How to Know if a Food Is Triggering Your AD Flares
Although food allergies and sensitivities vary from one person to the next, some foods tend to cause symptoms for people with AD. Some of the most common culprits include:
- Peanuts
- Tree nuts
- Eggs
- Milk and dairy products
- Fish
- Shellfish
- Soy products
- Wheat
If you have a known food allergy, stop eating that food. Food allergies can become life-threatening, even if your past reactions were mild.
If you think you might have a food sensitivity and aren’t sure which food is triggering your symptoms, you may be tempted to try an elimination diet. This is a process in which you stop eating one or more possible food culprits for several weeks before slowly reintroducing them into your diet and recording how you feel.
But experts usually don’t recommend people with AD start a food elimination diet — at least not without the help of an allergist.
“Prolonged or strict food avoidance may lead to more severe reactions in the future with ingestion,” says Dr. Arakali. That can mean more severe eczema as well as an increased risk of developing a true food allergy.
Plus, there may be many more causes of an AD flare-up besides food, says Arakali, including dust mites, dander, contact allergens, and nonallergic triggers, such as stress or infection.
Even if you’re allergic or sensitive to certain foods, cutting them out of your diet is only part of treating your AD. “It’s important to know that a true elimination diet in and of itself may not be enough to [treat] eczema,” says Dr. Garshick.
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