Skin is the mirror of the body. Any internal disorder usually manifests
firsts at the level of the skin. Hense one has to pay most care to maintain
proper skin care. One of the modality for healthy skin is to eat the right food
for proper and normal skin. Certain diets over a pariod a of years in out
practice have been very useful for certain disorders.
General Aids:
- Excess
intake of improper food must be controlled, better if avoided totally.
- Since
teenage is the time when food temptation cannot be resisted, diversions
like exercise, sports and games must be encouraged. This will have an
added benefit as exercise is of great help in the treatment of acne.
- Quick
lime rich in calcium improves overall resistance to infection.
- ‘Neem’(Azadirachta
indica) water is taken routinely as a medicine by some to protect the body
against infection.
- Onion
decoction or garlic soup is popular to build up body resistance against
infection.
- A
small piece of ‘Chireta’ (Swerata chirata) boiled in water, a teaspoonful
of’Ajwan’(Bishop’s seed) and few cardamoms, this decoction taken on empty
stomach in the morning, daily for a fortnight, is very useful to improve
resistance and prevent boils.
- ‘Jaljira’(decoction
of cumin seeds), coconut water, carrot seeds infusion, barley water etc.
are some of the common beverages that
by causing increased urination help in cooling the system.
- Lemon
juice is natures most powerful antiseptic. Use it externally on sores,
corn and dandruff.
- For
clearing the complexion, use cucumber juice with water. Place the slice of
cucumber over the face where needed.
- In
general 16 ounces of prune juice, 1-gallon apple juice each day for 3 days
also helps to clear the complexion.
- For
rough skin eat silicon rich foods such as oats and wheat bran, Eat oatmeal
and rub face and arms with oat water. Wheat bran makes the skin smooth.
Make a thin paste of wheat bran and apply to face, neck and arms.
- For
scars rub cocoa butter on the scar. It has to be done consistently, 2
times a day
- Slice
of pumpkin if rubbed on the face, hands and feet remove black pathches,
freckle and brighten the complexion.
- Raw
turmeric if taken daily in the morning gives brightness to the complexion
and makes it soft and smooth.
- A
lemon-milk preparation is employed for whitening and softening the skin,
hands and face.
- Raw
papaya fruit if applied as cosmic removes freckles, black spots and makes
the skin smooth and delicate.
Some Hints for a Clear skin and to improve the
Complexion:
- A
special skin cleaning powder is a mixture of green gram, Bengal
gram and fenugreek seeds. Equal proportions of green gram and Bengal gram with a fistful of fenugreek seeds is
powered and preserved. When needed the powder is mixed with plain water or
starch water.
- White
radish and carrot juice not only give a plenty of vitamin A but also act
as a diuretic, flushing out toxins from the body.
- Curd
is the most ideal to message the skin as it tones up dry and oily skin.
The mildly acidic lactic acid in curd acts as an antiseptic and astringent
and the cream in the curd soothing to the skin,
- A
glass if limejuice has enough vitamin C to meet the daily requirement of
this particular vitamin.
- Cut
a lime into two. Take one half and gently massage the face. Squeeze the
other half into a cup of water and drink it with a crystal of rock salt.
Do it everyday for six to eight weeks to see a remarkable improvement in
the appearance of your skin. This helps to remove the greasiness of the
skin and lighten color.
- For
blackheads make a fine paste of turmeric rhizome with a few mustard seeds,
this paste is touched on the blackheads and left overnight. In the morning
the face is washed clean with gram flour. The blackheads soften and fall
off.
- Following
are some of the hints to helps the complexion glow with health
-A tablespoon of honey either alone
or with limejuice daily helps to improve the skin color.
-Be liberal in your fluid intake.
-Carrot, lime, cucumber, onion,
fenugreek and coconuts improve skin nutrition; Take them in plenty and as far
as possible fresh, in any convenient combination to enhance skin color.
-One ‘Amla’(gooseberry) daily helps
to improve the skin color.
-For active young people a bit of
fresh butter daily in the morning is one of the best prescriptions for a
healthy smooth skin.
Alergic Dermatoses(Urticaria, Allergic and Atopic
Eczema):
The single factor eliminative diet
and a diet diary are two useful measures. In the former we start the patient on
the one foodstuff, like boiled rice and sugar. It is rarely that a patient is
sensitive to both rice and milk. If the allergy is due to dietetic factors, the
disease should be controlled with the diet alone. After the disease has been
controlled on boiled milk or rice, every three days, one more foodstuff is
added, starting with essential ones like wheat (chapattis and bread), fats
(butter and ghee), mutton, eggs, peas, carrots, bananas, Potatoes, lentils,
till either an allergic attacks develops, meaning that the patient is sensitive
to the last added foodstuff, or the normal diet is reached. Usually patients
are sensitive to protein diets or vegetables and fruits, or to the synthetic
chemicals used for preserving foods; starch fats and minerals make poor
allergens.
Allergies
(Urticatria):
- Five drops of castor oil in half of any fruit or
vegetable or even plain water can be taken on empty stomach. This is very
beneficial for allergies of the intestinal tract, skin and nasal passages.
