Eczema Occurrence During Whole30

[Kris A]

Hello!

 

I'm hoping to find some suggestions/wisdom for a surprising eczema occurrence in the midst of my whole30.

 

On Day 18 of my whole30 I developed an eczema flare-up near my mouth and on my hand.  I’ve had eczema like this in the past, but hadn’t had an occurrence in over a year and it was never this bad (in the past it was only on my forehead).  I was surprised to see it pop up in the midst of the whole30 and am baffled as to why it occurred now, seemingly out of nowhere when I hadn’t had an occurrence in so long.  I have 2 main theories, and am interested in any other ideas/input.

 

1.     Is this some sort of die-off / adjustment period from now being completely grain free? (I rarely had dairy anyway coming into this so I don’t think its from removal of dairy)

2.     Am I reacting from an approved whole30 food that I’m actually sensitive to? For example, I’ve always eaten eggs and nuts, but now I’m eating them more often, could the increase in these foods be triggering my eczema?

 

Any advice as to what may be the issue here would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you!

[jmcbn]

Hey Kris

 

My guess would be the latter.

A lot of food sensitivities show up when we are over-exposed to the offending item. Apart from eggs is there anythignwlse you're eating a lot more of? I know that Nightshades sensitivities are often revealed on the skin.

Perhaps if you could give us a run down of what you have been eating over the past few days we can take a look and see if anything jumps out at us...

[Kris A]

I have been eating a lot of nightshades (eggplant, onions and tomatoes mostly).  Prior to whole30 I was eating nightshades as well, however the amount has increased at least slightly (as I've replaced grains and legumes I used to frequently eat).

 

Past few days look like:

 

Day1:

meal 1 - Veggie Egg Scramble (3 eggs w/ tomato, onion, mushrooms, spinach) + coffee w/ almond milk

meal 2 - baby kale salad w/ grilled chicken + tangerines (olive oil, lemon, garlic dressing)

snack – tangerines + raspberries

meal 3- mahi mahi w/ coconut cauliflower + mango salsa

 

Day 2:

meal 1 - meal 1 - Veggie Egg Scramble (3 eggs w/ tomato, onion, mushrooms, spinach) + coffee w/ almond milk

meal 2 - baked chicken breast w/ coconut flakes

snack - apple + raspberries

meal 3 - grilled shrimp w/ zucchini 'zoodles' w/ avocado sauce

 

Day 3:

meal 1 - meal 1 - Veggie Egg Scramble (3 eggs w/ tomato, onion, mushrooms, spinach) + coffee w/ almond milk

meal 2 - baby kale salad w/ grilled chicken + tangerines (olive oil, lemon, garlic dressing)

snack – tangerines + raspberries

meal 3 - cornish hen w/ roasted veggies + roasted peach (roasted: peach, eggplant, zucchini, broccoli)

 

Also might be worth mentioning, my diet prior to whole30 wasn’t drastically different.  I had already given up all dairy and sugar (aside from whole fruit) (except for very rare special occasions would I eat either). 

 

My typical day prior to whole30 looked like:

Meal 1 – oatmeal w/ almond milk + an apple + coffee w/ almond milk

Meal 2 – baby kale salad w/ kidney beans + quinoa

Snack – apple

Meal 3 – Cornish hen w/ baked brown rice,  carrots, onions, celery

 

I hope this helps.  Looking for any advice for suggestions to changes I should make.

 

Thank you!

[Kdmo2010]

Did you ever discover what caused your eczema? I also broke out in eczema during the Whole30. However, I was having itchy skin and hive breakouts before that. My perioral dermatitis healed on the diet though. 

I have been eating more eggs and more onion and bell pepper. And I'm going to continue eating mostly grain and dairy free after completion of the reintroduction period. 

Prior to Whole30, I ate quite a few eggs, peppers, and onions, and already ate gluten free and fairly low carb. I did make a doctor appt that's in 2 weeks to get my thyroid checked since I'm 4 months post-partum and thyroid disease runs in my family (My mom developed hypothyroidism after she gave birth to me, her first kid. And I just had my second one.)

[GoJo09]

9 hours ago, Kdmo2010 said:

Did you ever discover what caused your eczema? I also broke out in eczema during the Whole30. However, I was having itchy skin and hive breakouts before that. My perioral dermatitis healed on the diet though. 

I have been eating more eggs and more onion and bell pepper. And I'm going to continue eating mostly grain and dairy free after completion of the reintroduction period. 

Prior to Whole30, I ate quite a few eggs, peppers, and onions, and already ate gluten free and fairly low carb. I did make a doctor appt that's in 2 weeks to get my thyroid checked since I'm 4 months post-partum and thyroid disease runs in my family (My mom developed hypothyroidism after she gave birth to me, her first kid. And I just had my second one.)

I've had a breakout this past week also, after over a year without. However, while I normally can trace my eczema to dairy (not the case while Whole 30, obvs), I'm pretty sure this time it's a combo of stress and a change in the weather - mainly the stress, I think, since it's been pretty cold already the past 3-4 weeks. Luckily I have a magic beeswax based cream that clears it up in a matter of days, because there's nothing uglier than eczema hands!

[ladyshanny]

I have a small flare up of it on my fingers right now which is probably from eating and peeling too many baby mandarins I got at the market. Strawberries will get me too. Its not always non-whole30 foods.