Q&A: What Can Help Beat Acne?

October 1, 2014

by : Yogi Cameron
Q:
What do you recommend for help with acne?
A:
Given its relationship to inflammation and excess heat in the skin, Ayurveda primarily associates the incidence of acne with an aggravation of the Pitta dosha. Pitta energy is used to sustain the digestive fire in the stomach, and when this energy is aggravated through poor digestion and excessive heat in the body, eruptions in the skin can occur. These are toxins which have not been burned off by the digestive fire and have found their way into the blood and skin. Digestion is responsible for the breakdown of food into waste and nutrients, and when this doesn’t happen efficiently, toxic matter forms and circulates throughout the body. Digestion may be hindered by consuming dense foods of low water content like red meat and other animal products, spicy foods, and elimination problems like constipation. Acne is also caused by excessive heat born from too much worry, stress, sex, and masturbation.

As the incidence of acne is based on the buildup of heat, many of the therapeutic processes utilized by Ayurveda are based on cooling off the body and stabilizing the digestive fire in the stomach. This can be done with a Pitta-reducing diet, cooling herbal remedies, yoga and breathing practices that can help to cool the body, and other therapies that settle the inflammation in the skin. Some lifestyle changes to reduce acne are as follows:

Avoid eating too many difficult-to-digest foods, such as red meat, pork, chicken, spicy foods, and egg yolks.
Avoid sour and pungent foods such as yogurt, pickles, garlic, onions, and tomatoes.
Avoid drinking alcohol.
Wash your face daily with a natural soap made from vegetables.
Apply a combination of turmeric and sandalwood paste to the acne on the face, and rinse off when the paste has dried.
Keep your hands away from your face or affected area.
Avoid too much running as the heat will rise and disturb the skin.
Apply a very light amount of coconut oil to moisturize the face: rub five drops into the hands and apply all over. This has cooling effect and tones the skin.