The Ayurveda Experience Blog
Ayurvedic knowledge teaches that food choices affect how the body responds to outside stress, for there is a direct link between mood and food. Our choices create domino effects. They can either create peace or harm.
Food gets materialized on every level of the body starting from the plasma (rasa), blood (rakta), muscles (mamsa), fat (medas), bones (ahsti), nerves (majja), and ends with sexual energy (shukra). As you can see, there is a sacred relationship between food, the body, and how eczema manifests.
When we look at the doshas that interplay with eczema, it is predominately pitta dosha because eczema is caused by an inflammatory response on the superficial layer of the skin, which brings upon redness and heat, thus creating dryness, a vata trait. With this knowing, it’s your job to take action and avoid foods that increase the inflammation, and thus pitta. So for your eczema diet, here are four foods to cut out. This will make a profound difference in reducing flare-ups and rashes associated with eczema.
Dairy Products
Back in the ancient Ayurvedic texts, cow’s milk was considered very sacred and cows were treated with ultimate respect. Today however cows are genetically different and eat different foods. In today’s milk there are 25 different molecules that have been identified to cause allergies within the body which may trigger the rash.
Eggs
When the immune system is compromised by any autoimmune disorder such as eczema, the immune system is confused and defensive. It identifies the protein of the egg as a foreign invader and sends out a chemical attack, which causes the inflammatory response.
Refined Sugar
This includes soda, candy, white rice, cereals and juice.
There have been many studies that show refined sugar increases inflammation within the body because of how the body processes this type of sugar. Refined sugar doesn’t need any type of digestion because it’s a single chain of sugar. This fast response rushes the pancreas to secrete insulin to get the sugar in the cells fast enough. A burst of energy came in fast only to leave just as fast. Hmm…going into anything fast can create harm. Nature teaches us to live in alignment with the process of cycles, when we rush nature there are harmful effects such as refined sugar causing inflammation in the body.
Processed Packaged Foods
Mostly all foods that are processed and packaged contain preservatives. Preservatives are placed in foods to increase the shelf life of the product, not to increase vitality of the food. There are a number of preservatives that cause skin rashes. For example, propylene glycol found in ice cream, national brand yogurts, cakes and other sweets, beer, salad dressing, and baking mixes is an emulsifier that can create skin problems. Think of it this way, packaged food has low vitality, if we want to heal our bodies we need to choose foods that are power packed with nutrients and are live!
If you cut all of these out and still see problems, test gluten, soy, MSG and nightshade vegetables.
Now that we have taken the trigger foods out, lets put healthy fresh food in! Here is a list of healing foods to incorporate into your diet daily.
Healing Foods For Your Eczema Diet
Bell peppers
Kale
Celery
Almonds
Pumpkin Seeds
Sunflower Seeds
Fermented Vegetables / Live Cultured Non-Dairy Yogurt
Brussels Sprouts
Carrots
Sweet Potatoes
All these foods contain vitamins C, B6, magnesium, zinc, biotin, vitamin A, vitamin E, essential fatty acids, glycine, carotenoids, antioxidants, and probiotics from dairy free sources. All these foods heal the skin, reduce inflammation and promote a healthy digestive tract.
The best and tastiest way to heal is through food. Happy eating!
Is ghee also to be avoided?