About one-third to two-thirds of children with moderate to severe eczema also have a food allergy, suggesting a link between food and eczema.
But food and food allergies are rarely the root cause of eczema, according to the National Eczema Association.
Still, many people who wonder whether their diet affects their skin turn to elimination diets to see whether a particular food is to blame. Research has examined whether it’s an effective strategy for reducing symptoms or flares.
One systematic review and meta-analysis that included data from nearly 600 people found that dietary elimination led to slight improvements in eczema severity for people with mild to moderate eczema. About 50 percent of those who eliminated foods saw improvement, compared with 41 percent of those who ate as usual.
Those findings seem to promote elimination diets as beneficial for those with eczema, but take them with a grain of salt.
“The study found that while elimination diets may help some patients, the risks of elimination diets may outweigh the potential benefit,” says Alice Hoyt, MD, a food allergist with Hoyt Institute of Food Allergy in Metairie, Louisiana, who was not involved with the study.
An article from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Joint Task Force argued that this review isn’t clinically significant because most of the trials weren’t randomized controlled trials.
Finally, it’s possible that even if you identify a potentially problematic food, avoiding it won’t lead to notable symptom improvement. An older review found that among adults who have a food allergy as proven by a food allergen test, only 50 percent saw eczema improvements when they eliminated that food from their diet.