Atopic dermatitis is dry skin that is very itchy, constantly peeling and inflamed red spots in the most delicate places of the body. The saddest thing is that there is no permanent cure for atopic dermatitis. But you can make it easier.

How to cure atopic dermatitis if the allergen is not identified

Atopic dermatitis is a hereditary disease. It usually begins to appear in the first year of life. If we talk about the prevalence of the disease, statistics say: every 5th patient with skin diseases is susceptible to atopic dermatitis.

If you or your child develop characteristic signs, do not neglect a visit to the doctor. A dermatologist will make an accurate diagnosis. If atopic dermatitis is confirmed, then the primary task will be to identify the allergen. In the meantime, the culprit of the discomfort is not identified, it is not clear which product causes the disease, the most dangerous components are excluded from the diet. Although it is not only food that can cause an exacerbation. Atopic dermatitis can also be caused by:

• pollen;
• animal hair;
• tobacco smoke;
• unnatural clothing;
• chemicals;
• stress.

Polluted air and unfavorable climate can contribute to the occurrence of an allergic reaction.

Unfortunately, the disease, having appeared once, will not disappear. But you can avoid its acute course by following a special diet.

What you can and cannot eat

A diet for atopic dermatitis is a strict exclusion of the most dangerous foods. These include :

• fried, smoked and salted foods;
• fish;
• eggs;
• sausages;
• caviar, seafood;
• food additives: mayonnaise and ketchup;
• processed cheese;
• nuts;
• radish, horseradish, radishes, sorrel, tomatoes, peppers, sauerkraut;
• citrus fruits, strawberries, strawberries, raspberries, apricots, peaches, pomegranates, melon, watermelon;
• margarine;
• canned food;
• "soda";
• coffee, cocoa;
• alcohol;
• chocolate;
• sweets with flavors;

The following products should also be treated with suspicion and limit their consumption:

• white bread, pasta;
• milk, cottage cheese;
• mutton;
• carrots, beets, onions;
• cherry, blackberry, black currant.

If you have a risk of allergies, it is recommended to eat them in small quantities no more than 1-2 times a week.

The entire list can be summarized as follows:

• products made from premium flour;
• dairy products;
• fat meat;
• yellow and red vegetables and fruits;
• products with chemical additives.

Cow's milk contains a lot of allergens - about 20. A child's small body is not yet able to process them. Therefore, when the baby is transferred to artificial feeding, he begins to become covered with such sores. The eggs are a little behind the milk. Moreover, protein causes an allergic reaction more often than yolk.

What then remains?- you ask. A hypoallergenic diet consists of the following foods:

• cereals: buckwheat, rolled oats and rice;
• dairy products: kefir, yogurt without additives;
• mild cheese;
• non-cooked meat: boiled or steamed;
• cucumbers, zucchini, squash, turnips, cabbage, greens, legumes;
• green apples, pears, gooseberries, plums;
• black or coarse bread.

Why you can't eat store-bought chicken on a diet

Would you be surprised that nutritionists prohibit the inclusion of chicken meat in the menu of an allergic person? But the cross is only placed on the bird that came from the store. The reason for this is the technology of cultivation at the factory: with feed and growth enhancers. Accumulating in chicken tissues, harmful substances may cause allergies.

There is only one way out - to find a farm product. Domestic bird You will be pleasantly surprised by the taste.

Sample menu for the week

	Breakfast	Dinner	Afternoon snack	Dinner	For the night
1st day	Oatmeal with water and butter Black tea Prunes	Vegetable soup with recycled broth made from cabbage, potatoes, carrots and onions Boiled beef Boiled rice Black bread	Baked apple	Lean meat stewed with vegetables	Oatmeal
2nd day	Grain bread Black tea Prunes	Broccoli soup Baked river trout Mashed potatoes Black bread Black tea	Pear Black tea Marmalade	Chicken stewed with zucchini	Kefir without additives
3rd day	Buckwheat porridge on water with butter Whole grain bread	Stewed vegetables with meat hedgehogs Black bread	Baked apple	Boiled river fish, cucumber salad with sour cream	Oatmeal
4th day	Hercules porridge on water with butter Grain bread Black tea Prunes	Pea soup Boiled beef Braised cabbage Black bread	Any allowed fruit	Steamed chicken cutlets Cabbage salad with vegetable oil	Natural yogurt
5th day	Barley porridge on water with butter Grain bread Black tea Prunes	Vegetable soup with zucchini puree Fish cutlets baked in foil Black bread	Green apple	Baked meat with herbs and green peas	Oatmeal
6th day	Rice porridge on water with butter Whole grain bread	Boiled potatoes with butter Cabbage and cucumber salad in vegetable oil Black bread	Rice casserole	Vegetable salad Bean Stew	Kefir
7th day	Rice porridge on water with butter Darnitsky bread	Vegetable stew Steamed meatballs Black bread	Any allowed fruit	Vegetable salad Steamed beef cutlets	Oatmeal

Diet after identifying an allergen

You were examined by various specialists, took tests, kept a diary in which you wrote down everything you ate, and monitored your body’s reaction. And here is the result - the allergen has been identified. The diet can be made less strict. The main thing is to avoid the allergen.

