The Maharishi Ayurveda Natural Medicine Approach to Beauty and
Skin Care
The Maharishi Ayurveda Approach to Beauty and Skin Care
The Three Pillars of Beauty
Maharishi Ayurveda (MAV), the modern, consciousness-based
revival of the ancient Ayurvedic medicine tradition, considers
true beauty to be supported by three pillars; Outer Beauty,
Inner Beauty and Lasting Beauty. Only by enhancing all three can
we attain the balanced state of radiant health that makes each
of us the most fulfilled and beautiful person we can be.
Outer Beauty: Roopam
The outer signs of beauty - your skin, hair and nails - are more
than just superficial measures of beauty. They are direct
reflections of your overall health. These outer tissues are
created by the inner physiological processes involved in
digestion, metabolism and proper tissue development. Outer
beauty depends more on the strength of your digestion and
metabolism, the quality of your diet, and the purity of your
blood, than on external cleansers and conditioners you may apply.
General Recommendations for Outer Beauty
As we will discuss, the key to skin care is matching your diet
and skin care routine to the specific skin type you have.
Meanwhile, there are some valuable recommendations for lustrous
skin, hair and nails that will be helpful to everyone,
regardless of skin type.
1. Diet: Without adequate nourishment, your collagen layer thins
and a kind of wasting takes place. Over time, your skin can
shrivel up like a plant without water from lack of nourishment.
To keep your skin plump and glowing:
A. Eat fresh, whole organic foods that are freshly prepared.
Avoid packaged, canned, frozen, processed foods and leftovers.
These foods have little nutritional value and also they are
often poorly digested which creates impurities that localize in
the skin. The resulting buildup of toxins causes irritation and
blocks circulation depriving the skin of further nourishment and
natural cleansing processes.
B. Favor skin nourishing foods. 1. Leafy green vegetables
contain vitamins, minerals (especially iron and calcium) and are
high in antioxidant properties. They nourish the skin and
protect it from premature aging. 2. Sweet juicy fruits like
grapes, melons, pears, plums and stewed apples at breakfast are
excellent for the skin in almost everyone. 3. Eat a wide variety
of grains over different meals and try mixed grain servings at
breakfast and lunch. Add amaranth, quinoa, cous cous, millet and
barley to the wheat and rice you already eat. 4. Favor light,
easy to digest proteins like legume soups (especially yellow
split mung dhal), whole milk, paneer (cheese made from boiling
milk, adding lemon and straining solids) and lassi (diluted
yogurt and spice drinks). 5. Oils like ghee (clarified butter)
and organic, extra virgin olive oil should be included in the
diet as they lubricate, nourish and create lustre in the skin.
6. Use spices like turmeric, cumin, coriander, and black pepper
to improve digestion, nourish the skin and cleanse it of
impurities. 7. Avoid microwaving and boiling your vegetables.
They lose as much as 85% of their antioxidant content when
cooked in this way. Steaming and saut