Does Pineapple make eczema worse?

For a couple of years now, MyItchyBoy has been eating and enjoying dried pineapple.  It never seemed to cause a problem for his eczema.  Or did it?

He’d usually have the crispy type of dried pineapple until we discovered a chewy, sweet and easy-to-add-to-snack-boxes version.  MyItchyBoy loved this stuff.

However, as he started to eat it more and more (virtually every day) I started to wonder whether the increase in his eczema was related.

Unfortunately, when it comes to eczema, it is really hard to work out what has caused a flare up, especially a minor one.  The delay in reaction, as well as everyday factors such as heat and tiredness, can make it tricky to pinpoint what has made it worse.

So, unscientifically, I dropped pineapple completely from his diet and turned to the internet.  Sure enough, there are plenty of people who react to pineapple in a bad way.  Hmmm….not conclusive proof, but his skin did calm down and he can live without pineapple.

 

Do bananas make eczema worse?

And then to the humble banana…

The fruit most enjoyed by our family.

The easy to eat, energy-giving, versatile fruit that MyItchyBoy really likes.

What have I got against bananas?  Well, again, only a feeling.  A weekend of eating a lot of his favourite banana loaf (my lazy answer to baking as it is pretty much the only shop-bought baked good I can buy for him, he loves it, and it’s full of calories to keep him going), dried banana chips and fresh banana and well……….eczema.

Conclusive evidence?  Definitely not.  But again, I immediately stopped all banana eating by MyItchyBoy and the amount of eczema reduced.

His skin is still dry, he is still itching, but it is mostly limited to his ankles (school shoes and socks – another story!) and those times when he is grumpy, tired, bored, etc.

Hmmm….

I’m giving it another week and then I think I’ll give him a banana and see what happens.

I know that he can live without bananas and pineapples, despite pressure these days to eat more fruit and veg and have lunch boxes packed with the stuff.  But, without stone fruits (definitely flare up his eczema), apples, grapes and raisins (all give him indigestion unless in small, infrequent doses) and now pineapple and banana we are getting limited in fruit to give to MyItchyBoy.

Luckily he loves blueberries (unlike my bank balance!) and pears and vegetables, so I’m not too worried just yet.

I’m, of course, selfishly worried about finding easy things to put in MyItchyBoy’s lunch box and that I’ll have to keep up with the baking!  I do like the sleep I get when MyItchyBoy’s eczema is under control though…and not seeing him suffer unnecessarily.  So I’ll probably get over myself and cope.

I plan to challenge the eczema on both fruits again and see if I can tell if there is a difference.  But for now, I think we’ll manage without.

  

MyItchyBoy

My son has atopic eczema and he reacts badly to dairy, soya and we are slowly working towards him eating eggs again. He's had a mild anaphylactic reaction to peanuts and has regular flare-ups to random things that we rarely manage to pinpoint. I started the blog to share my experiences and frustrations of having an itchy boy.

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