How The Eczema Detox Is Different To An Everyday Detox

6 March 2018

More than 90 percent of eczema sufferers are sensitive to a range of artificial chemicals but did you know natural food chemicals also trigger eczema?

Karen Fischer and her family by Lyn McCreanor

Registered nutritionist, Karen Fischer, has spent more than a decade intensively researching eczema, in which time she has successfully treated thousands of people of all ages with inflammatory skin conditions. Her work has resulted in a specialist detox for people with red, flaky and itchy skin, published in a newly released book , The Eczema Detox (Exisle Publishing), available this month.

The detox is focused on reducing your total chemical load and improving your liver function to create healthy, clear skin from the inside out.

So how is the Eczema Detox different from a regular detox?

In a regular ‘detox’ you abstain from a variety of unhealthy foods and drinks for a period of time in order to reduce the amount of toxins, saturated fats and dairy you consume. Usually this also involves consuming ‘healthy’ detoxifying vegetable juices and alkalizing foods to improve the acid–alkaline balance in the body.

The Eczema Detox is specially designed for those experiencing red, itchy and flaky skin. It reduces your intake of natural chemicals, including salicylates and amines, in order to give your liver a break from chemical overload. Chemical overload occurs when the amount of chemicals you consume exceeds the rate at which your liver is capable of detoxifying them. For example, the more chemicals you are exposed to (via skin care, cleaning products and your diet) the more vitamins and minerals you need to consume to help your liver detoxify these chemicals.

The Eczema Detox is designed to correct these imbalances.

Some foods we normally think of as healthy, such as avocado, tomato, citrus fruits and kiwi fruit, are rich in salicylates and can worsen skin rashes and need to be avoided. The good news is there are also a range of foods that are beneficial for preventing and reducing skin inflammation.

Here Karen lists some of her top picks for skin-friendly foods.

Mung bean sprouts

Mung bean sprouts are like little alkalizing ‘bombs’ when added to your meals as they are one of the few strongly alkalizing foods available.

Fish

Fish is a great source of protein, vitamin D, iodine and anti-inflammatory omega-3. High fish intake during pregnancy is associated with a decreased risk of eczema.

Oats

Eczema sufferers need to start their day with a nutritious breakfast and wholegrain or rolled oats provide more dietary fibre and protein than other grain cereals.

Pears

Pears are one of the few low acid, low-salicylate fruits making them gentle on the digestive tract and easier to digest than other fruits.

Papaya (and pawpaw)

Papaya is a red fruit related to yellow pawpaw and it provides a range of carotenoids, which are potent antioxidants that can modulate gene activity to protect against inflammatory damage and tumour growth, according to clinical studies.2