Eczema is a very common issues I come across when having
health related discussions with people. It ranges from parents trying
to find a way to ease and heal their children’s eczema to adults who
have been dealing with the problem for many years with no success.
Eczema is a superficial skin inflammation, characterized by redness, edema, oozing, crusting, scaling and usually itching.
Here are the top five most important adjustments someone can make quickly to address the issue of eczema:
1. Diet
The foods we eat greatly effects our health—and yes, our skin! A diet
high in sugar and carbohydrates can create an unhealthy gut which then
weakens the immune system, creating symptoms like eczema. Remember that
sugar is not just in the form of treats but bread, cereal, pasta, etc.
Also avoid dairy, acidic foods (oranges, tomatoes, pineapple etc.), and
peanut butter, French fries, margarine, donuts, and hydrogenated
oils. If you can’t avoid them, just try to really limit them. Increase
protein and vegetables. Drinking plenty of water is also important.
2. Non-Toxic Laundry Detergent:
The simplest change to make is laundry detergent. Most store
bought detergents are FULL of nasty chemicals* and fragrances. Most
detergents do not rinse out of your clothes completely. When your
laundry smells like Mountain Fresh Air when you put it on, it’s a clear
sign that the Mountain Fresh Air chemical fragrance is still in your
clothes—and in contact with your SKIN the whole time you’re wearing that
clothing. Then at night you likely spend hours sleeping on sheets also
washed in the same detergents. We've had numerous customers whose
children’s eczema has been cleared up JUST by changing laundry
detergent.
I love and recommend
Shaklee’s Fresh Laundry which is non-toxic, washes out completely (which means it’s safe for
cloth diapers too), and is very effective.
Here is one testimony:
“I
just realized that, for the first time, the kids did not have any
eczema this year. In the past, they’ve had it bad all winter, despite
constant lotioning and prescription creams. I know it’s not scientific,
but I doubt it’s coincidence that this year we switched from our
mainstream-brand “dye-free, perfume-free” laundry stuff – which I
learned contains just as many toxic chemicals as the “regular” versions –
to the Shaklee laundry products.”
3. Toxins in the Home:
Laundry detergent isn’t the only toxin in the home that has
negative effects on our health. Most everyday cleaners contain harmful
chemicals that irritate the skin. For example, if you use a floor
cleaner that contains bleach and the child is playing on that floor the
residue from the cleaner will end up on his skin. Spraying a cleaner on
your furniture and then sitting down on it gets chemicals on your skin.
Cleaning your dishes with a toxic cleaner can make you ingest chemicals.
Consider what you wash your bathtub and toilet with and then put bare
skin on. Inhaling the fumes of toxic cleaners can weaken your immune
system (which can effect skin, the body’s largest living organ).
Switching to non-toxic cleaners for the home can improve not only skin,
but also allergies and asthma symptoms. There are effective, safe, and
cost saving cleaners available. My personal favorite is the
Get Clean Line by Shaklee. Not only will it remove some of the toxins from your home but it can also save you an average of $200/year.
4. Non-Toxic Skin Care:
Avoid lotions and creams with Lanolin. Even moms and dads
should avoid lanolin if they hold and come in contact with the child.
Being very careful about lotions, creams, soaps, etc. Use a cleanser in
the bath that is perfect PH. Avoid toxics and heavy fragrances.
5. Supplements
Because eczema is usually (like most issues we see on the
outside of our bodies) a symptom of what is going on inside the body,
supplements are a potential help. Many supplements are helpful, but there are two to always start with as it relates to healthy skin:
Probiotics:
Causes of eczema can be allergies, toxins, chemical sensitivity,
toxicity, post-viral reactions. Probiotics help build the immune system
(80% of your immune system is in the gut).
Probiotics are healthy bacteria that we need to help keep our digestive
track healthy. Shaklee’s probiotic is different because of it’s triple
encapsulation, which means that all the micro flora is guaranteed to end
up in your gut and not get eaten along the way.
Omegas: Someone with eczema is likely having a problem with
the conversion of EPA, DHA, and GLA (these are the good fats) into
prostaglandins. For a child, I would suggest
Mighty Smarts and for an adult either
OmegaGuard or
GLA (or both if severe.)
In addition I would suggest a multivitamin for a
child or
adult, but the above two would be the most important.
Alfalfa
is also an effective supplement to reduce inflammation throughout the
body, which contributes to eczema. The child pictured consumed all of
the above and her eczema was cleared up in three days.
I only share
Shaklee products
because I’ve seen such great success in our own home as well as many
people I’ve been able to help. Shaklee has serious integrity amidst a
marketplace where most companies attempt to hide what their products are
made with and how they are made. They provide everyday products that I
trust to use with my family and also to share with my friends. They
save a family a lot of money too. Their standards are higher than any
other company in their industry. Here is a
little video if you want to know more. It discusses the rigorous testing on raw materials that go into Shaklee’s finished products.
These are suggestions that will create generally positive changes for
anyone’s health, but also have been shown to help relieve and prevent
eczema naturally.
