Acne – the Pitta Imbalance
Acne – the Pitta Imbalance
Acne vulgaris or cystic acne is large pimples, which show a Pitta or Kapha imbalance. It is aggravated by overconsumption of sweets, fats, oils, red meat, seafood, coffee, alcohol, and tobacco, as well as emotional stress and attachment (inability to “let go”), inactivity, and feelings of possessiveness, depression, and purposelessness.
Acne rosacea is red rash on the nose and cheeks that may be very sensitive or burning. It shows a Pitta imbalance and is aggravated by anger, frustration, disappointment, over – ambition, stress and pressure, hot weather, sun, hot spices, sour fruits, fermented foods, soda, sweets, deep fried foods, antibiotics, and harsh chemical peels.
Acne is the result of high Pitta moving under the skin and breaking out in pimples.
Natural Acne Herbal pills
[sociallocker]Treatment of acne:
1. Eat Pitta pacifying food (see Food list for Pitta).
2. Use Ayurvedic herbs.
Mix together an equal amount of Kutki, Guguchi, and Shatavari. After meals place ¼ teaspoon of the powder on your tongue and wash it down with warm water.
3. Drink the cleansing tea.
This herbal tea is made from common household herbs. Steep 1/3 teaspoon of each fennel, cumin, and coriander seeds in hot water for 10 minutes, strain, and drink after meal.
4. Keep your colon clean. Take 1 teaspoon of Triphala powder before bedtime (see Triphala – an A-dic panacea).
5. Drink aloe vera juice. Half a cup of pure aloe vera juice twice a day will cool down the aggravated dosha.
6. Do yoga. The sun salutation and the Lion posture (see the picture above) are particularly helpful (see Sun salutation).
7. Practice pranayama. Abdominal breathing is recommended. Breathing through the left nostril only, for 5 to 10 minutes, will reduce Pitta as well.
8. Meditation is a powerful method to keep Pitta in balance (see How to meditate; and Meditation for Pitta).
Changing your diet and reducing the level of stress is often enough to manage the acne issue. There are also plenty of herbal remedies you can use topically in addition to internal cleansing.
- Instead of soap, wash your face with a paste made of chickpea flour or garbanzo beans flour and water (see Basic skin care routine).
- Turmeric is antibiotic and antibacterial. Form a paste of turmeric and water and carefully apply to blemishes with a cotton swab – turmeric will stain clothes.
- Once or twice per week, use a face mask, mixing cumin and coriander powder with water and applying the paste over the pimples for 20 – 30 minutes. Rinse with cool water.
- For stubborn, large cysts, apply piece of warm onion 2 – 3 times a day to break it, but don’t squeeze.
TODAY’S TIP: Close your eyes and visualize the acne clearing up and going away. Communicate with your skin. This works.[/sociallocker]
See also Acne Part Two
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I’m suffering from acne and I am taking ayurvedic treatment. I want to know from you that from what I shall start my day means what to eat in breakfast because I have to take medicine after it
Larisa I am just 19 and I m suffering from such acne means red bumps on the cheeks on nose some blackheads . On forehead small breakouts and whiteheads on chin I never had
anything but 1 to 2 black head has came. I have prescribed to a ayurvedic doctor and he sad me to ear home freshly cooked food but I want to have a anti acne diet plan from you mam
Please help after reading your blogs I think you will definitely help me .Please help mam
Hi Shweta,
Below are some general recommendations on Pitta diet and daily routine.
I am glad that you are implementing Ayurveda in your life.
In fact only natural medicine can help permanently and without side effects.
The most powerful thing you can do for your overall health including acne
and hair is your daily routine. In my post “Time the most powerful force
in the world” you can read more about this factor. Modern nutritionists
barely touch this subject. But the fact is that the same thing eaten at
different time may affect us dramatically differently.
If you are a Pitta person you can’t skip meals since your inner fire will overheat
your body and mind. Your main meal has to be lunch taken between 11a.m.
and 1 p.m. Start with small salad (lettuce, arugula, cucumber) with no
dressing but olive oil if desired. Cilantro is a specific cooling Pitta
green. Pitta’s digestive fire is so strong that you can properly digest
almost everything at that time (the Sun is helping you as well). But we
need something really nourishing and strengthening. Those are grains and
beans. Make sure you eat grains (white Basmati rice, brown rice, oats,
wheat) every day. Add steamed vegetables and steamed greens you like.
