Diet Cure for Eczema - Home remedies, symptom, cause, treatment of Eczema

What is Eczema?

The term 'Eczema' is derived from a Greek word meaning 'to boil'. It refers to an inflammation of the skin which results in the formation of vesicles or pustules. It is the most common and most troublesome of all skin diseases.

Eczema is essentially a constitutional disease, resulting from a toxic condition of the system. The disease covers a wide variety of forms, the majority of them, being of a chronic variety.

The skin is one of the excretory organs of the body through which large quantities of toxic matter are easily eliminated. Because of its large surface, it can effectively eliminate waste matter which other organs of elimination - namely the kidneys, intestines and lungs - do not have the capacity to handle.

What are the symptom of Eczema?

Eczema, in its acute form, is indicated by redness and swelling of the skin, the formation of minute vesicles and severe heat. If the vesicles rupture, a raw, moist surface is formed. From this, a colourless discharge oozes, which forms skin crusts when it accumulates. The disease is usually worse at night when the heat of the body is retained by the bed-clothes.

What are the causes of Eczema?

The real cause of eczema is the failure of the human system to excrete the poisons from the various orifices of the body. Waste matter is excreted from the rectum through stools, from the bladder through urine, from the lungs through breath and from the pores of the skin through sweat. Sometimes the pores of the skin are over- worked as waste matter is not properly eliminated from the other orifices. If the pores are not given the chance to perform their normal function, the sweat will be full of toxic matter and this will give rise to skin diseases like eczema, acne, boils and other eruptions.

Dietary Treatment of Eczema and home remedies

Skin applications to cure eczema may give temporary relief. If the exudation is suppressed, some other more serious disease may develop. The best way to deal with eczema is to cleanse the blood stream and the body.

The treatment should start with a fast on orange juice and water from five to ten days, depending on the severity and duration of the trouble. Juice fasting will help eliminate toxic waste from the body and lead to substantial improvement. In some cases, the condition may worsen in the beginning of the fast due to the increased elimination of waste matter through the skin. But as fasting continues, improvement will manifest itself.

Fruits, raw or steamed vegetables without salt, served with whole meal bread or chappatis may be taken after the juice fast. Coconut oil may be used instead of ghee. After a few days, curd and milk may be added to the diet. Carrot and must melon are particularly beneficial. The patients may thereafter gradually embark upon a well- balanced diet of three basic food groups namely, seeds, nuts and grains, vegetables and fruits. A large proportion of the diet should consist of raw foods. Seeds and beans such as alfalfa, mung and soyabeans can be sprouted. This diet may be supplemented with cold-pressed vegetable oils, honey and yeast. Juice fasting may be repeated at intervals of two months or so, depending on the progress being made. In chronic and more difficult cases of eczema, the patient should fast at least once a week till he is cured.

Eczema as a result of dyspepsia, gout or diabetes can be cured only after these diseases have been successfully treated. Children suffering from eczema due to insanitary bottle feeds can get relief if kept on fruit juices or water with a teaspoon of honey added.