062: Eczema Food Triggers From An Eastern Medicine Perspective w/ Dr. Pamela Langenderfer

Eczema is a multifaceted condition. There is no single root cause that is the same for everyone. My guest today, a physician who put her eczema into remission, will discuss the impact on food, as well as the eastern approach to healing skin rashes.
My guest today is Dr. Pamela Langenderfer. Dr. Pam is a naturopathic doctor and acupuncturist who believes that food is the foundation to optimal health. She has found that when people change their nutrition, 50% of their symptoms will often improve. As she says, "You cannot out supplement or out medicate a poor diet!"
Dr. Pam grew up on a farm and was an avid athlete. One would assume that she was really healthy, but this was not the case.  She had chronic ear infections as a child, which resulted in many rounds of antibiotics. She also had severe eczema and asthma, which resulted in chronic steroid use. This ultimately wreaked havoc on her gut, skin and hormones.
Dr. Pam spent the first half of her life feeling awful all the time, knowing there had to be a better way to live. This ultimately led her to seek out a career as a naturopathic physician and acupuncturist.
Join us as we talk about how a diet high in Omega-6s and histamine can play a role in eczema flares.
Have you seen improvements in your skin by reducing the amount of Omega-6 fatty acids in your diet? Tell me about it in the comments!
In this episode:
Dr. Pam's eczema story
Information about what is means to count macros
Importance of the Omega-6 to Omega-3 ratio
The concept of "wind food" in Chinese medicine
Temporary elimination of certain foods
Foods rich in Omega-3s
Quotes
"Macros are essentially tracking how much protein, how much fat and how much carbs you're eating." [6:45]
"Eczema is an autoimmune disease." [8:08]
"When you have excess Omega-sixes from poultry, from nuts, from seeds, it actually can convert into arachidonic acid and it becomes pro-inflammatory." [8:47]
"The best advice I give to people is that if you don't want to have to eliminate something, then eat everything. So that way you don't develop an intolerance to it." [13:58]
Links
Find Dr. Pam online
Dr. Jerry on the Healthy Skin Show: Stress-Response-Skin Rash Connection
The Best Labs To Figure Out Your Skin Rashes