Squash, cabbage (not raw), chard, spinach, okra (is delicious),
cauliflower, zucchini are what I use. Kitchari is the best choice since it
is balanced with proteins and carbs. I have a detailed recipe in the
article “Kitchari-your body’s reset button”.
End your meal with a cup of digestive tea (equal amounts of coriander,
cumin and fennel seeds mixed together, approximately 1 tea spoon for a cup
of boiling water). You can take a thermos with that tea to work and drink
it during the day. This simple tea is good for all doshas but is great for
Pitta since it cools and calms it down. It also heals the entire digestive
tract. If you eat such lunch it will keep you well nourished all day long.
It also will not make you sleepy 40 minutes after meal, which happens if we
eat at improper time when the Sun is not high in the sky. You’ll be
surprised that you are not hungry long after lunch and how much energy you
have.
Don’t eat grains including bread at any other time, they are too hard to
be digested when the Sun is getting down. Eating grains and beans after 2
p. m. and before 11 a.m. produces toxins and aggravates Pitta.
At night (try to eat before 6 p.m.) eat steamed vegetables. Use Ghee
(clarified butter) for cooking and olive oil if you need dressing. Ghee is
another wonder remedy for Pitta. It is the only oil that cools it down and
soothes aggravated Pitta. You can buy Ghee at Whole Foods store, but it is
easy to make at home. I have a recipe on my site. If you “have” to eat
again eat more steamed vegetables.
It is very good to have a cup of hot milk around 7 or 8 p.m. or just
before bed. Hot milk does’t cause allergy and is nourishing to your body
and mind at night. It has Moon energy and is digested after 6 p.m. and till 6
a.m. It also calms down Pitta. The amount of milk is different for
everybody. Start with one cup of hot milk with a pinch of grounded
cardamom and fennel and a little of natural sugar. If you have mucus in
your eyes and throat next morning have 3/4 cup, if still 1/2 and so on
until you find your dose.
Right before bed take a teaspoon of Triphala powder washed down with warm
water. Triphala is balancing all doshas and contains Amalaki which
rejuvenates and strengthens Pitta. I have an article about Triphala as
well.
For breakfast you may have all kind of milk products taken with nuts, dried fruits, and honey. Make
sure the dairy is not directly from the refrigerator. I do a lot of homemade milk dishes for me and my family (See my article “Cow products”). Good breakfast tea is cardamom seeds,
cinnamon bark, and whole cloves taken in equal proportion.
Recommendations on your life style:
1. Try to get up early, ideally at 6 a.m.
2. Take a cool shower. At days you don’t want your hair to get wet, wear a shower
cup. It is important to let the water fall down from head to toes.
3. Your biggest meal is your lunch (11 a.m. till 1 p.m.)Have grains and/or
legumes for lunch. Don’t worry about quantity of your meal, everything you eat at this timewill be digested by the power of the Sun. Since you’ll absorb all the nutrients form that meal, you will not feel hungry for the rest of the day. Use Pitta churna (special spices calming Pitta)with your lunch.
4. It is very important what you eat in the evening because the Sun is not providing the help to digest and undigested food will become toxins. Steamed vegetables from Pitta food list is the best choice. Do not use much spices at night.
5. Anantamul is a specific herbal compound for high Pitta. It can be taken with your lunch. Use the instruction on the bottle.
6. Turmeric is excellent both topical and inside. See my post “Turmeric-the yellow wonder”.
7. Massage a small amount of Amla+Brahmi oil into your hair before bed if you are planning to wash your hair the next morning. Coconut oil also helps to cool down your Pitta dosha. It can be massaged into your hair 30 minutes before shower. If you live in cool climate, use coconut oil only for summer. Amla oil is OK in winter as well.
8. Have tea made of equal amounts of coriander seeds, cumin seeds and fennel seeds as much as you desire. This tea is calming down your stomach and normalizes all stages of digestion. Eliminate all soft drinks and all iced and cold drinks.
9. Yoga and cooling pranayamas (breathing exercises) are very helpful. Ask your yoga teacher about cooling pranayamas(for ex. ujjayi). Don’t underestimate it. It is very important. It will also help to manage anger Pitta doshas are prone to.
Thanks mam
Mam just 1 more question to you is that I do gym at 5 pm and also as it is recommended that to have proteins after gym so what to do?
