Celiac Disease and Eczema

Celiac comes from the Greek word meaning "suffering of the bowels."  When people with celiac disease consume gluten--which is a protein found in wheat, rye, oats and barley--the villi in the small intestine are damaged and prevent the absorption of many important nutrients.

Eczema As a Symptom of Celiac Disease

Chronic tissue inflammation and eczema can be a symptom of Celiac disease, and skin disorders in people with this disease can be cleared by cutting down or eliminating gluten from the diet.1   Most of the complications of celiac disease are due to malabsorption. The absorption of vitamin B-12 was shown to be significantly decreased in infants with celiac disease.

My naturopathic physician says every time he eats wheat, he gets eczema on his fingers.  I remember when I cut out breads for 8 months, my skin improved a whole lot.   If you haven't tried avoid gluten before, you might consider cutting out the wheat, rye, oats and barley for a couple of weeks and see how your condition improves.

Here's a great page from Wikipedia on The Gluten-Free Diet.

See, also, the "Watery, Itchy Blisters" web page.

What People Eat Instead

Rice
Tapioca
Potatoes
Vegetables
Corn
Most beans