While fine lines are inevitable with aging, they can be delayed. Aging and its related issues should be accepted gracefully. However, Ayurveda claims that fine lines can be prevented. They first start showing up around the eyes and mouth in your late thirties or early forties.
When we age, the collagen and elastin in the skin starts breaking naturally, causing fine lines. If you are careless and have exposed yourself too much to the harmful UV rays of the sun, you may start getting fines lines faster than your age. Fine lines are also caused by the movement of facial muscles, for example, when we smile or frown. Even before you see the first signs of these fine lines, start taking precautions! Otherwise, fine lines can appear before age and will develop into wrinkles.
AYURVEDIC TIPS TO PREVENT FINE LINES
According to Ayurveda, when we do not follow the Ayurvedic rules of eating a proper diet that is deficient in balanced nutrients, or our lifestyle is defective, it creates imbalance in our doshas. Also, when we follow unhealthy lifestyle, some pathological changes take place such as the muscles lose compactness, the joints get loosened, blood vitiates, and excessive fatty tissues are produced. These pathological changes lead to fine lines. Ayurveda suggests a chain of solutions.
Ayurvedic diet as per your skin type
First find out what is your skin type. Vata skin is usually dry, thin, small-pored, and delicate. As a result, Vata skin tends to age faster when out of balance. You may, therefore eat warm, unctuous foods to counteract the cool and dry skin. Include all six tastes in your meals. Also eat lots of cooked, leafy green vegetables spiced with cumin, coriander and turmeric. A little more of the sweet, sour and salty tastes will balance the dry, rough Vata dosha.
If you have a Pitta skin, it is usually sensitive, soft, warm, and of medium thickness. When out of balance, Pitta skin manifests in rashes, acne, or sun spots. If you have Pitta skin, you should include sweet, bitter and astringent tastes, for example, sweet, juicy fruits. Also have cooked greens and more of cooling spices like cumin, coriander, and fennel. Avoid hot, spicy foods.
Kapha skin, on the other hand, ages slowly and form less fine lines compared to Vata and Pitta skins. Kapha skin, however, suffer from enlarged pores, excessive oil, blackheads, pimples, etc. Your diet should include warmer, lighter, and less oily food. Also eat more of bitter, astringent and pungent foods to stimulate digestion and balance Kapha. Ginger, black pepper, turmeric, cumin and coriander are suitable for you.
For all types of skin, ensure that you get enough vitamins through your diet because they directly affect the health of the skin. Proteins and minerals are also essential to prevent the skin from losing its elasticity and developing fine lines. Water is also essential to flush out undigested food from the body and lead to healthy skin.
Protect the skin from stress
We all know stress affects our skin and leads to fine lines that take shape of wrinkles. Mental stress has a chain of reactions on the skin. It starts drying the skin out of Shleshaka Kapha, the subdosha of Kapha, which keeps our skin moist. When Shleshaka Kapha starts drying it makes the skin thin that starts aging early. If we do not control stress, the micro-channels that carry nutritive fluid to the skin starts shrinking, leading to fine lines and then to wrinkles, which are also called stress lines.
Emotional stress, on the other hand, makes us angry, which has a connection between Sadhaka Pitta, the subdosha of Pitta that governs the emotions, and Bhrajaka Pitta, which governs the skin. When emotional stress becomes chronic, it starts manifesting in acne, sun sensitivity, and other Pitta-based problems.
To save your skin from mental stress, give yourself aroma oil massage and have Vata-pacifying diet. To bring emotional stress into balance, take a Pitta-pacifying diet.
Cleanse the pores
Every skin type needs cleansing, but Kapha skin needs a little more. Kapha skin has low agni, which leads to ama collecting in the body, which in turn clogs the channels of the skin. You, therefore, need to clean the pores and open up the channels so that the skin's own balance is maintained. For all skin type, you should taking warm baths with mild herbal soap to keep the pores and channels open. Avoid products that would make your skin too dry.
Rehydrate the skin
It's important to moisturize your skin from the inside so that your skin gets the necessary nutrients. This also keeps the inner layers of the skin moist and soft. Drink lots of water. Add some spices to the water so that the water gets absorbed and transported to the skin. You can use thin slices of fresh ginger root, or basil leaves, or spices like cloves, cumin seeds, etc in the water.
