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February 20, 2015

The Complete Anti-Acne Diet.

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In Ayurveda, we believe that the skin reflects what’s happening on the inside.

Acne is the reflection of an physical imbalance; a vitiation of the both the energetic forces called the doshas and the body tissues. I want to teach you how you can treat your acne by eating a diet that brings these forces back into balance. Without the right diet, you cannot expect healthy, lasting improvement in your skin. This goes both for teenagers and adult women who commonly suffer from acne, myself included.

In your search to cure your acne, I’m sure you’ve already read that you should lay off the sugar, chocolate, junk food and coffee. And I’d have to agree—these foods definitely don’t support a radiant complexion.

But eliminating these four foods alone isn’t enough, as I’m sure you’ve already experienced. All food affects us on a much deeper level than modern medicine credits. I’ve derived this anti-acne diet from the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda, which doesn’t look at foods solely from a quantitative context as modern medicine does—such as sugar, fat and caloric content.

Instead, Ayurveda qualitatively evaluates food’s effect on the body after the process of digestion. Every food in Ayurveda is assessed according to the way it cools or heats the body, the way in which it influences the bodily energies called the doshas, and its likelihood of putrefying into toxins.

This anti-acne diet isn’t a short list of sugars, fats and caffeines to avoid. Instead, it’s a detailed program that’s centered around foods that cool the pitta dosha and eliminate toxic buildup; both of which are primarily to blame in the case of acne.

To help you understand why your skin is suffering, here’s a mini Ayurvedic physiology lesson. Your pitta dosha has somehow become vitiated, either through improper food or lifestyle, and mixed with toxins that Ayurveda calls aama. Their combination has vitiated the body tissues, and inflamed, angry acne has manifested in your skin.

Here, your diet can either work for or against you. The wrong diet, full of hot, spicy, salty and sour foods, will further aggravate the pitta dosha, toxins, and acne. The right diet—full of wholesome, cooling, astringent, bitter and naturally sweet foods—will help bring your pitta back into balance and digest toxins to heal acne.

When I was suddenly hit with adult acne after a lifetime of blemish-free skin, I was at a total loss to understand why I was breaking out and how to fix it. I was not a teenager, I was a grown woman! Little did I know that up to 45 percent of women my age were also suffering from adult acne. Nonetheless, I was embarrassed and extremely frustrated. I saw multiple dermatologists, unhappy with what each of them prescribed—a six month course of antibiotics (!!!), chemical creams with nasty side effects and expensive laser treatments.

Not a single one of these dermatologists asked me about my digestion nor suggested anything about diet.

At the time, I had horrendous digestion. I also worked eight hours a day under the strong Hawaiian sun (a majorly pitta-aggravating factor), supplemented my energy with espresso and heavy pastries, and closed each day with a quarter cup of peanut butter just before sleeping. In retrospect it’s all very obvious—of course I had acne. But I didn’t have the knowledge then that I have now to understand what I was doing wrong or how to heal.

Looking back, I’m shocked at each dermatologist’s disregard for my digestion. Diet is so important for prevention and cure of any disease, acne included. We are, after all, what we eat! This isn’t just a silly metaphor but truth. Each of our body tissues is directly or indirectly nourished by food. A diet that is unwholesome or incompatible will absolutely affect the body tissues and show itself in the skin.

Embrace this concept if you want to heal. This cooling, clean diet will help relieve inflamed, red, angry, sensitive, burning acne. Cooling doesn’t mean cold foods like those straight from the fridge (which you definitely want to avoid here!) but foods that are cooling by nature. This diet also brings in foods that are especially nourishing for skin, eliminates those that aren’t, and excludes processed junk food that isn’t really food anyway.

Now, this diet might need some minor tweaking on your part. Nothing in Ayurveda is without individualization. Listen to your gut. If one of the these foods doesn’t sit well with you, even if it’s on the favor list, don’t eat it. And choose foods according to their seasonal availability by shopping at your local farmer’s market.

Although the pitta dosha is always at play in acne, you might be predominantly affected by the vata or kapha dosha. If you have a drier, blackhead-prominent, painful vata-type of acne, avoid any foods on this list that can be constipating or gas-producing like cruciferous vegetables, dried fruits and beans (except mung and lentils).

