How to Treat Eczema from the Inside Out

Have you or someone you know suffered from relentless, itchy dry skin? Skin that’s so irritating it’s hard not to scratch until it bleeds? You might have tried all the creams and topical ointments available. Yet nothing offers you relief. You’re not alone — an estimated 30 million people in the U.S. experience eczema with little relief from conventional eczema treatment. (1)

When I had my practice, I frequently saw patients with eczema and other skin issues. In particular, I saw children who had tried everything their doctor had to offer. Nevertheless, none of the common methods for eczema treatment seemed to reverse their condition. This is usually because conventional medicine only tries to superficially suppress outside symptoms with medications. 

To reverse your symptoms, you must dig deeper and address the underlying root causes. Let me first define what eczema is before I uncover ways to reverse eczema with functional eczema treatment.

What Is Eczema?

Eczema comes in many forms. Typically, you’ll identify it as red, itchy, dry skin or a rash on the outer layer of skin. This is known as atopic dermatitis. According to conventional medicine, the cause of eczema is unknown. Not to mention, conventional medicine only treats the symptoms. Doctors may only prescribe medications or creams for eczema relief to reduce itching and prevent infection.

However, functional medicine takes a different approach. Eczema is an external symptom of an internal problem. Functional medicine practitioners work to address the true underlying cause of eczema – a malfunctioning immune system.

You see, eczema occurs when you experience inflammation. This is your body’s response to a perceived threat. Your immune system is so stressed by these threats that it goes into overdrive and attacks your own skin cells.

Many people who have eczema have asthma and seasonal allergies as well. (2) These are also caused by inflammation and an overactive immune system. In fact, this is so common that doctors refer to this as the “atopic triad.”

As common as these conditions may be, they are far from normal. In fact, they are a sign of an underlying problem inside your body that’s manifesting itself on the outside. In my decade of experience as a functional medicine physician, the most common cause of skin issues I saw were from gut infections. This includes Candida overgrowth, Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO), or leaky gut.

The Gut-Skin Connection

Your gut has a huge effect on your immune system. In fact, 80% of your immune system lives in your gut. That’s why one of the major contributors to autoimmune diseases is a poorly functioning intestinal tract. 

Think of your gut as a drawbridge. It’s naturally semi-permeable to let teeny-tiny boats (micronutrients) pass through your intestinal wall and into your bloodstream. External factors, including certain foods, infection, toxins, and stress, can break apart the tight junctions in your intestinal wall, leaving the drawbridge open. Once that happens, you have leaky gut.

When your gut is leaky, much larger boats that were never meant to get through (toxins, microbes, and undigested food particles) can escape into the bloodstream. Your immune system marks these foreign invaders as pathogens and attacks them.

The inflammatory response triggered by an overactive immune system can be seen anywhere in the body. In the case of eczema, the skin is affected. Gut inflammation can also impair the protective function of your skin. This can increase the severity of inflammation and worsen eczema symptoms. No need to worry! The good news is this can be reversed.

4R Approach To Reversing Eczema

Fortunately, leaky gut syndrome can be treated using functional medicine’s 4R approach. In turn, following this approach can improve your eczema symptoms too. 

1. Remove
   Your goal is to get rid of anything harmful to your gut. I can’t stress enough that a gluten-free diet is critical to your gut health. In addition to avoiding gluten, you’ll also want to ditch dairy. Other gut-destroying and inflammatory foods include alcohol, corn, soy, refined sugar, GMOs, and highly processed foods. You should also remove these from your diet.
   
   You must also eliminate any gut infections caused by Candida overgrowth, SIBO, or parasites. Managing stress and avoiding toxins will also ensure you maintain radiant skin.
   
   

2. Restore
   Restore what’s missing from your gut. Adding digestive enzymes and Acid Restore HCL Complete to your regimen will help support optimal digestion and nutrient absorption. Follow a nutrient-dense diet with plenty of organic green vegetables and fruits, healthy fats, and quality proteins.
   
   

3. Reinoculate
   Repopulate the beneficial bacteria in your gut with the help of probiotic supplements. These will create an optimal gut flora balance that protects your gut wall and your immune system as a whole.
   
   

4. Repair
   Providing the nutrients necessary to help reduce gut inflammation is essential. My most comprehensive weapon against leaky gut is Leaky Gut Revive®. This custom-formulated supplement contains powerful gut-repairing ingredients such as l-glutamine, aloe, deglycyrrhizinated licorice, arabinogalactan, slippery elm, and marshmallow root. Leaky Gut Revive® is the perfect supplement for supporting a healthy gut lining.

