet involves a complete rejection of food from the first group of the table.

What is the diet for eczema?

So, for medicinal purposes, it is recommended to stick to a plant-protein diet. Eczema is a serious disease, and the use of seemingly harmless products can cause an exacerbation. It is necessary to give up fatty and sweet foods, alcohol, coffee, salty and spicy foods. During an exacerbation of the disease, flour products, eggs, onions and garlic should be excluded from the diet. Some fruits and berries cause redness and itching on the skin, these are citrus fruits, red apples, strawberries.

The diet should be enriched with fresh juices, but do not overuse them. Porridges (buckwheat, oatmeal, millet), cabbage, beans, fish, rabbit and turkey meat, lettuce leaves are good for the body. The menu should include turnips and rutabaga, as they enrich the body with vitamin C. Melons are also good for the body - pumpkin, watermelon, melon, squash. It is better to cook food by steaming or baking, that is, according to the principle of maximum benefit. Do not forget about fermented milk products and vegetable oils. They strengthen the walls of blood vessels, as they contain vitamins PP, B, A and C. Vitamin food speeds up metabolic processes and improves immunity.

It is necessary to adhere to the diet for at least 4-7 weeks. During this time, the skin condition will normalize. It is necessary to exit the regime gradually, so as not to provoke a new attack of the disease. By periodically adhering to the diet, you can cure eczema without pharmaceutical drugs.

Diet for hand eczema

A diet for hand eczema helps to alleviate symptoms and transfer the disease to the remission stage. The defeat of the upper limbs causes not only painful sensations, but also aesthetic inconveniences. Compliance with certain nutritional rules prevents relapses of the disease. First of all, gently refuse fried, spicy and sweet foods, as well as canned goods, pickles and semi-finished products.

Let's look at the basic nutritional recommendations for red and itchy hands:

  • The diet should include meat products, such as rabbit, turkey and fish dishes. During exacerbations, you should completely give up meat and switch to a vegetarian diet. As a second course, you can use vegetable stews with a minimum content of potatoes and fat, but you should give up pasta.
  • The disease causes a deficiency of vitamins B and PP, so their deficiency should be replenished with fresh carrots, lettuce leaves, turnips, cucumbers or rutabaga. Dill, parsley, horseradish and celery greens are suitable as spices. Particular attention should be paid to dill, it helps to cope with nervous shocks, restores the gastrointestinal tract and increases the level of hemoglobin.
  • The diet does not imply restrictions on the amount of water. Therefore, the diet should contain a lot of fresh water, juices, milk.

Very often, eczema affecting the hands is accompanied by wet areas due to the inflammatory process and disturbances in water-salt metabolism. In this case, nutrition is based on the rejection of carbohydrate foods. The diet should include dairy products, lean meat, fresh vegetables. Food that causes flatulence is completely contraindicated, that is, carbonated drinks, legumes, cabbage. You need to cook without salt, stick to fractional meals and, if necessary, take vitamin supplements.

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Diet for eczema on legs

A diet for eczema on the legs helps to get rid of itching and rashes that cause a lot of inconvenience. Semi-finished products and perishable foods that contain hard-to-digest fats are excluded from the diet. These are meat salads, pate, lamb, pork, sweets, flour, fatty foods. During periods of exacerbation, the diet should include vegetable soups, porridge on water and fermented milk products. The first few days of therapeutic nutrition can be spent on diluted fruit juices to cleanse the body.

  • Of the meat products, preference should be given to boiled or stewed turkey and rabbit, boiled fresh fish and lean beef. In this case, you need to steam, boil or bake.
  • Fermented milk products and plant foods should be present in the diet every day. Cabbage, peas, cucumbers, zucchini, carrots, beets and other vegetables have a beneficial effect on the body. Leafy and watercress salad contain vitamin C, iron, iodine and carotene, so they are useful for the patient.
  • During remission, it is useful to add berries (raspberries, blueberries, rowan, gooseberries, currants), nuts, and melons to the diet. But during an exacerbation, these products are contraindicated.
  • Porridges, especially oatmeal, buckwheat and wheat, must be included in the diet. It is strictly forbidden to drink alcoholic beverages, coffee and strong tea.

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Diet for Eczema in Adults

Diet for eczema in adults - simple rules of nutrition, allowing to restore health of skin. Diet No. 7, which is prescribed to patients with kidney diseases, is excellent for treatment of this disorder. Nutrition is based on the use of plant and protein foods. With the help of natural food, the body is restored and cleansed of allergens, due to which itching and skin rashes disappear.

The diet should include fresh vegetables, fruits and greens, whole grains and food with unsaturated fats, such as Omega 3. At the same time, you should avoid sweet, floury, fatty, spicy, salty, canned and pickled foods. Healthy eating is the basis of therapy for many chronic diseases.

Diet for Dyshidrotic Eczema

Diet for dyshidrotic eczema is an important component of treatment. Dyshidrotic skin lesions are chronic disorders. Patients suffer from periodic rashes in the form of serous blisters on the skin of the soles and palms. Properly composed nutrition prevents allergic reactions, and therefore manifestations of the disease.

