A New Spin on Clear Skin

By Nicole Kwan

Get to the source of the problem

Prom pimples were bad enough, but blemishes can still pop up occasionally in adults, and always at the worst possible time.

There are ways to clear your skin, however, that doesn't involve Clearasil.

According to yoga’s sister science, ayurveda, the liver is the source of epidermal woes. Cleanse the liver and you’ll change your body’s chemistry—and skin, ayurvedic experts say.

“Sugar, fried foods, stress, toxins, and even sour foods like tomatoes can make skin worse because they stress the liver,” says Nancy Lonsdorf, M.D.  Dr. Lonsdorf, a Johns Hopkins-trained physician, has practiced ayurvedic medicine for 20 years. “The liver is involved in most skin problems. In modern science research, they’ve found that the skin has the same enzymes in it that the liver does, so the skin is really a metabolic organ. If you’re stressing your liver, you’re stressing your skin.”

It’s not just the mojitos. Any food or activity that increases pitta—the heat and digestive force in the body—aggravates the liver, whose job is to purify the blood. Pitta is one of the three doshas, along with vata and kapha. According to ayurveda, doshas are metabolic currents that when out of balance can make us feel “off.” Most people’s constitutions are described by one of these three natural characteristics.

Learn your dominant dosha by taking our quick interactive quiz.

When your liver is upset from an overdose of pitta, acne and redness pop up. In order to keep your pitta and liver calm, try these ayurvedic prescriptions.

1. Eat zucchini to soothe inflamed skin.
Juicy veggies like zucchini calm pitta by making your liver happy and cool, Dr. Lonsdorf says. This type of food takes the red out of visible skin issues like rosacea and inflammations. The best way to prepare zukes: steam or juice them. “Some people who feel heat in their skin will feel it cool down within 15 minutes of drinking zucchini juice,” she says.

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