Acne and Mangoes

In my practice, I have often had patients telling me about their body being ‘heaty’ or about some ‘heaty foods’ that cause acne. Although the term heaty, is not recognized in modern or conventional medicine, the concept comes from Chinese medicine and is related to the balancing of yin and yang. Thus certain foods believed to cause symptoms like nose bleed, mouth ulcers, irritability, indigestion, heartburn; skin rashes, excessive sweating, boils or pimples on the body are called heaty foods. Some of the examples of heaty or yang foods are mangoes, chocolate, pepper, ginger, garlic, clove, coconut, coffee, tobacco, jaggery, sesame, papaya etc. However specifically coming to your question, mango peel and sap contains urushiol, the chemical in poison ivy and thus if you are allergic to them, you can develop an acne-like rash usually around the mouth and nose. Further mangoes can cause blood sugar levels to rise which in turn raises your insulin levels and can worsen your existing acne. This concept however may not hold true for everybody and thus cannot be grand generalized. Thus an easier thing for you would be to rule out certain foods which disagree with your body, irrespective of them being heaty or non-heaty. As far as acne is concerned, it is a medical condition and may need suitable treatment apart from food changes.

Moisturizing is one of the key components for maintaining a healthy and youthful skin. Moisturizers not only increase the water content of the skin, but also protect the skin and make it appear smooth. Therefore whether it is summer or winter, moisturizing is essential. Only the type and the frequency of moisturizing may change to suit the changing seasons.

Dr. Pranjal Shamsher is the first Skin Doctor in Bangalore to offer natural, non-surgical and non-invasive treatments for skin disorders. With over 25 years of experience in the field Dermatology, she has devised a unique Multi-Therapy approach to treat the most stubborn, obstinate and long-standing skin disorders with a skin-friendly and 100% side-effect free results. Her integrated and Multi-Therapy approach has helped many chronic disease sufferers to recover safely without any side-effects.