For as long as I can remember, I’ve had acne and blemishes. I always attributed it to hormones but after studying Ayurveda, I thought maybe it had something to do with what I was eating! The food I was eating could very well have been causing my skin to lose its natural glow.

 We always hear that random foods are bad for the skin – the chocolate, the refined sugar, and the fried foods but there’s actually so much more than just that.

 In Ayurveda, it is believed that skin related issues are typically caused by excess fire and water elements (or Pitta Dosha) and so it is best to avoid foods containing those elements.

So what type of foods should you avoid?

Salty foods – canned foods, fried foods like chips and fries, cold cuts, fast-food, and packaged sauces and pickles

Sour foods – lemon/lime juice

Fermented foods – cheese, yogurt, kimchi, kefir

Spicy foods – chilies, wasabi, sriracha, jalapenos

Oily and heavy foods – fried foods, pastries, pizza and pasta, red meat

Incompatible foods – avoid milk with fruit, vegetables, and meat

3 herbs for Skin Health

Neem

Neem is a blood purifier which helps to cleanse and detox the entire body from the inside out. It acts as an antiseptic, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-fungal. Neem can be taken orally but a face mask is just as easy to make. Take 2-3 fresh neem leaves and make a paste, add in a pinch of turmeric and apply to face 2-3 times a week. You can also take neem powder, turmeric, and add water to make a paste to apply to the face.

Moringa

An herb full of vitamin A which is what retinol is derived from and vitamin E which moisturizes any dryness in the skin. It helps eliminate fine lines and wrinkles as well as smooth the skin by encouraging skin cells to regenerate. Applying moringa to the face can give you that flawless skin with that natural glow. Add 5-6 drops of moringa oil to equal parts of rose water and lemon juice to create an anti-aging facial toner that can be used up to twice a day every day.

Kutki

An herb with some similar properties to neem, Kutki helps in detoxifying the entire body and is cooling as well. It’s pitta pacifying nature makes it a potent anti-inflammatory for acne prone skin. It has also been used in the management of psoriasis. It is best to take this herb orally, you can take ½ teaspoon of kutki powder with a cup of hot water first thing in the morning.

We’ve had such cold weather here in the North East that skin naturally starts to feel dry and dull, hope these tips help to get you to healthier, younger looking skin before the Spring!

Namaste.