An allergist may prescribe antihistamines to treat itching.: Erius, Tavegil, Suprastin, etc. To cleanse the body, we take detoxifying agents. The simplest of them is Activated carbon. Antiseptics may also be prescribed if pustules appear on the skin.

Atopic dermatitis is a disease that occurs quite often in children. One of the most typical symptoms is the appearance of red, itchy spots on the skin. By scratching them, the baby can cause infection and increase inflammation. Treatment of atopic dermatitis is always complex. An important component is a specially developed hypoallergenic diet.

How does the disease progress?

Atopic dermatitis is a fairly severe chronic skin disease. It occurs with periods of exacerbations and remission (periods of well-being).

Often the onset of the disease occurs in infancy, childhood and preschool age. Scientists have never found the exact reason why atopic dermatitis occurs. There are suggestions that genetic hereditary factors, consequences of infectious diseases, or the presence of allergic manifestations can lead to the development of the disease.

Exacerbation of atopic dermatitis can also be triggered by any other irritants. This may be contact with a specific allergen. The cause is also substances that enter the body with food.

During the disease process, after encountering an allergen, the body produces a huge amount of a specific substance - immunoglobulin E. This reaction is protective and is designed to eliminate the foreign substance that has entered the body. However, this reaction releases many other biologically active substances. They cause symptoms characteristic of atopic dermatitis:

• Appearance of red itchy spots. Most often they occur on the dorsum of the hands, on the face or on the extensor surface of the forearm.
• There is severe swelling and swelling. The characteristic pattern of the skin intensifies, bubbles with liquid contents appear. When localized on the hands and feet, they can cause severe pain when moving.
• IN severe cases health deteriorates greatly. The baby becomes capricious and refuses to eat. When the itching is severe, he constantly fidgets in his crib. If the pain syndrome is severe enough, the child may cry or even scream.
• If the allergy has become systemic. Then, nasal discharge, dry cough, fever and loss of appetite are also added to the skin manifestations. In such cases, the child should see an immunologist-allergist for consultation and drawing up a treatment plan.

The most important principle of any diet for atopic dermatitis is the exclusion of allergenic foods from the menu. No medicine will help cope with the symptoms of the disease if allergens regularly enter the body.

1. Diet. It should be frequent, not in very large portions. It is better to feed the baby every 2.5-3 hours. Such short intervals will allow all organs of the gastrointestinal tract to function well and reduce the burden on digestion. It is better to take your last meal an hour before bedtime. Ideal choice- a glass of low-fat kefir, yogurt.
2. You should avoid all foods that put a lot of stress on the immune system. These include bee honey, seafood, citrus fruits, bright fruit candies with numerous chemical additives, bananas and any other tropical fruits, chips and other snacks with imitation flavors (crab, sour cream and onions, bacon and many others).
3. Offer your child to drink plain purified boiled water. Sweet carbonated drinks are strictly prohibited! They add many different dyes, which provoke the appearance of new rashes and increase itching.
4. All prepared food must be fresh. During an exacerbation, it is better to prepare food before each meal. Repeated heating destroys vitamins and does not benefit the child’s body.
5. It is better to boil, stew or bake all food in the oven. It is recommended to avoid grilling and frying. “Light” food is absorbed faster by the body, without causing a feeling of heaviness in the stomach.
6. Eat at home more often. When cooking at home, you know what foods you put on the table. In canteens or cafes, children's food is often prepared in adults professional ovens. Soups or cutlets may contain spices or foods that are undesirable if you are prone to atopy.
7. The child's diet should also be balanced. Active growth requires a large number of protein (at least a quarter of the total daily diet). Opt for lean turkey or chicken. Introduce foods gradually, observing the body's reactions.

Creating a rotation diet for children

The rotation diet is noticeably inferior in its severity, for example, to the elimination diet. For this reason, it is often prescribed to children with manifestations of atopic dermatitis.

The diet starts from the start. Usually these are four groups of products: fermented milk, meat, various cereals and vegetables of the same type.

