Detox Vs Diet? I’ve read both, so this my simple comparison guide of the two to help you choose which might suit you better. Healing eczema from the inside out has been our goal since Ollie’s eczema surfaced 6 months ago.
I was first told about Karen’s books through a Facebook post. I had asked a question about eczema on a page I was following and a beautiful stranger told me to check out The Eczema Diet by Karen Fischer. Immediately I jumped on Booktopia and ordered a copy. The day it arrived I read it all on the same day and madly tabbed pages for review (see totally un-insta-worthy pic of book).
I was desperate to find the cure for Ollie’s eczema and I couldn’t read it fast enough. Thankfully pre-conception I had followed an elimination diet, guided by my Chiro, to get my body in prime condition so I had a pretty good idea about salicylates and intolerances. As I read it I was formulating my plan of attack albeit a little scared as I was a hungry breastfeeding mumma who was enjoying eating everything I could get my hands on! I checked out Karen’s website and realised she has released an updated version on the book called The Eczema Detox – so onto Booktopia again to order it. Read in a day. Plan to execute was in motion…
What’s the difference?
So the main differences that I can see between the books and protocols are the strictness of eating regime. Both can be found now in The Eczema Detox book so save yourself two orders from Booktopia and just order the Detox. If you’re interested in more non-diet info on eczema you’ll find more of that in The Eczema Diet Book.
The Eczema Diet aka FID
(Food Intolerance Diagnosis)
- Low Salicylate foods only
- Low Amine foods
- Natural MSG Free (glutamates)
- A diagnostic program to identify specific trigger foods
- Strict 14 day program then reintroduction program begins
- Days 15-21 – Test Amines
- Days 22-29 – Test Salicylates
- Essentially takes 30 days to complete
The Eczema Detox
- Both Low and Medium Salicylate foods
- Less restrictive – more foods to choose from for hungry mumma’s
- Ideally followed after completing FID program
- Continual expansion of diet as eczema improves
- Still clean enough to identify triggers and intolerances
- Program can take longer than 2 weeks to see results
We decided to follow the Eczema Detox as it suited our lifestyle better, gave me more things to choose from and it would give me a pretty good idea if Ollie’s eczema was triggered by a salicylate intolerance. See my next blog for how I got my head around salicylates and food chemicals.
How long you ask?
There are guidelines in the books on how long to follow the programs for. We had an initial consult with Katie at Eczema Life to set up our plan of attack. We followed them for 2 weeks then had a check in with Katie. I had noticed that whilst the redness in Ollie’s eczema had settled, his skin was peeling. I was pretty concerned for this but when I mentioned it to Katie she said that can sometimes be a sign of healing and that the skin is regenerating. We didn’t rush into introducing foods and instead stayed on the Detox foods for another 2 weeks to make sure he was healing. As you can see from the photos below he was healing really well. I graded him a 2 on the eczema and itch scale which is around 85% healed. He just had bit left on his left elbow and behind his knees. A few day’s later it was down to a 1.
I kept a daily food diary of what I was eating and how Ollie’s eczema was progressing. I used the template off the Eczema Life website but if you’re more techy you could totally record it on your phone. As Ollie was exclusively breastfed this was the only way I could control his food, through me and what I ate. Some examples of my food diaries are below (and yes I have an obsession with hot chips!!). These are great to keep and look back on when you feel like there’s nothing to eat and as a good reminder of those great days where you ate well and made a difference.
By all means my food could have been healthier… I’m a fussy thing, but I stayed as clean as possible and gave us the best possible chance to see results which we did. Week 5 we nervously started the reintroduction phase. You will again find guidance in the books on how to do this in the best possible way but I used the Skype consults with Katie to come up with our weekly plan.
Check out my next post to find out how we went with re-introduction. It’s a rollercoaster too…
Websites to help:
The Itchy Kid 