Five natural ways to heal eczema from the inside

This story begins with the bronchial infections of our son, Benji. He kept getting terrible infections and my husband, Rich remembered from all his years of farming that goats’ milk is good for asthma and bronchial conditions. So we got our first goat - a lovely black and white Anglo Nubian named Buddug. Drinking Buddug’s raw milk cleared Benji’s asthma, and his inhalers were put away in the back of the cupboard. To use up the surplus goats’ milk I learned how to make handmade goats’ milk soap and skin cream – and this cleared Benji’s eczema.

I also learned to make a powerful Eastern European live culture called kefir, drunk around the world for its immune-system boosting properties. Demand for our naturally healing remedies began to grow. So we took a deep breath, quit our day jobs and launched a little online business. Everything was rolling along fine until Rich came out of hospital after a major operation with a 10-inch abdominal incision infected with MRSA. The doctors couldn’t help, and we feared for his life. However, putting our natural ingredients to use once again, we managed to clear Rich’s condition, and save his life.

There’s a good reason that creams alone don’t work to cure stubborn eczema. The latest scientific evidence shows that eczema is not a skin condition, it’s actually an autoimmune disease, which occurs when your body turns on its own cells, and attacks itself. And more often than not, autoimmune diseases start in the gut. You can get relief from eczema with natural solutions that heal your body from within.

1 Heal from the inside: Drink a 21-day course of kefir. In addition to repopulating your gut with microbiotics, kefir also has the added benefit of boosting mood, helping anxiety and depression, suppressing appetite and sugar cravings. Kefir is nutritionally rich with vitamins and minerals, and it is lactose free. Look for kefir made with real kefir grains and raw goat’s milk, which is the least allergic and most nutritious base for it.

2 Heal from the outside: Put kefir on your skin. Kefir is as beneficial applied topically as it is when you drink it. It balances the bacteria on the surface of the skin, and provides a natural eczema treatment.

3 Say yes to goat’s milk, no to cows! Remove all cow’s milk from your diet for 21 days. Substitute goat’s yogurt, cheese, butter and milk for all cow products. The NIH is currently researching whether a protein in cow’s milk may help trigger autoimmune reactions like diabetes in susceptible individuals.

4 Stevia instead of sugar: Remove refined sugar from your diet for 21 days. While you are reestablishing the good bugs inside your system, substitute stevia, a plant-based sweetener that is safe for diabetics, low-GI and actually healthy for you. It’s a bit tough to bake with, but works well to sweeten coffee, tea, smoothies and cereals.

5 Eat to Heal: Follow an anti-inflammatory diet for 21 days. Avoid white bread, rice and pasta. Incorporate lots of fresh fruits and veggies, avocado, coconut oil, walnuts, kale, flax seed and chia seed.

READ Secrets from Chuckling: How a Herd of Goats Saved My Family and Started a Business that Became a Natural Health Phenomenon by Shann at chucklinggoat.co.uk