Atopic Dermatitis: It’s Not the Food, I Promise You

Peter A Lio, MD, clinical assistant professor of dermatology and pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, made this promise during an interview with Patient Care^© leading up to the 2025 American Academy of Dermatology meeting being held March 7-11, in Orlando, FL. His topic was diet and eczema and more specifically how infrequently a skin reaction that brings a child or adult into the clinic is the result of ingesting a food. In fact, Lio noted that food exclusion is tried by up to 70% of adults with atopic dermatitis without lasting effect. The placebo effect is very powerful with elimination diets, he added, but does not provide durable relief. In children, especially, an overly restrictive approach to diet may risk nutritional deficiency.

“The truth is, when we look at unselected patients, we find with good studies that are well controlled, food elimination does not provide a whole lot of benefit. And that's important to know because I often tell my patients, if it worked, I swear to you, I would use it.”

In the video above Lio provides details of research both ancient and contemporary that support the poor correlation between elimination diets and recovery from the skin eruptions and pruritis of atopic dermatitis.

For more 2025 AAD Meeting coverage, please click here.