  • First of all, it is necessary to exclude red vegetables and fruits from the diet, as well as citrus fruits. Any sweets and flour products are prohibited, sugar can be replaced with fructose.
  • Of the meat products, lean dietary meats and fish are suitable. However, many allergens are found in smoked meats, pork and duck meat.
  • Spicy, fried, peppery and salty foods should also be removed from the diet, as such products not only cause an exacerbation of rashes and itching, but also negatively affect the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.
  • The basis of the diet is fresh vegetables, fruits, greens and fermented milk products. Cottage cheese, yogurt, kefir and cheese contain lactobacilli, which are essential for the intestines and local immunity. Their regular use prevents relapses of dyshidrotic skin lesions.

So, the therapy is based on a strict diet. It is necessary to adhere to such a diet for 1-2 months, and to achieve a lasting result - throughout life.

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Diet for microbial eczema

The diet for the microbial diet is a plant-based and dairy diet. With this disease, the skin is covered with flat crusts, which, when removed, leave wet areas. Most often, rashes appear on the shins, the back of the hands, and sometimes on the head. As a rule, a doctor makes a list of permitted and prohibited products. Coffee, chocolate, spices, pickles, soda, cheese, and alcohol are prohibited. The exception is plant allergens; the patient is allowed to eat nuts, corn, red vegetables, peas, and garlic. But when the disease worsens, these products are also prohibited.

The main diet consists of vegetable soups, fresh porridges on water, river fish, steamed cutlets and meatballs, dairy products. Restrictions also apply to the amount of spices in food. It is recommended to reduce or completely refuse to use salt and pepper. Do not forget about maintaining water balance, you need to drink up to two liters of still mineral water daily.

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Diet for allergic eczema

A diet for allergic eczema is aimed at eliminating the symptoms of the disease. Skin rashes can be stimulated not only by food products, but also by dust, animal hair, pollen, cosmetics and much more. Regardless of the pathogen, therapeutic nutrition allows you to minimize the manifestations of the disease. It is necessary to adhere to a healthy regimen not only during an exacerbation to relieve the body, but also during remission.

  • The ban includes smoked foods, sausages, fried foods, fatty foods, and foods with spices. As well as seafood, canned goods, eggs, nuts, citrus fruits, mushrooms, grapes, carbonated drinks, and confectionery.
  • It is necessary to limit the consumption of pasta, semolina, butter, fatty sour cream and whole milk.
  • The diet should be based on fermented milk products, lean meat, light fruits (plums, currants, pears, apples), vegetables and greens. You can eat grain bread and products made from second-grade flour, ghee and refined butter.

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Diet for dry eczema

The diet for dry eczema involves a vegetarian diet. The menu is based on protein and plant foods. During remission, weak meat broths, lean meat and steamed meat dishes can be added to the diet. It is necessary to eat porridge, but without oil and salt, vegetable casseroles and stews with a minimum of potatoes. As for fish, it is best to eat river fish, baked or boiled.

Dairy products such as cottage cheese, sour milk, fermented baked milk, yogurt and kefir help the body to recover faster and speed up the skin regeneration processes. Plant foods are very useful, for example, peas and cabbage. Peas contain a lot of protein, so it is better to eat them in the summer period of exacerbation of the disease. The daily diet should include carrots or carrot juice, as it contains a lot of B vitamins and carotene. The content of these nutrients in patients with eczema is significantly underestimated.

If hypertension appears along with skin rashes and itching, then it is worth eating beans and beets, watercress and lettuce, as they are rich in vitamin C, iron, iodine and carotene. Dill helps well with gastrointestinal disorders. Greens can be added to salads or smoothies can be made from kefir and dill.

Eczema Diet Menu

The diet menu for eczema is necessary for the restoration of the body and adherence to the therapeutic diet. The diet should consist of natural plant foods and fermented milk products. It is allowed to eat porridge, lean meat, vegetables and fruits. Let's consider an approximate menu for the day, which can be used for the prevention and treatment of skin rashes and itching.

  • Breakfast

A glass of kefir and oatmeal with water or milk are great for breakfast. The porridge can be supplemented with a spoonful of currants, a green apple or a ripe banana.

  • Snack

Any permitted fruit with yogurt and whole grain bread are suitable as a snack.

  • Dinner

As a first course, you can prepare a light soup on vegetable or meat broth with peas and lean meat. For the second course, porridge, for example, pearl barley or buckwheat, is suitable. Supplement the porridge with meatballs or steamed turkey cutlets. A salad of fresh greens, cabbage and cucumbers will not be superfluous either.

  • Dinner

When preparing dinner, it is worth choosing products rich in protein. Boiled or baked river fish with greens is perfect. If you don’t like fish, you can replace it with turkey breast or a salad of lean beef and green beans.

  • 2nd dinner

For the last meal, a glass of kefir, fruit or vegetable juice will do. You can also eat some cottage cheese or make cheesecakes, but without adding eggs.

Do not forget that you need to include non-carbonated mineral water in your daily diet, at least two liters. It is better to cook food by steaming or baking. It is not recommended to use spices and salt, which cause an exacerbation of the disease.

