Woman’s Eczema ‘Cured’ By Going Vegan
We have all had dry and itchy skin at least once in our life – but many of us haven’t had eczema. It is a horrible condition for those who have it and there are no known cures out there, only creams and ointments that help for a short while. Well, it looks like one woman in the UK has found a cure for her eczema – being vegan.
26-year-old Victoria Jinks has had eczema almost her whole life, and it made her incredibly self-conscious about her body. She would wear clothes that cover her entire body in summer so no one could see her scratches, often wearing turtle necks and tights, which only made the problem worse. Victoria also had to deal with people telling her to just stop itching, which aggravated her more than the eczema. She has tried almost all creams and ointments out there, and said that topical steroids work well but make the condition come back a lot worse.
Last year, however, Victoria’s sister’s fiance told her that a vegan diet could help with her condition. Victoria decided to try it out, giving up meat to begin with and then went on a entirely-vegan diet two months ago, and has been eczema free for the first time in a decade.
“I’ve had eczema since I was born. I have always been aware of it. It disappeared for a year or two when I was 16 and when it came back it really upset me. I remember lying down and my mum having to grease my entire body every night. I hated having cream put on me constantly and I’ve now developed a phobia of being greasy.
I could never wear nice clothes during summer periods and I would have to wear turtle necks and tights constantly. No matter what the weather was, I was always covered up which made it ten times worse. People would always say, ‘Stop scratching!’ And that would aggravate me more than the constant itch on my body. It made me very depressed and sometimes I couldn’t even manage to get to work because of the bleeding creases all over my body.
For years and years my sister’s vegan fiancé told me to go vegan as it would make my eczema better and he was so right. Prior to this I would use steroid creams for quick relief but it would always come back angrier.
Giving up meat and dairy has changed my life, the animals and helped the planet, maybe only a little bit but I’m proud I’ve done my bit. I feel great now, I feel ‘normal’ and it’s incredible. I never thought I would ever feel comfortable in my own body but I am finally here.”
While it may not work for everyone, but eczema can be caused by a food allergy. It may be likely that a food that was in Victoria’s diet was causing her eczema, and removing that food by going vegan removed the allergen.
“Quitting dairy and meat may not work for everybody and won’t cure eczema, but it’s helped massively and I swear by it. It was almost a miracle. I would also steer clear of steroid creams as they thin your skin and can become addictive due to the fast clear up. Remember it’ll only make it worse on the long run!
My skin is completely clear, almost cured. It took around two months to be eczema free but I would never turn back Just try it! You will feel amazing after the results. You’re not only helping yourself, you’re helping to not support the awful meat and dairy industry and you’ve made a huge change in saving our beautiful Earth.”