- Fresh juice like carrot juice; carrot juice with
beet and cucumber juice are useful in the treatment of allergies.
- The patient should take two teaspoons of turmeric
powder micxed with a cup of water daily. This is very valuable in
urticaria.
- Aboit 7gm of meant and 25gm of brown sugar should
be boiled together in 17ml of water and drunk. This relieves the itchinb.
- Foods which should be eliminated from the diet
are tea, coffee, cola drinks, chocolates, sugar and its products, refined
cereals, meat, fish, chicken, tobacco, milk, cheese, butter, salted
pickled foods and foods containing any chemical additives, preservatives
and flavourings.
- Five drops of castor oil added to half a cup of
any furit or vegetale juice, or plain water, and taken on empty stomach
early in the morning, is beficial for allergies of the skin.
- One or two bananas a day are useful for those who
are allergetic to certain foods and who constantly suffer from skin
rashes.
- To reduce severe itching, apply ice on the
effected part.
- The herb rauwolfia is beneficial in relieving
itching in urticaria. One gram of powdered root can be taken with a cup of
water daily.
- An equal quantity of alum and red ocher should be
ground together and the powder rubbed on the weals.
Boils:
- A thorough cleansing of the system is essential
for the treatment of boils. An exclusive diet of fresh juicy fruits with
proper regulation of the bowels helps to a great extent.
- The use of garlic or onion has proved very
effective. The juice of garlic and onion may be applied externally to the
boils to help ripen them and also to break them and evacuate the pus.
- Half a cup of fresh juise of bitter gourd, mixed
with teaspoon of limejuice should be taken sip by sip, on an empty stomach
daily for fer days in treating this condition.
- Betel leaf is valuable remedy for boils. A leaf
is gently warmed till it gets softened, Ir is then coated with a layer of
castor oil. The oiled leaf should be spread over the inflamed part. It
should be replaced every few hour’s. After a few applications the boil will will
rapture, draining all the purulent matter. The application can be made at
night and removed in the morning.
- The seeds of black cumin gorund in water and made
into a paste can be applied to the boils with beneficial results.
- The application of turmeric powder to the boils
speeds up the healing process.
- Worm moist compresses applied three to four times
a day over the tender area helps to ripen the boil and helps in its easy
drainage.
Chronic
Erythroderma, Pemphigus and Leprosy:
- Extra proteins and minerals shoud be added to the
diet to keep up one’s body
strenth and make up for the loss of these from the skin in the form of
scales and serum, particularly so in the first two dermatoses.
Corns and
Collosities:
- A paste made by grinding 3-4 liquorices sticks
and mixing it with sesame oil of mustard oil will prove very effective if
applied over the effected aria.
- A slice of fresh lemon tied over the hardened
skin overnight is a valuable remedy for corns.
- The application of papaya juice over the corn is
also helpful.
- The milky juice of green figs is beneficial for
corns of long duration.
- A paste made of chalk and water applied over the
affected area is also helpful.
- A light diet containing of vitamins and minerals
in the form of fruits and vegetables is recommended.
- Great white cabbage. Add hot water so that it is
comfortable to your feet. Soak it in for 10-20 minutes.
- Soak your feet in warm water for about 15
minutes. Then cut a small piece of lemon peel and place the inside of it
against the corn, tying it on. and let it stay there all night. Do this
for three nights and the corn should lift out.
Dandruff:
- Use of fenugreek (methi) seeds is one of the most
important remedies in the treatment of dandruff. Two tablespoons of these
seeds are soaked overnight in the water and ground into a fine paste with
curds the next morning. This paste is applied all over the scalp nut
(aritha) or “shikakai” powder.
- The
use of a teaspoon of fresh limejuice for the last rinse while washing the
hair is another useful remedy.
- Massage
hit oil mixed with ceder vinegar in hot water over the scalp. Leave it
over night and rinse off with an egg shampoo the next morning.
- Put
a few drops of limejuice in coconut oil and massage your hair with it to
get rid of dandruff.
- Tops
and roots of beets should be boiled in water and this water should be
massaged in to the scalp with the fingertips every night. While beets is
the best for treating dandruff.
- The
use of curds kept over 2-3 days, limejuice, cider vinegar and ‘Amla’
(Embilica officinalis) juice also helps to disperse dandruff.
- Boil
a handful of willow leaves. Strain and wash your hair and scalp in it. Pit
a little concoction aside and dampen the scalp a little everyday.
Disseminated and Acute Eczema:
- Restricted
salt and light diet. In endogenous eczema and urticaria bland vegetatian
diet with restricted tea. Coffe and alcohol (Sattvic is helpful). It
should be continued for at least 4-12 weeks.
Eczima:
- Musk
lemon should be taken three times a day for at least forty days. The juice
of the fruit is also useful for local application in acute and chronic
cases of eczema.
- The
pulp and the skin of mango should be simmered in a cup of water for half
an hour. This should then be strained and applied for half an hour. This
should then be strained and applied as a lotion to the affected areas
several times a daily.