If you have large whiteheads and cystic, kapha-type acne, avoid heavy vegetables like sweet potatoes and pumpkins, and go very easy on the fruits, dairy and oil.

I want to mention that your eating habits and water intake are also very important in treating acne. .

As you incorporate this anti-acne diet, center your meals around freshly cooked, organic whole foods: vegetables, grains and beans. Avoid spicy, sour, salty and fermented foods, and stay away from all junk food and processed food. Avoid leftovers as much as possible. If this isn’t possible, consume food within 24 hours of cooking.

Definitely incorporate spices into your food, as these have the capacity to reduce pitta, digest toxins and improve the digestive fire.

Have a light, warm breakfast, a solid lunch, and a light dinner, with a small snack or fruits or steamed veggies in between.

For more information, check out:

It’s More Than What We Eat: 12 Ayurvedic Tips for Healthy Eating

The Art of Drinking Water: 10 Ayurvedic Tips for a Happily Hydrated Body

The Anti-Acne Diet

 

 

Favor Avoid

Fruits

Sweet fruits in general Sour fruits in general
Sweet apples, berries, cherries, grapes, plums, pomegranate, papaya, pineapple and oranges Sour apples, berries, cherries, grapes, plums, pomegranate, papaya, pineapple and oranges
Banana Cranberries
Dates Grapefruit
Figs Lemon/lime
Melon Mango
Pears Peaches
Watermelon Tamarind
Strawberries

Vegetables

Asparagus Bell pepper
Beets Chili pepper
Bok choy Corn
Brussels sprouts Eggplant
Broccoli Mustard greens
Cabbage Olives
Cauliflower Potato
Celery Raw onion
Cucumber Radish
Green beans Tomato
Fennel
Jicama
Leafy greens
Okra
Peas
Pumpkin
Sweet potato
Squash
Turnips
Zucchini
Watercress

Grains

Amaranth Buckwheat
Barley Corn flour
Couscous Millet
Granola Yeasted bread
Oats
Quinoa
White rice (basmati, jasmine)
Brown rice (basmati, jasmine)
Wheat (in moderation)

Legumes

Beans in general Red lentils
Tempeh
Tofu

Dairy

Ghee (minimal amounts) Dairy in general
Cheese
Cream cheese
Ice cream
Yogurt

Meat

Best avoided Meat in general
Eggs
Fish
Meat
Seafood

Nuts and Seeds

Almonds (minimal amounts) Nuts in general
Coconut Cashews
Hemp seeds Peanuts
Pumpkin seeds Sesame seeds
Sunflower seeds Tahini

Oils

Coconut (minimal amounts) Canola
Ghee (minimal amounts) Corn
Sunflower (minimal amounts) Sesame

Spices and Condiments

Bay leaves Cayenne
Cinnamon Chili
Cardamom Cloves
Coriander Garlic
Cilantro Dry ginger
Cumin Ketchup
Dill Kimchi
Fennel Mayonnaise
Fenugreek Mustard
Fresh ginger Mustard seeds
Lemongrass Pickles
Mint Sauerkraut
Parsley Vinegar
Saffron
Turmeric

Sweets and Sweeteners

Dates Chocolate
Figs Heavy desserts
Jaggery Junk food
Maple syrup Honey
Rock sugar Pastries
Sucanat Processed food
Sweet fruits White sugar

Beverages

Almond milk Alcohol
Chamomile tea Carbonated drinks
Coconut water Coffee
Dandelion tea Iced drinks
Fennel tea Iced tea
Licorice tea Kombucha
Rice milk Lemonade
Water Sour fruit juices

 

 

 

 

 

Reference:

Lad, Vasant. Textbook of Ayurveda: Fundamental Principles. Albuquerque: The Ayurvedic Press, 2002.

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Relephant Bonus Video:

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Relephant Read: 

 

Ditch these 3 Culprits to Eliminate Acne.

 

 

 

Author: Julie Bernier

Editor: Renee Picard 

Image: Unsplash/Isabell WinterWiki Commons 

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