According to the British Association of Dermatologists, the condition doesn’t have any relationship to diet, and no foods have been shown to trigger it. Although research about diet and seborrheic dermatitis is patchy to say the least, it does seem likely that foods which are known to aggravate inflammatory conditions might have an effect on flare-ups.

The few published studies on the relationship between diet and seborrheic dermatitis have shown only that diets rich in fruit seem to reduce symptoms, and Western carb-heavy diets make them worse.

But it’s clearly a condition that’s more likely to flare when one’s overall (mental and physical) health is poor; good nutrition certainly plays an important part in wellbeing, so at the very least it’s important to keep yourself as fit and well as possible if you’re prone to seborrheic dermatitis.

So the advice around seborrheic dermatitis and food can be summed up simply in these two points:

Eat for health

Keep yourself as healthy as possible to build resistance to flare-ups: that means eating for optimum health & cutting out the junk! You’re aiming to strengthen your immune system, so it’d be sensible to keep an eye on your carb consumption, make sure you get your daily quota of EFAs, vitamins and minerals, and be wary of having too many inflammatory foods, such as sugar and alcohol. 

Everyone’s skin is different!

What is true for others and their skin condition might not apply to you! Look out for any possible dietary triggers for your condition, even if they’re not generally recognised as common culprits. Keep a food diary if it helps to work out correlations between what you’ve eaten and how your skin reacts.

See the next in our series of articles about seborrheic dermatitis here: What’s The Best Natural Remedy For Seborrheic Dermatitis Around The Nose?

Recommended products:

Balmonds Skin Salvation works really well to keep flaky dry skin soft and smooth, and is generally much better tolerated on sore skin than water-based creams which can sting.

Balmonds Scalp Oil is a great antimicrobial rescue oil; it can be massaged into the scalp and the hairline, and left on overnight. (Put down an old towel on our pillow as the oil can stain, and wash out with a mild SLS-free shampoo in the morning.) It can also be used as a topical rescue oil on smaller areas of skin prone to seborrheic dermatitis.