Eczema Diet Recipes

Eczema diet recipes help to create a menu and choose the most attractive and tasty dishes. When preparing first courses, preference should be given to vegetable soups and broths. If such food is not to your taste, you can eat soups on broths made from lean meat. Second courses, that is, lean meat and fish, are best steamed, boiled or baked. Side dishes made from vegetables and cereals will be excellent additions. But potatoes and pasta are not recommended, and flour products made from first-grade wheat are also prohibited.

Let's look at the basic principles of cooking and the most popular and simple recipes.

  1. Cold beetroot soup
  • Turkey meat or chicken breast (boiled) – 200 g
  • Beetroot – 1-2 pcs.
  • Cucumbers – 2 pcs.
  • Sour cream – 100 g
  • Green onions - a couple of feathers
  • Parsley
  • Dill
  • Warm boiled water – 1.5 l

Wash the beets, peel them, grate them and pour boiled water over them. This will be the base of the soup, i.e. the beet broth. After the beets have stood for 2-3 hours, they must be carefully strained, separating the vegetable pulp from the future broth. Add sour cream to the beet water and mix thoroughly. Cut the meat into oblong slices and put it in a saucepan. Cut the cucumbers (you can peel the skin), green onions, parsley or dill in the same way. Mix our soup well and put it in the refrigerator to infuse. In an hour the dish is ready to eat.

  1. Baked fish with vegetables and lentils
  • Any river fish – 1 pc.
  • Celery
  • Green onions
  • Lemon
  • Sour cream – 50 g
  • Low-fat hard cheese – 50 g
  • Parsley or dill
  • Bell pepper – 1 pc.
  • Lentils – 1-2 cups.

Take the fish, clean it well, remove the entrails and gills, and rinse. Cut the celery, bell pepper, and onion into half rings. Chop the greens and cut the lemon into slices. Mix half of the sour cream with the grated cheese. Now let's get to the fish carcass. Carefully coat it inside with sour cream, put lemon slices, a mixture of celery, greens, and pepper in the belly, sprinkle with lemon juice. On top, coat the fish with sour cream and cheese and put it in the oven. The dish is cooked until golden brown, the optimal setting is 180-200 degrees for 30-40 minutes. While the fish is baking, cook the lentils.

  1. Cottage cheese dessert with fruits and berries
  • Low-fat cottage cheese – 300 g
  • Any berries (currants, blueberries, raspberries)
  • Green apple or banana
  • Gelatin – 1 sachet

Rub the cottage cheese through a sieve or achieve a creamy consistency using a blender. Finely chop the berries and fruits. If you are using an apple, you can pre-bake it in a microwave oven and use only the juicy, aromatic pulp for the dessert. Dilute the gelatin according to the instructions, pour it into the curd mass and mix thoroughly. Add the fruit to the cottage cheese, pour into a bowl and put in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours.

  1. Smoothie with cottage cheese, kefir and dill
  • Kefir – 500 ml
  • Cottage cheese – 100 g
  • Dill

Place the kefir and cottage cheese in a blender bowl and mix until smooth. Finely chop the dill and add to the milk mixture. Pour the smoothie into a glass and enjoy a tasty and healthy dish.

A diet for eczema is not a death sentence, it is an opportunity to cleanse the body and restore its normal functioning. Many easy-to-cook dishes allow you to make the menu not only healthy, but also tasty. By following the rules of healthy eating, you can get rid of rashes and itching on the skin forever, as well as many other chronic diseases.

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What can you eat if you have eczema?

What can you eat with eczema and how to make a complete menu? So, the therapeutic diet can rightfully be called protein-vegetable. Since the diet should contain a lot of lean meat and fish, hypoallergenic fruits and vegetables, greens, as well as cereals and fermented milk. It is very important to avoid eating flour, fatty, strictly and sweet.

The diet should include only healthy foods, such as poultry, rabbit or lean beef. Boiled river fish, meat broths, steamed cutlets are also allowed. Particular attention should be paid to lean porridges on water, vegetables, greens and fermented milk desserts without sugar. The diet should contain a lot of protein, as it is a kind of building material that helps restore skin affected by the disease.

What should you not eat if you have eczema?

What should you not eat with eczema and what foods can provoke an exacerbation of the disease? First of all, it is worth knowing that therapeutic nutrition should become the norm, that is, become a habit. This will prevent skin lesions and their relapses. During an exacerbation, it is strictly forbidden to eat sweets, that is, flour and chocolate, allergenic fruits and vegetables, semi-finished products, berries, spices, salt, coffee and alcohol.

The diet should be chronic, but as soon as the disorder goes into remission, you can return nuts and berries to the diet. Such a diet is recommended for patients, both adults and children. Additionally, 0.1 g of ascorbic acid can be added to food before each meal. This will allow the body not to feel a deficiency of vitamin C, which is necessary for natural cleansing of allergens.

Treatment of skin disease is not only about following the rules of nutrition, but also about proper self-care. The thing is that most modern cosmetics contain chemicals and fragrances that irritate the skin. During the recovery period, it is better not to use such products or use emollients that soothe irritated skin.

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