- Raw
vegetable juice, especially carrot juice is combination with spinach juice
is helpful in the treatment of eczema.
- Safflower
oil is beneficial. Two tablespoons should be taken daily.
- Two
table spoon of molasses should be taken twice daily in a glass of milk.
Improvement will be noticed within two weeks time.
- The
patient should take a diet consisting of seeds, nuts, grains, vegetable
and fruits. He should avoid tea, coffee, alcohol beverages, all
condiments, sugar, white flour products, and denatured areas.
- Sun
bathing early in the morning is very beneficial. A light mudpack applied
over the sites of eczema, cold compresses or could wet fermentation are
beneficial.
- Certain
liquids have been found useful as washing lotions for cleaning the
affected parts. This includes water in which ‘neem’(Azadirachta indica)
leaves have been boiled, rice starch water, which has been obtained by
decanting cooked rice.
-
The suggested diet for eczema is as follows:
5.00 am
- Juice
of one lemon in a glass of water.
- 7.00
am fresh fruits, especially melon (musk melon) and a glass of orange
juice. Plenty of water should be taken in between the meals.
9.30 am
- Fresh
green vegetables(salads) and a glass of carrot juice.
11.30 am
- Fresh
vegetables, vegetable salad, a glass of carrot juice and spinach juice
mixed together.
2.30 pm
- Fresh
fruits especially musk melon, a glass of fruits juice.
4.00 pm
- A
large glassful of juice of spinach and carrots (mixed)
7.00 pm
- Vegetable
salad and fresh fruits.
This should be followed in the first week. In the
second week, salt free boiled or steamed vegetables; curd and milk, sprouted
grains and wheat bread can be added to the meals. It is essential that all
these should be salt free.
In chronic cases, the diet regulation must be followed
for atleast two months.
Hair loss:
- ‘Amla’
(Embilica officinalis) oil, prepared by boiling the dry pieces of ‘Amla’ (Embilica officinalis) in coconut
oil, is a valuable hair tonic for enriching hair growth.
- Lettuce
is useful in preventing hair loss. A mixture of lettuce and spinach juice
can help the growth of hair.
- Juice
of embylic myrobalam mixed with coconut oil after boiling may be applied
on the head to prevent further loss off hair.
- The
juice of alfalfa in combination with equal quantities of lettuce and
carrot juice will promote the hair growth to a remarkable extent.
- Mustard
oil boiled with ‘hena’(Lowsoni inermis) leaves is useful for healthy
growth of hair .‘Hena’(Lowsoni inermis) leaves may be boiled in mustard
oil and are burned . The oil is then filtered. A regular massage with this
oil will produce abundant hair.
- The
seeds of lime and black pepper ground together in the fine paste help in
the treatment of patchy baldness,
- Onion
has been found very effective in patchy baldness. The affected parts
should be rubbed with onions till it is red. It should be rubbed with
honey afterwards,
- Another
useful remedy fir falling hair is olive oil. The procedure is to heat the
oil and allow it to cool, gently massage it into the roots and leave it
all night. Next morning apply egg and wash off.
- The
use of white radish with salt and black pepper every noon for six months
regularly will improve the skin texture and make hair long.
Head lice
- Cinnamon
applied externally as a hair wash helps to get rid of hair lice.
- A
non-herbal treatment to get rid of nits is to mix kerosene and water in
equal parts and sleepy to the parts.
- Rosemary
oil is also thought to be useful in the treatment of head lice.
- The
betel leaf juice if applied as paste on the hair roots are night before
retiring to bed kills instantaneously all live on the head.
Impetigo:
- The
treatment of impetigo is essentially constitutional and it should consist
of proper diet, correct hygiene and fresh air.
- Avoid
tea, coffee, and all condiments and highly flavored dishes as well as
sugar, white flour products, denatured cereals and tinned or bottled
foods.
- A
few chopped pieces of turnip (salgum), after through cleansing, should be
immersed in rice starch (kangi) or any natural vinegar for about six hours
and this should then be eaten by the patient.
- Garlic
crushed and spread over the irritated areas is useful in relieved the
constant itching. One or two cloves of garlic should be chewed for better
results.
Leucoderma:
- The
seeds of psoralea should be steeped in a juice of ginger for three days.
The fluid should be renewed every day. The husk may be removed, dried in the shade and powered. One gram of this powder should be taken every day with one cup of fresh milk for forty days. The ground seeds should be applied to the white spots.
- The patient may embark upon a well balanced diet of seeds, nuts, grains, vegetables and fruits. This diet may be supplement with cold pressed vegetable oils, honey and yeast. The patient should avoid tea, coffee, alcoholic beverages, all condiments and suger.
- Red clay should be mixed with ginger juice in a ratio of : and applied over the white spots once a day.
- About 35 grams of radish seeds should be powdered in two teaspoons of vinegar and applied on the white patches.
- Turmeric mixed with mustard oil is also useful in leucoderma. About 500 grams of turmeric should be pounded and soaked in 8 liter of water at night. It may be boiled in the morning till only one litre is left and mixed with 500 ml of mustard oil. This mixture should be applied to the white patches every morning and evening for a few months.
