Diet taboos for neurodermatitis

Absolutely avoid foods that have been confirmed to be allergic to you, and try to reduce the intake of high histamine and highly irritating foods during the attack. There is no "universal taboo list" that applies to everyone, and all dietary restrictions must be based on the individual's actual response.

It's quite interesting to say that last year I treated a little girl who worked in Internet operations. She suffered from neurodermatitis on the back of her neck for three years. She stopped eating beef, mutton, seafood, and eggs after listening to the list on the Internet. She didn't even dare to add milk cap to her milk tea. She had a sallow complexion and thin skin. She still got dermatitis every time. Later, after checking her allergens, it was discovered that the only foods she was allergic to were mangoes and cashews. She had no reaction at all when she tried to stop eating them. Later, she started eating eggs and milk. Her nutrition kept up with her immunity, and her frequency of relapses dropped by half.

Many "must-ban lists" circulated on the Internet always talk about "hair-making". In fact, the industry has always had different views on this. "Fawu" in the traditional Chinese medicine system refers to foods that can easily induce old diseases and aggravate heat syndrome. It does have reference significance in the context of neurodermatitis, but there is no need to apply a unified standard - some people are so itchy that they can't sleep after one bite of seafood, some people have no reaction after eating sashimi every day, and other people's "fawu" may be a good nutritional supplement for you.

Of course, this does not mean that there is no need to eat taboos at all. There are certain types of foods that more than 70% of clinical patients will aggravate after eating them. It is best to avoid them during the attack period. For example, all alcoholic drinks, whether cold beer or fruit wine, will dilate the blood vessels after drinking, and the itching will be instantly amplified. One of my patients was almost cured, but after a colleague drank half a glass of sparkling wine at a party, he woke up with itching that night, and his entire elbow was oozing with fluid when he scratched it. It took him a long time to recover. There are also foods with high histamine, such as leftovers that have been left for two or three days, salted fish and bacon that have been pickled for more than half a year, blue cheese that has been fermented for a long time, and even bananas that are ripe enough to turn black. Histamine is one of the core mediators that induce skin itchiness. It is already itchy and uncomfortable during an attack. Eating these will most likely aggravate the vicious cycle of "itching - scratching - more itching".

As for whether to avoid spicy food, there is actually no unified conclusion among dermatologists. One school of thought believes that capsaicin will stimulate nerve endings and aggravate the inflammatory response, and it is recommended to avoid it completely during the attack period. ； Another school of thought is that if you have been eating spicy food since childhood and your stomach is tolerant, and there is no obvious itching after eating, there is no need to give up hard at all - I have an old patient in Jiangxi who has been eating spicy food for 30 years. I quit smoking for three months according to the doctor's advice. His dermatitis did not heal, but he was irritable and insomnia every day. Later, I told him that he could eat spicy food as long as he didn't feel itchy. He went back to eating spicy food, but because he felt better, the number of attacks was much less. After all, neurodermatitis is essentially a disease that is strongly related to nerves and emotions. The anxiety and stress caused by dietary taboos are not worth the gain.

What many people don’t know is that some foods that everyone thinks of as “healthy foods” may actually be the culprits in inducing dermatitis in you. For example, many popular sciences say that if you have dermatitis, you should eat more whole grains to replenish B complex. However, if you have gluten intolerance, the gluten in wheat and barley will actually aggravate the body's chronic inflammation, and the more you eat, the worse it will be. ； Some people may experience itching after taking synthetic vitamin B complex, which is also an individual allergic reaction. If they are replaced by natural food supplements, they will be fine.

I have seen too many patients who have made themselves malnourished because of dietary restrictions. It is really unnecessary.

If you really don’t know what you can and cannot eat, you don’t need to search for lists everywhere. Just keep a simple food diary. Write down any special things you eat every time. If the dermatitis itching becomes significantly worse in the next 24-48 hours, eat less next time. This is more accurate than any general list.

In fact, in the final analysis, the impact of diet on neurodermatitis accounts for at most 30%, and the remaining 70% is still related to emotions, sleep, and local friction and stimulation. Don’t take taboos too seriously. If you are worried about dermatitis in the first place, and then wrong yourself because of what you eat, it is not worth it, right?