Zap those zits

Acne, according to Ayurveda, is a condition which is due to the aggravation of the pitta in the body. Pitt in Ayurved is connected to energy which is hot. When it is balanced, you have a good digestion, radiant skin, and a powerful voice. But when pitt is unbalanced, it results in acne, acidity, anger, piles and skin rashes.
There are times in one’s life when the pitt is high — for instance, during youth and adolescence. Similarly, summer and afternoon are the time for pitt.
A pitt person, during the pitt phase in his life, or during the pitt season (summer), or during the pitt time of the day (afternoon), feels extremely uncomfortable.
Acne is one of the pitt reactions one faces during youth. It can also result from hormonal imbalance which can occur due to side effects of some medications like hormone or fertility treatments, steroids etc.

Here’s how to balance your pitt: Herbs There are many herbs which cool and detoxify the body, like karela juice (the skin of two karelas is peeled and strained), lemon (10 drops) in water, giloy, aloe vera juice (application and ingestion), bael sherbet (do not use sugar to make the sherbet). Cereals Many cereals, like brown rice and barley, are excellent to cool the body as both of them have a kaph prakriti.
Barley is good for weight loss too. Additionally, they are rich in iron, B-complex and many minerals.
Fruits Watermelon, musk melon, apple, mausambi, are all good for pitt prakriti. In general, most fruits are good for pitt prakriti but mangoes can be avoided. Vegetables All vegetables are cooling in nature. Therefore, all vegetables can be eaten to cool the body and clear acne. Vegetable juices like lauki juice, petha juice, and cabbage juice are very good for pitt prakriti.

Pulses and lentils
Most well-cooked pulses and lentils (in moderation) are fine for acne. But one must take care that one doesn’t eat those pulses which may lead to gas or constipation, like rajma/white channa. Avoid non-vegetarian foods because they are high in pitt prakriti. Dairy products are very high in hormonal content which ultimately come into the human blood. Therefore, if you don’t want to aggravate acne, then avoid all dairy products like paneer, curd, milk and cheese. All refined foods and aerated drinks need to be avoided. Similarly, stay away from tamasik foods like pickles. However, you can eat chutneys.

Water therapy
This I can vouch for! Drinking two litres of water through the day will flush out a lot of pitt and clear acne. The only precaution one must take is not to drink immediately after meals or if you have any kidney trouble.
Anger management sounds silly, but true pitt is connected to anger and if one doesn’t deal with one’s anger in a positive way, it will continue to throw up toxins in the blood which will show up as acne.