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Eczema and Probiotic Foods
Skin Problems
What's Going on Inside
Eczema is a skin condition that causes itchy, red patches on different locations of the body and affects over 30 million people, especially children between the ages of one and five. The standard treatment is steroidal creams, corticosteroids, or antihistamines but this does not address the underlying cause of why it started in the first place. Scientists are finding that infants with a low intestinal microbial diversity during the first month of life are associated with atopic eczema. [1] At least 60% of the cases of eczema are found in children under five years of age, but more and more adults are having flareups. More evidence is pointing to the use of antibiotics and diets that harm the gut flora.
Eczema and Dermatitis
Eczema can also be called dermatitis and is caused by an overabundance of antibodies in the system called immunoglobulin (IgE). The production of IgE is the body's overreaction and attempt to protect itself. This is why eczema is considered an autoimmune condition which means that the body is basically harming itself.
Underlying causes can be multifaceted and you have to be a little bit of a detective to assess what's going on that has your skin erupting and causing distressing symptoms. Remember, disease is not the enemy. It's the warning sign and the body's cry for help.
Look at the Gut First
The first place to look is in your gut. Many people with eczema have allergic reactions to food. We often see that people with food allergies are missing important gut bacteria that have been killed by antibiotics. This can go hand in hand with eczema. The skin is one of the body's biggest detoxifiers and when you eat something the body can't digest properly, your skin may flare up in an allergic reaction. Removing the offending foods will help, but healing the gut with a cultured food at every meal goes a long way in not only restoring missing bacteria that are causing the food allergies but also in allowing the skin to heal and restore itself. Check out my Healing From Food Allergies post
Sugar And Eczema
Sugar is a huge trigger for eczema. Sugar can cause inflammation, and high glucose (hyperglycemia) can result in increased inflammation systemically. Foods high in sugar may also trigger eczema flare-ups. If you have eczema, watch and see if it doesn't worsen if you have sugar. Sugar causes your insulin levels to spike, which can result in inflammation and a myriad of other problems. I would make sure to cut out sugar if you have any kind of skin inflammation since it is one of the big culprits in skin eruptions.
Kefir, Cultured Veggies, and Eczema
We've had many people tell us that their eczema has cleared after adding cultured foods to their diets. Kefir is the cultured food with the most probiotics and many have told us that kefir made all the difference in healing their eczema.
One study done with homemade kefir consumption found that it improved skin conditions and especially those with eczema Atopic dermatitis (AD), the most common form of eczema. [2]
Over the last few years, scientists have established a link between the gut microbiome and the skin. [3]They now know that if you alter the gut flora in a negative way it can cause severe allergic reactions in the skin. Taking lots of antibiotics that wipe out the good bacteria, as well as the harmful bacteria, can lead to greater intestinal permeability or "leaky gut syndrome." This can allow certain intestinal bacteria to migrate to the spleen and lymph nodes and increase the severity of allergic skin reactions.
Cultured foods such as kefir, and especially cultured vegetables, are loaded with the probiotic Lactobacillus Plantarum (L. Plantarum) which, in this study, reduced SCORAD [4] (a clinical tool for assessing the severity of atopic dermatitis-AD) in children with dermatitis. Supplementation with the probiotic L. Plantarum offered a potential treatment for children with this disease and further long-term studies are being done to confirm its therapeutic efficacy.
Another double-blind study was conducted on 220 children (one to eighteen years of age) with moderate-to-severe dermatitis. The children received the probiotics Lactobacillus paracasei (L. paracasei) and Lactobacillus fermentum (L. fermentum) (both of which are in kefir) for three months. The children who received the probiotics showed lower SCORAD scores than the placebo group and this difference remained even after four months of discontinuing the probiotics. [5]
One more study [6] was done on 90 children (one to three years of age) with moderate-to-severe AD. They were treated with a mixture of Lactobacillus acidophilus (which is in kefir) and Bifidobacterium lactis (B. lactis) with fructooligosaccharides (FOS) (see below) at a dosage of 5 billion colony-forming units twice daily for 8 weeks versus a placebo. They found a decrease in the SCORAD test of 33.7% in the probiotic group. FOS is a prebiotic which makes your good bacteria grow and is the predominant ingredient in Prebio Plus.
Cassie Barnhart Story
Lives Touched
Check out Cassie's story and her journey of healing herself and her son of eczema. The body knows how to heal. It just needs your help and you are the only one who controls what you put into your body. Try it and see what happens! It's just food and it might just change everything
Two years ago, my son and I developed eczema shortly after he was born. I knew that it was somehow connected to the IV antibiotics I received while I was in labor with him since none of my other kids had antibiotics while I was in labor and they were eczema free. I had never had eczema before the IV antibiotics either. Doctors told me there was no cure for eczema and that the antibiotics couldn't have given us eczema. My baby was covered from head to toe in horrible oozing eczema and I had to keep his hands covered 24/7 to keep him from scratching himself to the point of bleeding. I noticed that our eczema was worse when I ate anything with dairy or gluten in it. I begged God for wisdom and started reading and researching as much as I could. I started us both on probiotics and started drinking organic apple cider vinegar every day. When my son was old enough, I started giving him apple cider vinegar too. Then I discovered sourdough and kefir. I no longer have eczema! It's amazing! My son is almost eczema free and if he does have a flare-up, it's not bad at all. We're still working on getting his gut health restored. He LOVES his kefir. He asks for it at every meal and drinks it with only a little fruit from the second ferment. He knows he needs it. 🙂 Doctors still don't believe me, but it doesn't matter. I know without a doubt that it healed us and that antibiotics were the root cause.