Now that you understand how your gut plays a role in skin health, let’s discuss how to eliminate the inflammation triggering your eczema, reverse the symptoms, and prevent flares. Here are the most helpful tips I give my patients who are struggling with chronic eczema.

1. Eat a Diet That Supports a Healthy Inflammatory Response

Even with a whole-food diet of organic produce and pasture-raised meats, hidden food sensitivities can trigger eczema. This especially holds true for children, where it's the most common cause. (3)

In this case, I recommend avoiding inflammatory foods such as gluten, corn, soy, and dairy. Instead, focus on adding foods high in antioxidants, such as richly colored fruits and vegetables. In addition, there are foods with compounds to support reducing an inflammatory response. These include wild-caught fatty fish, nuts, avocados, and turmeric.

In cases of extreme eczema, you may even need to remove meats that were fed a corn and soy diet. It’s best to always look for grass-fed, wild, and pasture-raised meats and poultry. Studies show that diets high in fruits, vegetables, and fatty fish are associated with a lower risk of developing eczema. (4) In contrast, diets full of processed foods increase the risk of eczema flares. Following this diet can be a great form of functional eczema treatment.

2. Eat a Low-Histamine Diet

If you or your child already follow an elimination diet and are still struggling with eczema, the next foods to remove are high-histamine foods. You might already be familiar with histamine. Antihistamine medications for allergies, such as Zytrec, Allegra, or Benadryl, provide quick relief of your symptoms.

Histamine’s role in the body is to cause an immediate inflammatory response. It serves as a red flag in your immune system, notifying your body of any potential attackers. Because it travels throughout your bloodstream, histamine can affect your gut, lungs, skin, brain, and entire cardiovascular system. This can contribute to a wide range of symptoms, including digestive issues, mood swings, and eczema. (5)

A number of foods are high in histamine or release histamine in your body. These foods include avocados, eggplant, spinach, tomatoes, bacon, and dried fruits or citrus. I’ve seen many patients make a dramatic turnaround in their skin following this functional eczema treatment and removing these foods.

3. Restore Your Microbiome

There is a lot of buzz in the medical community about how the gut microbiome can affect nearly every function in the body, including digestion, immunity, weight loss, mental wellness, and more. Every day, more information is uncovered about the importance of maintaining balanced levels of gut bacteria.

Tackle Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth

The trillions of bacteria in your gut operate in a delicate balance. Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) can occur when that balance is disrupted. This is when “bad” bacteria outnumber “good” bacteria in your gut. Overrun by infection, your gut no longer digests nutrients properly. Inflammation then rises and attacks your own tissues, including your skin.

Diets high in sugar, refined carbohydrates, and processed foods and low in fermentable fibers (prebiotics) can contribute to this overgrowth.

Beat Yeast Overgrowth

A disruption in your gut bacteria can also allow a yeast, known as Candida, to thrive. When Candida over-colonizes your gut, it can become leaky, allowing the yeast to escape via your bloodstream. Once escaped, this yeast can affect your mood, hair, nails, and skin. In fact, researchers have taken skin cultures of eczema patients, and more often than not, yeast was found in the samples. (6)

Antibiotics and immunosuppressant drugs are two of the most common causes of yeast overgrowth. These are both commonly prescribed to eczema patients, further exacerbating symptoms. Managing yeast overgrowth can also be beneficial in functional eczema treatment. 

The Final Word on Reversing and Managing Eczema

Eczema can sometimes feel like an uphill battle. However, you have the power to repair yourself from the inside out! Instead of focusing on masking symptoms, use the functional medicine approach to eczema treatment and address the root cause of the problem — your gut integrity. 

Removing inflammatory triggers, restoring essential nutrients, reinoculating with beneficial bacteria, and repairing your gut lining gives your skin the best chance to recover and thrive. It’s not a quick fix, but it is a long-term solution that works.

Following this functional eczema treatment is the first step in managing and reversing your symptoms. If you’re ready to take the next step in supporting your gut microbiome, adding a high-quality probiotic can help rebalance your microbiome and strengthen your immune system. You’ll also want to use my Leaky Gut Revive®. It’s packed with powerful ingredients to repair your gut lining and calm inflammation from the inside out. 

The state of your skin is a reflection of what’s going on inside. So get your gut in shape and say goodbye to itchy eczema for good! With the right diet and lifestyle changes, you can calm inflammation, restore balance, and give your skin the best chance to thrive.