Milk May Trigger Eczema Flares

Most North Americans grew up being told that milk builds healthy bones and teeth, but scientists have questioned the validity of this dictum for years. There is evidence that milk not only fails to live up to this promise, but it can even cause a host of medical conditions, including eczema.
In fact, eliminating milk and dairy from your diet, along with the use of a topical eczema treatment to alleviate the dry, itchy condition of the skin, is often just what the doctor orders. Although most of the studies have been done on children, from 1988 to 1993, over 1500 articles were published about milk in medical journals.
Dr. Robert M. Kradjian of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine culled these articles to omit inconclusive and irrelevant subjects and did a thorough study of the 500 articles remaining. Not one article referenced milk as the excellent food we have been led to believe.


In fact, highlighted in the reports were conditions that are known to cause and be indications of eczema - intestinal colic, intestinal irritation and bleeding, allergic reactions, and asthma. Many eczema sufferers also have these conditions, and elimination of their causes often handles the eczema.
According to Dr. Frank Oski, chief of pediatrics at John Hopkins School of Medicine, it is possible that 50 percent of all schoolchildren are allergic to milk. Other researchers think this estimate is too conservative. A study published in the Journal of Investigative Allergy and Clinical Immunology found that the frequency and severity of eczema and allergies are reduced for as long as five years when breast feeding mothers stop drinking cow’s milk for at least three months.
Even the late Dr. Benjamin Spock, guru of children’s health and long-time milk advocate, withdrew his support of cow’s milk for children in his 1998 edition of "Baby and Child Care." More recent studies are also finding that the promise of healthy bones and teeth, the main reasons we’ve been told we need milk, doesn’t have any basis in science.


In March 2005, Pediatrics published a review article stating that "scant evidence" has been found that milk and dairy products promote child and adolescent bone health. Eczema is caused by a combination of external and internal elements. A healthy gut is a major influence, as is the presence of allergies. Both are indicators of an overload of toxic substances.
In the gut, the ‘bad’ and ‘good’ bacteria are out of balance, and in the case of allergies, the body is telling you that whatever you’re having the reaction to needs to get out. Skin problems like eczema result from the body trying to expel these toxins. The results can be unsightly, and very uncomfortable – especially for a child – as anyone who has seen a child with red, sore rashes can attest.
Eliminating milk and other products that are known to cause intenstinal stress and allergic reactions is definitely called for. In addition to dietary changes, thousands of doctors are now recommending the use of a shielding lotion to relieve the symptoms and help the eczema heal quickly. The lotion provides a protective layer on the skin that keeps the moisture in, and protects the body from external eczema triggers.