Diet taboos for babies with eczema

There is no universal list of dietary taboos for baby eczema. The only foods that need to be strictly avoided are allergenic foods that have been clearly proven to induce or aggravate baby eczema. Blindly restricting all foods will slow down the baby's growth and development, and will not help the recovery of eczema.

This is really not what I said casually. Recently, my best friend’s 10-month-old boy suffered from eczema for half a year. The elderly in the family followed the “blacklist” on the Internet and banned all foods: eggs, milk, fish and shrimp, and even “hot” fruits like mango and strawberry were not allowed to touch. The baby relied on white porridge, vegetables, and lean pork every day. During the physical examination, he was 2 pounds underweight. The eczema still turned red and scratched his face. Later, I went to the pediatric dermatology department for a systematic checkup and found out that my baby was only allergic to wheat. She had been avoiding eggs and milk for more than half a year without any problems. After replacing ordinary flour with hypoallergenic special powder, most of the eczema disappeared in half a month. My baby's appetite increased, and the physical examination indicators in the second month were directly tied to the median for the same month.

The current consensus of evidence-based medicine is actually very clear: both the American Academy of Pediatrics and my country's "Consensus on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Atopic Dermatitis in Children" have clearly mentioned that unless there is clear evidence of food allergy, routine taboos are not recommended for babies with eczema. The probability of food allergies in babies under 1 year old is only 5%-8%. Most of the triggers for recurring eczema are actually insufficient skin moisturization, contact with inhaled allergens such as dust mites/molds/animal dander, or wearing too thick and stuffy clothes. It really has little to do with what you eat.

That’s not to say that the often-mentioned “hair-producing substances” are completely unreasonable. I have also talked about this with an old Chinese doctor I consulted before. In essence, the “hair-producing substances” that everyone talks about, such as seafood, mangoes, pineapples, and bamboo shoots, either contain high histamine content or contain proteases that easily irritate the mucous membranes. Even if some babies do not It is a clear allergy. After eating, the symptoms of red and itchy skin may temporarily aggravate. In this case, it is okay to temporarily avoid it. Just wait until the eczema has stabilized and then try a small amount. There is no need to relegate all these foods to the "outskirts" - after all, just because someone else's baby develops a rash after eating it, it does not mean that your baby will also have a reaction after eating it.

Don’t just rely on the results of the allergen test to blacklist your baby. Especially if the immune system of a baby under 1 year old is not fully developed, the false positive rate of the IgE test is particularly high. A parent once took a test report saying that the baby is allergic to 10 kinds of food. In fact, only 2 of them will aggravate eczema, and the remaining 8 are all misjudgments. The most reliable way to judge is always a food avoidance provocation test: For example, if you suspect that your child’s eczema has become worse after eating eggs, completely stop eggs and all processed foods containing eggs for 2-4 weeks. If the eczema improves significantly, feed a small amount of pure eggs. If the eczema does worsen within 1-3 days after eating, or vomiting, diarrhea, or urticaria occurs, then it is a real allergy, and you need to avoid it for 3-6 months before trying again. ； If there is no change in the eczema after stopping eggs, just feed the baby when it is time to eat. The lack of protein will not be conducive to the repair of the skin barrier.

There is another very common pitfall: many breastfeeding mothers follow blind dietary restrictions, always thinking that if they eat eggs and milk, they will overfeed their babies and aggravate their baby's eczema. Unless it is clear that the baby is allergic to these foods, there is really no need. I once met a breastfeeding mother who didn't even dare to put too much soy sauce or salt to treat her baby's eczema. She ate white rice and stir-fried vegetables every day. In the end, she became anemic and lost her hair, but her baby's eczema kept growing as long as it should. It was just a torment for herself. Some parents don't even let their children touch beef and mutton. In fact, beef and mutton are very low in allergenicity. As long as they are not allergic, they can eat them normally. Sufficient protein can help their children get better quickly.

In fact, when raising a baby with eczema, you really don’t have to worry too much about food. Many of the babies around me couldn’t eat this or touch that when they were young. By the time their gastrointestinal functions are fully developed at the age of two or three, they can basically gradually add the foods they were allergic to before, and eczema rarely occurs again. Instead of staring at the food list every day and wondering whether to eat or not, it is better to apply a few thick layers of moisturizing cream on your baby and don't wear more clothes than adults. It will work better than anything else.