Then every four days one is added to the diet. New Product. This diet helps set up the immune system to work properly, eliminating possible violent reactions to food allergens entering the body.

The most allergenic and safest products for children with atopic dermatitis

Focusing on Scientific research the influence of products on the possibility of developing allergic reactions and atopic dermatitis, the Union of Pediatricians has compiled tables of products where they are divided into categories: the most dangerous (highly allergenic), hypoallergenic and neutral.

Highly allergenic foods should be completely excluded from the children's menu. They are most likely to cause manifestations of atopic dermatitis. Hypoallergenic foods can be introduced into a child’s diet, but with mandatory monitoring of the reaction to them. Neutral foods can be consumed calmly, without fear that they may provoke a new exacerbation.

Highly allergenic products include:

• Berries: Victoria and wild strawberries, red grapes, cherries and sweet cherries.
• Fruits: oranges, lemons, tangerines, grapefruits, apricots, melons, red and yellow apples, fruits from the tropics (except banana), fruit drinks from these fruits, dates, dried apricots and raisins.
• Yellow vegetables: mainly pumpkin. Tomatoes and sauces made from them, ketchup. Radish. Root vegetables: beets and carrots. Red and yellow paprika.
• Medium risk products:
• Berries: blackberries, lingonberries, cranberries, various types of currants. Watermelon.
• Bananas.
• Legumes. Eggplant.
• Neutral products:
• White berries. Gooseberry.
• Green apples and pears. Plums. Sun-dried apples or prunes.
• Vegetables: potatoes and cabbage. Leafy greens and green salad. Zucchini, zucchini and squash. Fresh cucumbers and young spinach.

Often children with allergies to certain foods may experience allergic reactions for another meal. This is called cross allergy. If a child has an allergy to tree pollen, he also does not tolerate nuts, all bush fruits, carrots and parsley. It is not recommended for such children to introduce any types of apples, pears, cherries, and many other fruits and berries that grow on trees into their diet.

Children with an allergy to chicken eggs practically do not digest chicken bouillon, quail eggs, duck and mayonnaise with any inclusion of melange or yolks.

Diet for allergic diathesis in children from 6 months to 1 year

The appearance of symptoms in infants is often associated with a violation of the mother’s diet. Very often, the allergen enters the child’s body along with mother’s milk, causing manifestations of diathesis.

At this time, a nursing mother should include more fermented milk products, lean meat and fish in her menu, and temporarily exclude the consumption of seafood and seaweed. In your diet, preference should be given to various types of gluten-free cereals and gently cooked meat products. These can be steamed meatballs or meatballs.

• all types of smoked sausages and sausages;
• chocolates and bars;
• citrus;
• spicy foods and canned food.

When introducing complementary foods to babies from 6 months, introduce foods gradually. If, when introducing a new type of product, red spots appear on the child’s body, you should immediately discontinue this product and seek advice from a pediatrician. Additional testing may be required. The baby's blood will be taken for a test, which will show whether the child has an individual intolerance to a particular product.

When introducing vegetable complementary foods, give preference to cauliflower and broccoli. Danish researchers have found that such products are the safest for first feeding. It is better to introduce fruit purees from those fruits that grow in your region. For residents of Russia, green apples and pears are considered hypoallergenic. Plums are well tolerated.

All porridges should be boiled in water. At first you can breed them breast milk. Mixing with cow's milk undesirable. If a child has lactase deficiency or milk intolerance, after porridge on such a product he may experience diarrhea and vomiting.

Be careful and monitor any reaction from your child to a new product. After each introduction of a new food to the menu, be sure to check your child’s skin for rashes.

Elimination diet for children

The elimination diet is a kind of experiment, and its goal is not so much to cure, but to help identify the food allergen to which the child develops symptoms of atopic dermatitis.

The essence of the technique is to gradually remove foods that could potentially be allergenic from the diet, and then gradually introduce them into the diet. This is a provocation of the body, which will certainly let you know about it upon new contact with the allergen.

The duration of such an “experiment” should be from 2 to 5 weeks, no more.

At the first stage, glucose and fructose are excluded from the child’s diet.(sugar, honey, fruits, various sauces). This makes it possible to understand if the child has a fungal infection that has given rise to a tendency to atopy. Without glucose, the fungi feel bad, and the child’s condition begins to improve noticeably

The second stage involves eliminating 1 allergen every two days. Eliminate nuts, wheat, milk, vegetables. The exact list of products for a particular child is given by the doctor. The child's condition usually improves noticeably after the product that is dangerous to him is eliminated.

