The Roles of Minerals and Quercetin in Healing Eczema

Like Beta Carotene, Zinc and Selenium are essential minerals to boost immune health. Many studies have noted that children with eczema tend to be zinc-deficient . Zinc is found in oysters, crabmeat, braised pot roast, oysters, turkey (dark meat/roasted), and to a far lesser degree in most animal proteins, beans, nuts, whole grains, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.)

Although Selenium is toxic in large doses, it is essential to strengthen the immune system. Dietary selenium comes from cereals, meat, fish, eggs, brazil nuts, chicken liver (cooked), oysters (cooked), sunflower seeds (roasted), tuna fish, & wheat flour (whole grain) . The recommended dietary allowance for adults is 55 micrograms per day. Liver and Brazil nuts are particularly rich sources of selenium.

Green vegetables such as spinach provide magnesium because the center of the chlorophyll molecule contains magnesium. Nuts (especially almonds), seeds, and some whole grains are also good sources of magnesium. Although magnesium is present in many foods, it usually occurs in small amounts. As with most nutrients, daily needs for magnesium cannot be met from a single food. Eating a wide variety of foods, including five servings of fruits and vegetables daily and plenty of whole grains, helps to ensure an adequate intake of magnesium.

The magnesium content of refined foods is usually low. Whole-wheat bread, for example, has twice as much magnesium as white bread because the magnesium-rich germ and bran are removed when white flour is processed. The table of food sources of magnesium suggests many dietary sources of magnesium.

Like minerals, quercetin is an esssential part of daily diet. Quercetin is a flavonoid that forms the “backbone” for many other flavonoids, including the citrus flavonoids rutin, hesperidin, naringin and tangeritin. Quercetin has demonstrated significant anti-inflammatory activity because of direct inhibition of several initial processes of inflammation. For example, it inhibits both the manufacture and release of histamine and other allergic/inflammatory mediators. Foods rich in quercetin include apples, black & green tea, onions (higher concentrations of quercetin occur in the outermost rings), raspberries, red wine, red grapes, citrus fruits, broccoli & other leafy green vegetables, and cherries.

The list of essential food above serves as a reference guide. It doesn’t mean that you need to go out and eat all of the foods listed above. For those foods that you are allergic to, of course you would not consume them despite the fact that they are on the list of beneficial nutrients. Nonetheless there are a variety of options from which you can choose that will provide the essential nutrients you need.

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