Thanks! Cass
UPDATE!!! We just received this: "I wanted to give you an update. I think my son was about two years old when I originally shared our story and he’s now five years old and has been eczema free for a few years now! He still loves kefir and now kombucha as well."
Your Liver and Kombucha
Your skin can often reflect what's going on in your liver. Your liver removes toxins 24 hours a day. When it gets overloaded and excessive toxins build up in the deep layers of the skin and it can't eliminate them all, it will often come out through your skin. It can show up as atopic dermatitis (eczema), psoriasis, or rashes.
Many people with eczema will be treated with strong steroid creams or antihistamine drugs to stop the symptoms; but then the toxins are suppressed deeper into the body and cannot escape through the skin, and things can get worse over time.
Kombucha assists the liver in detoxification: Kombucha is full of glucuronic acid, which plays a part in one of the body's most important detoxification processes: glucuronidation, a process in which glucuronic acid binds to toxins and transforms them so they can be easily eliminated by the kidneys. The liver produces this substance naturally, but sometimes the body can’t keep up with the number of pollutants that it comes into contact with. The extra glucuronic acid in kombucha basically helps make up the difference. [6]
It's fabulous for liver health and you will notice that when you first start drinking it you will urinate more as it flushes toxins out.
Testimony - Kombucha and Eczema
Just last week I received an email from a subscriber who found that four weeks of drinking kombucha helped heal her sister's hands.
Check out these amazing results!
Hi Donna,
Adding Fermented Foods
Changing your gut flora can go a long way in helping with any kind of skin condition. All of these studies showed that any or all of these different strains of good bacteria worked in helping to heal the skin.
So, why not consume a cup of kefir, a few spoonfuls of cultured vegetables, and a glass of kombucha every day? If you do this, you get all the probiotics used in the studies in three delicious foods. The body has a protective halo around probiotic foods versus supplements that allows the body to utilize these foods more powerfully. Supplements can often be killed in the stomach acids. When you're trying to heal a skin condition, always start with the gut first. In addition to these cultured foods, eat lots of prebiotic foods that allow your good bacteria to grow and flourish. Eliminate processed and sugary foods and eat lots of fruits and veggies. Include good fats along with lots of omega-3 fatty acids. While there are many different protocols for dealing with these skin ailments, all of them should consist of diet and essential nutrients such as probiotics, prebiotics, vitamins, and minerals that the body needs.
I also have a couple more things that can really help your skin and body heal.
More Liver Help
Another great help to your liver is a product called Livamend. It can help support a healthy liver and improves bowel elimination too.
- Decongests the liver
- Increases bile flow
The liver and bowels are the body’s main organs for cleansing the blood and tissue of toxins. A congested liver is reflected in the skin and the eyes. Keeping the liver decongested is important to maintain overall well-being.
Body Ecology’s LivAmend increases bile flow, supporting a healthy liver and improving bowel elimination. I have found it is wonderful for giving your liver an extra boost, especially when the skin is having problems.
Mineral Baths
Something I do all the time is to bathe in mineral salts. Our body needs minerals to perform the hundreds of processes required to keep our cells healthy and thriving. Mineral salts can help with symptoms of skin disorders like eczema and other skin problems too. These types of skin issues can often be supported by getting extra minerals in the form of a bath. I try to find the richest mineral content that helps accelerate natural exfoliation and restores the skin’s pH balance. I've also found it's great for lowering blood pressure and helping you sleep. These salts have a high-quality magnesium harvested from the dead sea and it is actually the same magnesium they use in hospitals for IVs. Soaking in a bath with minerals is one of the best ways to get more magnesium in the body. It absorbs just what it needs and it's fun, relaxing, and smells good too. Check out any mineral bath salts that are rich in minerals. This is just the one I use.
Learning to Make The Trilogy
Kefir the Champagne of Yogurt
Veggies Made with Microbes
Kombucha the Liver Helper
Listen To My Podcast
Changing your gut flora can go a long way in helping with any kind of skin condition. I have lots of new information and testimonies of people who have helped with this condition. Tune in to learn more.
References:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22153774
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8622502/
- https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180925110017.htm
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29022387
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25600169
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20642296
- S. Fallon, Nourishing Traditions (Washington, D.C: New Trends Publishing, 1999): 596.
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