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.

2. Eat sweet juicy fruits and skip the three-alarm salsa.
Pears, apples, and berries (mild, cool fruits) won’t aggravate pitta—but citrus varieties will. Plus, spicy foods like peppers, vinegar, mustard, and salsa will raise your body temperature and jack up your pitta, overtaxing your purification system.

3. Part ways with sugar and see a clear difference.
Giving up sweets is hard. No, not hard, painful. Bacteria love sugar, says Dr. Lonsdorf. When you eat a sugary snack, especially on an empty stomach, your blood sugar spikes up, feeding bacteria and yeast, the perfect marriage for brand new skin problems. “Eating a lot of sugar upsets the natural balance in your body, leading to skin reactions,” says Dr. Lonsdorf. The good news: if you have dessert after your meal, you’ll avoid a dramatic glucose spike and be less likely to spur an acne attack because your body absorbs it more slowly.

4. Sleep earlier for a better rest.
Have you noticed that sleeping from 2 A.M. to 10 A.M. doesn’t feel as good as sleeping from 11 P.M. to 7 A.M.? You’re getting 8 hours of sleep either way but going to bed later can still leave you groggy during the day. According to ayurveda, different times of day affect your doshas. Staying up late increases your body heat, and higher temperature correlates with less restful sleep, Dr. Lonsdorf says. Even if you can’t get a solid 8 hours of sleep, try going to bed earlier to cool down and rest soundly.

5. Pick mineral makeup for unclogged pores.
“We should put products on our skin that we would put in our bodies,” Dr. Lonsdorf says. Chemical-based makeup can irritate the skin, releasing histamines that inflame skin or they can be absorbed into the blood, traveling through to the liver. Lonsdorf warns that even cosmetics that say they are hypoallergenic may harm skin because of chemicals. She recommends mineral-based makeup. Truly pure mineral makeup will not only keep your pores clear, it will also add to the essential minerals in your body, Dr. Lonsdorf says.

If you can’t find this type of makeup at your favorite cosmetics counter or health-food store, look online.