Eczema is a disorder of the skin that is characterized by scaling, flaking, weeping, crusting and often itchy patches of skin. According to Phyllis Balch in her book, "Prescription for Nutritional Healing," there are many underlying possible causes of eczema and a healthy diet can play an important role in treating eczema. Vitamin and mineral supplements can play a supporting role, however you should talk to your health care practitioner before taking any new supplement, because some can be toxic in high doses.
Zinc
Zinc is a mineral that helps to support and strengthen the immune system and it is required for proper skin repair, according to the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition. Balch recommends taking 100 mg daily of zinc with meals, because it can cause nausea on an empty stomach. For maximum absorption suck on a zinc gluconate lozenge or take a sublingual zinc supplement; sublingual meaning that you dissolve drops of it under your tongue.
B Vitamins
The B vitamins are all important for healthy skin, and they can increase blood circulation, which enhances healing. They also promote the reproduction of healthy skin cells, and you should take a B100 complex supplement, which is a supplement that contains approximately 100 mg of all of the most important B vitamins. Similar to zinc, a sublingual B complex supplement will help to maximize absorption.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant and immune-boosting vitamin. It inhibits inflammation and helps to regulate skin cell production. This is important since eczema is an inflammatory skin disorder and because irregular skin cell production and turnover is thought to cause eczema. Taking a megadose of vitamin C may help to reduce both the intensity and duration of an eczema flare-up, according to the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition and it recommends taking 1 to 3 g a day. For the best results, you should choose a vitamin C supplement that also contains bioflavanoids, because they enhance the absorption of vitamin C.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is another powerful antioxidant that is important for healthy and smooth skin and it can help to prevent skin dryness. It is beneficial to all inflammatory skin conditions and you should take 100,000 IU daily of vitamin A for one month, then reduce your dose to 50,000 IU daily for 14 days, then reduce to 25,000 IU for maintenance. High doses of vitamin A may, however, be harmful to people with disorders of the liver or women who are pregnant and should be avoided by these groups of people.
References
- "Prescription for Nutritional Healing"; Phyllis Balch; 2003
- "Pathology and Nutrition"; The Canadian School of Natural Nutrition; Lilieana Stradler Mitrea; 2008
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