This is a great recipe for cleansing and detoxification. It is also great if you have been feeling sluggish lately.

Carrots 3, peeled, unless organic
Greens 1 large leaf
Cucumber 1/2 medium
Red Pepper 1/2 deseeded
Watercress 1 generous handful
Spinach 1 generous handful of leaves

This tonic is super rich in Vitamin A and Carotenoids which are great for the skin, and especially helpful to those with eczema. It is also super rich in Sulphur and Vitamin C. Special carotenoids in the spinach and greens protect the eyes against degenerative diseases. The extra beta-carotenes from red pepper and cucumber help to revitalize the skin. This is a great immune system booster. Try it! It taste better than it sounds.

(Adapted from The Super Juice by Mitchell Beazley)

We are constantly exposed to environmental toxins, such as air pollution and radiation. We can try to avoid these toxins in the environment , but it is impossible to avoid it totally. The increase of these toxins requires the requirement of selenium. Many of the benefits of selenium are related to its role in the production of the antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase. This enzyme is responsible for detoxification in the body and each molecule of this enzyme contains 4 atoms of selenium. Selenium supplementation has been found to protect the liver in people with alcoholic cirrhosis. However, selenium from food sources is the safest and the best utilized by our body. Increase your intake of brazil nuts, broccoli, brown rice, chicken, dairy products, garlic, onions, molasses, seafood, vegetables and whole grains.

Another mineral you need to include in your diet is zinc. Zinc has important antioxidant properties which can help neutralize free radicals and prevent the damage they cause. Zinc is a constituent of the important antioxidant enzyme Superoxide Dismutase. Zinc is needed for the proper absorption of Vitamin E (yet another important antioxidant). Food sources include: egg yolks, fish, lamb, legumes, mushrooms, pecans, oysters, poultry, soybeans, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, parsley, and kelp.

Many might not realize that one of the cause of dry skin is dehydration. Dry skin is a way to tell you that the body needs water. One way to keep yourself hydrated through out the day is sipping hot water. When the water is hot, it is able to reach the finer tissues of the body. Hot or warm water is better at moisturizing, lubricating and flushing out toxins compare to cold water.

Well, not all of us like hot water especially hot water from the kettle. So here is what you can do to make a nice hot drink for hydration and detoxification.

Fill a saucepan with 3 pints of water, add 2 slices of fresh ginger and a couple of black peppercorns. Set it to boil for 10 minutes. Any chlorine in the water will evaporate, and the water will absorb the benefits of the ginger and black pepper. Once it’s boiled for a few minutes, strain it into a flask and keep it by you for the day. This is great for headaches and fatigue.

Alternatively, you can have a cup of hot water with lemon juice. Lemon flavored water taste great and it has cleansing properties too.

I have been bombarded with advice, from doctors or others, of what type of food I should not give my son. If I list down all the types of food mentioned, the list will be incredibly long. I really have serious problems with elimination diet, especially implementing it to a child. If you’ve noticed, just about all of the major food groups are mentioned in the list, leaving eczema sufferers with almost no options for healthy foods. As a result of a strict following to the elimination diet list, eczema sufferers have a multitude of deficiencies in beta carotene, zinc, selenium, quercetin, essential fatty acids (omega-3, omega-6, omega-9 & GLA), magnesium, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E and B complex vitamins. I have heard many parents worry that their child with eczema is constantly underweight. Now the question to ask yourself is, are you eliminating too much from your child’s diet?

More recently, another deficiency that has been associated with eczema sufferers is niacin (vitamin B3). Niacin is a vitamin that is involved with the enzyme systems, which convert food into energy. It also prevents a very serious skin disease, called pellagra. Pellagra manifests as rough, thickened, blisterlike lesions of the skin of the hands, feet and face witha soreness of the mouth and tongue. It is the nicotonic acid from niacin that provides the preventative agent against pellagra. Food sources for Niacin are liver, whole grain breads and cereals, poultry, fish, peanuts, potatoes, and milk. Now assuming that you are familiar with the list of foods the medical community recommends eczema sufferers to eliminate from their diet and understanding the food sources for Niacin, its understandable why eczema sufferers still suffer after implementing their extreme elimination diets. The very nutrients they need to restore their health are being further depleted by the extreme elimination diets. Think about it.

Unlike atopic and contact dermatitis which attributes largely to allergens, seborrheic dermatitis is mainly caused by an internal source, usually by diet. A diet of saturated fats, processed sugars, and junk food is a major contributor to imbalance which promotes candida growth. This, in turn, will increases histamine activity and causes an eczema flareup. Candida yeast will travel to the most vulnerable areas of a persons body and promote the irritation. The weak points in an individual varies from individual to individual. With sebhorrheic dermatitis, the sebaceous glands or oil glands seem to be the most vulnerable points of attack. The most abundant areas of the oil glands in a human body are the scalp, sides of the nose, behind the ears, and the center of the chest.

If you have not been paying attention to your diet, it is time to do so. The most important is to increase your intake of fiber. Fiber helps to eliminate candida overgrowth. In addition, you need to replenish your essential fatty acids and vitamin E levels through diet. These two nutrients are especially essential to all eczema sufferers as they help the skin cells to retain moisture. Besides that, significantly reduce saturated fats and processed sugars in your diet.

For an seborrheic eczema sufferer, the oily substance that is normally released for moisture replenishment is consequently being released as a yellowish/pusslike substance. This indicates the overactive immune activity that’s taking place. Overactive immune activity refers to your immune system fighting off toxins and germs. In other words, the pusslike substance is indirectly caused by toxins in your body. It may also indicate candida overgrowth.

Therefore, to counter seborrheic eczema, a diet rich in fiber and in the other essential nutrients is absolutely essential. By implementing a diet rich the whole foods needed to replenish your deficient nutrients, you can restore balance to your system and promote healing. To help you in understanding what those deficiencies are, you can take a look at the following website: http://www.wholehealthmd.com. Green vegetables, such as like brocolli, spinach, collard, & kale, are rich sources of both the fiber and the beta carotene needed to boost your immune health, will be essential to restoring the balance and improving the health of your skin.