They begin to return foods to the diet, introducing one every two to three days. Every new one is eaten in sufficient quantity, several times a day. A true allergen causes a skin reaction on the same day. Meat products are returned first, followed by cereals and fruits,

After identifying 1-2 allergens, the elimination diet should be stopped. If necessary, the “food challenge” can be repeated later with the permission of the doctor.

Important! The child should not go hungry. Do not keep it on water and bread. Nutrition should be complete. Prepare soups, porridges, and purees for him from foods approved by your doctor. Do not create an elimination diet menu with a challenge test yourself. This should be done by a doctor.

Watch the following video, where an experienced dermatologist talks about the nuances of diet for atopic dermatitis.

Atopic dermatitis can occur in both children and adults.

There are food products that can not only aggravate the situation of the disease, but also help a person recover quickly.

Therefore, diet is one of the methods for treating this disease.

More about the disease

This disease can develop in children and adults due to various factors. These include:

• heredity;
• dysbacteriosis;
• malnutrition of the mother when feeding the baby with breast milk;
• viral infection;
• drug treatment with potent drugs.

Atopic dermatitis, in the early stages of its development, is quite difficult to diagnose. This disease most often appears at an early age.

If it is treated incorrectly or poorly, then its manifestations can last a lifetime.

The disease manifests itself as dry skin, severe itching, as well as various rashes on the body of both children and adults.

This disease refers to chronic inflammation of the skin. It is non-contagious.

It is treated using a set of techniques, such as:

• diet;
• medicines;
• ointments;
• physiotherapy.

The disease has become widespread in people different ages those who live in an unfavorable ecological and unstable area, who do not eat properly, as well as in people who are subject to frequent nervous overload.

The importance of a hypoallergenic diet

Diet can improve the patient’s condition, as well as reduce the possibility of exacerbation of the disease.

A hypoallergenic diet is suitable for people of absolutely any age and for treatment various types allergies, for example for atopic dermatitis. It makes it easier, reduces the number and size of rashes, and relieves severe itching.

A properly selected diet improves protective function body and strengthens the immune system.

By eliminating various foods, the diet allows you to find certain types that the body does not accept and completely remove it from the daily diet. Skin tests, as well as medical tests, in some cases, cannot cope with this task.

Diet Basics

When prescribing a diet, doctors advise following the basic provisions and rules that apply to everyone, without exception.

These include:

• refusal of sugar and salt;
• strict adherence to all recommendations of specialists;
• mandatory keeping of a food diary;
• for adults it is a refusal bad habits such as smoking and drinking alcohol;
• eat food in small portions;
• drink more water;
• It is imperative to heat treat all foods consumed for food. This rule applies more to fruits and vegetables.

Compliance with these rules will help achieve maximum improvement in the patient's condition.

It is important to reduce the number of pathogens affecting the human body.

In order to achieve better treatment, it is necessary to strictly follow all the instructions of specialists.

You cannot forbid a child to eat all foods and put him on a very strict diet, as the child’s body grows and develops. And for this he must eat both meat and vegetables.

A properly selected diet will allow you to eat delicious food, but at the same time, not weaken your immune system.

Types of diets

Diets for this disease can be divided into elimination and rotation.

According to the age of the patient, diets are divided into:

• from zero to two years;
• from two to twelve years;
• more than twelve years.

The elimination diet can be considered a very strict type. The point of the diet is to completely reset the diet for several days and slowly introduce one type of food at a time. This allows you to clearly identify the product that is the causative agent of the disease.

The rotational view is not as tough, but more complex. Most often, this diet is prescribed to children. The principle is to consume each type of product no more than once every 4 days. During this time, the allergen will be able to show symptoms of dermatitis on the body.

If there is no reaction to the product, it can be added further to the diet, thereby selecting the ideal daily nutrition.

Menu for adults

For adults, you should choose a diet that will improve the patient’s condition and performance.

Adults can control their own menu, protecting their body from pathogenic products.

It is imperative to remove the following foods from your diet:

• sausages and smoked meats;
• canned food;
• salty foods;
• fatty foods;
• seafood;
• chips, crackers;
• exotic products;
• bright fruits and vegetables;
• chocolate and candies;
• alcohol.

Experts recommend adding lean meat, green vegetables and fruits. Adults, unlike children, are allowed to arrange fasting days when a person suffering from dermatitis can only drink water. Days like these allow you to cleanse your body.

The daily menu for adults may include products such as:

• zucchini;
• green fruits;
• soaked potatoes;
• cereals (buckwheat, rice);
• herbs;
• meat (rabbit, turkey, and veal);
• natural, without additives, dairy products (kefir, cottage cheese);
• oil (olive, butter).