Can I consume lassi during lunch time
Mam I prepare kichari with veggies at dinner also I eat roti and sabzi being an Indian that is common in our home. Also mam when to eat fruits and it’s juices
HI Shweta,
I also eat kichari, roti and sabzi but for LUNCH, not for dinner. Eating
grains and beans after 4 pm will create toxins in your system. If you eat
enough between 11 am and 1 pm you will not be hungry in the evening. After
4 eat only steamed vegetables, fruits or nuts.
Fruits and juices should be taken in between meals.
You can get your proteins from milk after the gym. Having hot milk after 6
pm is very beneficial.
Stay well.
Larisa
hello maam ..
i have pitta dosha . i have all kinds of acne mainly on cheeks . i have bad hairfall . i have taken ayurvedic treatment but it didnt help . i continued it for 3 months but no results ! i have started thinking that this is gonna be for life !! and i am too depressed 🙁 my family members say that it will go after 18 but i dont it would ever stop . i am 16 now and i am getting acne since the age of 12 . since then it didnt stop .. below i am giving a brief info about my lifestyle .. plz suggest changes . ayurveda is the last hope ..
morning i wake up at 5
then have one protien laddu ( this is because currently i am on a height increase regimen , it has no sugar .. it is made of dates
then have bath and take my breakfast at 6 roti and sabzi and then leave for college . then again i have a meal of roti and sabzi at 8 in break and then again at 1pm . in this break i have poha or rice .
then i come back at 7 and have have my dinner at 8 ( roti and sabzi) at around 9:30 i have 2 spoons of triphala and go to bed at 11 or 12 ..
now some questions :
what should i do to keep my bowel clean ?
my periods often come 1 week prior to the date and it doesnt come properly ??
to keep my pitta in balance ?
ps : i have heard that pitta dosha people should eat anything in between 6 to 8 am .. and at 1 pm .. ? thats true right ..
the only thing why i am so much confused is that i am sooooooooo damn fed up with this acne plz help !!! i cant be more depressed ..
With great hopes
Ranchi
Thanks 🙂
and ya .. will my acne go away after 18 ?
Hi, Ranchi!
Your acne will not go by themselves at 18. You should do something to help them go. I know, it is hard.
Please check my other article on acne:
https://ayurvedaplace.com/2016/02/28/acne-part-two/
And also please read my responses to the other girls with the same problems.You will find them on this very page right below the post about acne. I have given very detailed recommendations on this issue.
Stay well and do not give up.
Larisa
hi madam,
i have cystic acne on my cheeks ,sides of top head .i have poor digestion too can u pls help me out.
Hi Abhilash,
please read the comments above, they answer all your questions.
Please read also “Acne-part two” on my blog.
Sincerely. Larisa
Hi
I have recently developed Rosacea on my cheek and it has really marked my face. I have always clear skin and am surprised to have developed it now in my 40’s.
What can I do to calm the burning sensation on my face and also reduce the red blotches ?
Also are there any supplements that I should take to help my skin as it is really getting me depressed.?
Please can you suggest what I should do. Thank you and waiting for some solution
Hello,
Such condition needs a systemic treatment to deal with the root of rosacea. A trained Ayurvedic practitioner will define your unique personal constitution and start treatment according to it. I have seen such conditions being cured by Ayurvedic doctors. It does not happen over night, but the problem eventually goes.
hi
i m 28yr old… i m suffering from acne fr 10yrs…its on and off process… i hv tried everykind of treatment whether its allopathic, homeopathic or Ramdev baba… homeopathic and Ramdev baba hvnt done something good…make my acne more worse… allopathic treatment is short term relief… recently i m diagnosed with PCOD but nt severe one..its just starting… i hv regular periods with ovary volume around 7-8cc….now i m getting married in 3 months…. and face is full of worse acne of my life….there is itching, swelling, cluster of acnes, pain etc… pls suggest me something.
Dear Winni,
Thank you for your question. I totally understand how you feel about this problem.
If you have read the previous messages you may probably predict my answer: Ayurveda is very personal and people with same symptoms will be treated differently. That is why Baba Ramdev’s remedy did not work. You need personal diagnostics and prescription. Acne cure is time-consuming but possible.
Please accept my humble advice: pray to God every day fully accepting the situation and asking what is the lesson you should learn. Then listen to the answer in your heart and God will undoubtedly reply and take you to the right doctor or place.
Very useful post. This is my first time i visit here. I found so many interesting stuff in your blog especially its discussion. Really its great article. Keep it up.
Thank you Rattika!