Dr. Zeenut I Kazi

First, let's see why our skin tends to become rough, dry, and irritated during certain seasons and with age. According to ayurveda, it happens due to the accumulation of vata in the body. Vata predominates in the fall and early winter, and in people over the age of 50. When there is excess vata, we are prone to dry skin, cracking joints, thinning dry hair, and brittle nails. Vata can also show up in the body earlier if you're really stressed, have a vata disturbing diet or live in a vata inducing climate (cold and dry). The secret to staying young is keeping vata at bay.

Here are some ayurvedic tips that will slow down vata accumulation in the body and will help you stay young and keep your skin:

1. Don't skip the veggies - 

Stick to high-water content vegetables that are easier to digest, such as lettuce, carrot, cucumber, daikon radish (which is revered by ayurvedic healers for its purifying properties), fennel, and tender asparagus tips. These vegetables are tridoshic: they are good for all types of skin. Combine at least 3 and enjoy with a simple olive oil-lemon juice dressing.

2. Eat like a bird - 

Both traditional and ayurvedic medicine agree that adding seeds and nuts into your diet will improve the condition of your skin. Vata is drying by nature so all foods that have natural healthy fats in them will prevent this imbalance. Nuts and seeds are a perfect food -- they contain omega-3s, healthy fats, and fiber to help a weakened vata digestion. My favorite snack is goraw sunflower flax snax. You can also try adding almonds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, and other nuts to your oatmeal (or having them as your afternoon snack, when vata naturally predominates).