The reason why your skin flare-up after eating

Since the very early stage of my TSW, I've been noticing that my skin becomes more itchy and red after meals. Even right now as I'm typing, after having pasta for dinner, my face is itchy.

You may have the same experience, if you have eczema or are going through TSW / Protopic Withdrawal. 

When I first noticed this unpleasant phenomenon, I suspected that I must have been allergic to certain food, so took an allergy test.  Remembering every single thing I was flaring to was quite a task, because my skin seemed to flare up after eating pretty much any food, at random. However, my allergy test results came back with absolutely no allergy to food.  Because I was so convinced that eating made my skin worse, I took another test only to find the same result.
At this point, I recall my dermatologist - who firmly believed in the eczema-caused-by-allergy theory - was at a loss. He then modestly brightened up when he found out that I was allergic to dust and grass, at a very minor level.

Alright, I may have those allergies, but my skin flared up after my meals, not during dusting or  picnic!
So, why on earth does my skin get worse after eating?!

This has been my long time question that none of my docs could've ever answered.

Interestingly, I discovered the answer in my bookshelf. I recently reread a Japanese book called  "Atopic Dermatitis treatment for babies and children" written by Dr. Mitsuko and Kenji Sato. What I like about it is on the cover, it says "NO! to Topical Steroids".  You guessed it right - this is a book that explains TSW for babies and children.

The book has some colour pages with the most heart-breaking TSW progress pictures of babies and children.  Each of their journeys end with big smiles and beautiful, spotless skin.

Anyway, in this book there is the FAQ section, which I must have skipped the first time I read it.  Someone has asked the Dr. Satos the same question I was having for ages. The Dr. Satos' answer was that worsened skin after meals is not often caused by food allergies, and explained why it happened.  I would like to roughly translate the part here.

Q. It looks like the skin rash gets worse after eating...

A. ... The reason the skin rash worsened after eating can be simply explained by a common physiological response of human body.  When you have hot meals, your temperature goes up which triggers itchiness and scratches.  Even cold food gives you liquid which increases blood volume and causes more oozing leaked from blood vessels.  By simply eating, digestive organs become active and generate body heat which inevitably raise body temperature and, as a result, cause itchiness and redness.

Therefore, no matter how careful you are about what you eat, due to a very natural body response, your skin rash is more likely to become worse after eating.

However, quite obviously, this does not mean that you should fast with no food.  A balanced diet sends everything your body needs to heal your skin into your blood.  Even if eating may temporarily worsen your skin condition, it is far more important to give your body the power to heal. Wrong diet restriction can not only disturb your healing, but also be harmful to child patients.

It is a relief to know that it is a normal occurrence! I can stop worrying about the itch I'm having right now. 

I abbreviated the part where they explained why they believed that it wasn't an allergic response.  I will try to translate that part next time or so.

By the way, it's a gorgeous weather outside in London, 31℃ ! It's not very English at all!

Happy healing ! x