In adults, atopic dermatitis is a chronic disease. It is very important to consistently adhere to the recommended diet for the rest of your life.

Menu for a nursing mother

It is important for mothers who feed their children with breast milk to always choose their food products very carefully and carefully, since the health of the baby depends on the composition of the milk.

A nursing woman should adhere to the rules of a rotational diet and introduce new foods gradually, constantly, while observing the body's reaction infant. If various rashes appear on his skin, then this product must be immediately eliminated. Particular attention to what a woman eats is necessary in the first three months of a baby’s life.

It is very important to include natural fermented milk products in your diet. Probiotics normalize stool not only for the mother, but also for the baby.

It is necessary to reduce the amount of products that are moderately and highly allergenic.

The menu should contain a large amount of proteins, as well as carbohydrates, but you should temporarily refrain from fats.

Foods that should be avoided during breastfeeding:

• Strawberry wild-strawberry;
• Red Ribes;
• beet;
• tomatoes;
• red pepper;
• eggs, combined with meat;
• a large amount of bread.

Children's menu

If atopic dermatitis appears in a baby, then the mother’s diet should be adjusted. If this is not possible, then you should switch to formula feeding.

The diet for infants includes right choice milk formula and gradual introduction of complementary foods. In case of exacerbation of the disease in infants, it is necessary to use medicinal mixtures, such as Alfare, Nutrimigen, Nutrilac Soya, PeptiTSC. When introducing the first complementary foods, the medicinal mixture can be replaced with those based on partially hydrolyzed protein. Modern manufacturers infant formulas offer a large number of mixtures with prebiotics as well as probiotics.

You can begin introducing additional complementary foods only when the baby is five to six months old. It should not contain milk, sugar, salt, dyes, preservatives, or flavors. If infants have constipation, the first thing they begin to administer is vegetable puree, and for diarrhea, porridge. From six months you need to introduce hypoallergenic meat products, but fish and eggs are prohibited.

During the period of increasing diversity in the diet of children from one year to three years, it is necessary to minimize the number of allergens entering the growing body.

It is forbidden to add all seasonings to food for a small child, except for a very small amount of salt. The children's menu should include:

• cottage cheese, kefir;
• fruits (not exotic or red);
• meat broths;
• vegetables (except red);
• cereals, pasta;
• cookie;
• tea, compote;
• cheeses;
• porridge;
• cutlets, steamed meatballs.

Children over three years old who suffer from dermatitis should eat only as recommended by pediatric specialists.

Doctors outline the basic rules for feeding children:

1. Maximum remove sugary foods from your diet, such as sugar, pastries, cakes, condensed milk, and honey. For dessert, you can give your child a small amount of dried fruit.
2. Keep a diary nutrition of the baby, and in cases of exacerbation of the disease, exclude possible pathogens.
3. Follow a diet, but, at the same time, do not deprive the growing body of useful nutrients.

Preference should be given to beef, turkey, and lamb. The best vegetable to use is broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, carrots. Pumpkin should be given with extreme caution.

The following should be excluded from the diet of children:

• nuts;
• store-bought chicken;
• confectionery;
• cocoa, coffee;
• sauces;
• spices;
• cream;
• mushrooms;
• carbonated drinks;
• chewing gum;
• lollipops;
• fish;
• caviar;
• sharp cheeses;
• sausage, frankfurters;
• tomatoes;
• sauerkraut;
• sea ​​buckthorn;
• pomegranate;
• grape.

Popular recipes

It is quite difficult to find recipes that do not contain pathogenic products. Minimal use of products of moderate allergenicity is recommended. A raw vegetables and fruits need to be peeled.

Breakfast porridge is prepared only with water. Possible addition butter, as well as a small amount of salt and sugar. You can add some dried fruits to the composition.

Before preparing the soup, you need to make the broth. The meat should be soaked in cold water one hour. Then it is cooked for half an hour and the broth is drained. After this, cold water is poured in pure water, in which meat is cooked for future soup.

In the first course, especially for children's diets, you should not add fried onions and carrots. These foods must be added to the pan raw.

Before adding potatoes to soup, they must be soaked in water for one to two hours.

Meat dishes should be cooked only in a double boiler and oven without adding vegetable oil. To prepare meatballs and cutlets, you need to take meat that is not fatty, without cartilage, as well as various layers.

With atopic dermatitis, it is important to follow the recommendations of doctors and adhere to special diet. Thanks to this, you can reduce the likelihood of the disease developing into more severe stages. In any case, you can choose a tasty and healthy diet that will appeal not only to the person suffering from this disease, but also to all members of his family.