Ayurvedic beauty: here's how to formulate beauty products based on this ancient Indian discipline.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The Ayurvedic discipline of physical, mental and spiritual well-being has been successfully practiced for over 5000 years. A harmonious balance of body, mind and soul provides optimal ingredients for a happy, healthy, meaningful and balanced life. Consistent with this philosophy, Ayurveda emphasizes the role of daily routine, environmental factors, seasonal changes, lifestyle, diet, exercise and nutritional-medicinal supplements in balancing bodily well-being. For psychological health, the senses and psyche must be in balance, requiring intellectual, social and spiritual harmony of man and his environment. Yoga provides a broad-based treatment for body, mind and soul in the form of physical exercise for body and meditation for mind and soul.

Yoga is a part of good general health and vitality in Ayurveda. It is defined as the inhibition of fluctuations of consciousness. In practical terms it restricts any disorder in mental activity. Mind is composed of three faculties: brain, intellect and ego. Yoga teaches the means by which the mind is controlled and redirected to constructive, positive thinking channels. Modern day yoga is conceived as a combination of physical postures and breathing exercises. Yoga, however, has several components that, in combination, provide balanced psychological health for mind and soul: physical posture exercises, breathing exercises, sensorial practices, meditation practices and ethical practices, which must be performed daily.

In Ayurveda, health is defined as the state where physical and psychological aspects are in a natural state with respect to the body and its functions. The body itself is composed of biomaterials and psychological components. The biomaterials component is composed of three somatic factors, which constitute "tridoshas" of Ayurveda: energy pool (Vata), chemical activity (Pitta) and material substance (Kapha). The primary elements in Vata, Pitta and Kapha are air, fire and earth, respectively. The solid material composition of body is Kapha; chemical activity, such as digestion, is Pitta; and energy pool of motion and movement is Vata. The psychological aspect has three components: satogun, rajogun and tamogun. The existence of tridoshas can be understood in terms of modern macromolecular and micromolecular biology. Vata controls the respiratory, circulatory, lymphatic, excretory and reproductive systems. Pitta is responsible for appetite, thirst, digestion, metabolism, body heat, eyesight, mental calmness, intelligence and skin pliability. Kapha functions via control of immune system, body fat and mucous systems. An imbalance in biomaterials and/or psychological components is considered to be the main cause for the onset of a disease.

Help for Body and Mind

Dietary and lifestyle interventions are initiated to balance malfunctioning of any tridoshas and the physical and mental constitution of a patient. These Ayurvedic interventions are accompanied by spiritual and devotional training, removal of worries and mental anguish, exercise and yoga. If vata were imbalanced, the diet would include oils, butter and sweet food. The misbalance of kapha is treated with a diet of bitter, sour, vinegary, spicy, dry food. For pitta imbalance, a diet of mild tasting food, grains, lentils, and moderate amount of oils and sweets is recommended. Depriving the patient of water helps in ascites, edema and kidney diseases where large amounts of water are retained by body.

The World Health Organization (WHO) also defines good health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely as absence of disease or infirmity. Ayurveda, therefore, has the potential to become a part of a global medical system in view of its comprehensive focus on all health-related matters.

Ayurvedic management of an illness (Chikitsa) consists of four procedures:

1. Cleansing (Samsodhan); 2. Palliation (samsaman); 3. Rejuvenation (kaya kalp) and 4. Mental and spiritual healing (sattvavajaya). Cleansing includes five procedures (panchkarma), which includes the removal of toxic products, both endogenous and exogenous. Palliation consists of adding herbs and minerals to the diet, as well as changing lifestyle. Seven types of palliation are practiced: digestive power enhancement, toxic waste elimination, fasting, observing thirst, yoga exercise, sunbathing and breathing exercise with meditation.

A healthy lifestyle is very important to maximize the effect of any palliative treatment for a physical disorder. Ayurveda recommends regular sleeping schedule, regular exercise, intake of healthy food and meditation. Nutritional-medicinal compositions (rasayanas) are also part of daily nutritive intake.

Rasayana refers to the transportation of nutrition in body, which, in practical terms, refers to preparations containing multiple herbs and minerals that are taken on a daily basis that improve the transportation of nutritional materials to body tissues and also provide key elements missing in daily food intake. Three forms of rasayanas are provided: nutritional-dietary (Ajasrika rasayana) is taken regularly with food as nutrition; Kamya rasayana (health promoter) is indicated to improve vigor, vitality and positive thinking, and Naimittika rasayana is provided to combat a particular disease or ailment. Kamya rasayana is further classified into three groups: Pranakamya Rasayana (promoter of vitality and longevity), Medhakamya rasayana (promoter of intellect) and Srikamya rasayana (promoter of skin complexion and luster). Rasayanas are the Ayurvedic equivalent of modern dietary supplements, a part of overall balanced diet, as they improve vitality, rejuvenate body tissues, improve immunity and prevent aging. The multitudes of vitamins, minerals, biologically active agents, antioxidants, tannins, glycosides, polyphenols and lignans present in various Rasayanas provide a good natural source of essential nutrients to the body.

Topical Treatments

The topical treatments in Ayurveda relate mostly to rituals of body cleansing (with natural clays and herbal preparations) and massage. There are thousands of plant-based Ayurvedic treatments for curing various diseases. However, it is not uncommon for a single herb to possess multiple benefits for varied ailments. This is due to the presence of several different cosmeceutically "active" agents in a given herb, each having a specific effect on human biology. This opens up a wide, previously unexplored field for cosmetic and pharmaceutical sciences for the development of new topical agents. For example, Andrographis paniculata, which has been used for liver disorders in Ayurveda, offers a solution for skin aging via its anti-inflammatory active agent, andrographolide. Centella asiatica, commonly used for heart problems and the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, can be useful for skin anti-wrinkle treatments via its anti-irritant cosmeceutical agent, asiaticoside.

This article presents a balanced view of Ayurvedic herbal preparations, both in their application as ingested "inside" treatment for ailments and the application of cosmeceutical "active" agents obtained from the same herbs--via modern science--for comprehensive skin care as topical "outside" treatment. A number of Ayurvedic herbs have been discussed in an earlier publication by this author. (1) An excellent book on Ayurvedic therapies is also available. (2) Ayurvedic formulations for various treatments are now available in an excellent treatise. (3)

Before heading to the laboratory, formulators should adhere to the following guidelines when working with Ayurvedic ingredients.

* Formulators are advised to use the active agents from Ayurvedic ingredients in highly purified forms, whether they are in extract or powder form. This assures the quality, claimed use level, efficacy, formulation ease, and sensory consumer attributes.

* Formulators should be cognizant of the chemical structure of those active agents and determine their chemical compatibility with all other ingredients of the formulation, including excipients, processing aids, pH adjusting agents, chelating agents and minor additives. Nearly white in their appearance, Tetrahydrocurcuminoids, for example, can form colored Schiff's bases due to their ketone groups when formulated with amines, amino acids, peptides or hydrolyzed proteins.

* Stability studies with every modification of a formulation are recommended, irrespective of how minor a change was made to the "base" formulation. For example, a mere change of fragrance from citrus to a vanilla-type aldehydic note can cause color and odor instability issues when amine-type ingredients, such as amino acids, peptides, or hydrolyzed proteins, are also present in that "base" formulation.

* The best ingredients also require proper delivery systems to optimize their intended benefits. Proper selection of delivery systems, in combination with consumer-desirable sensory attributes, via innovative ingredients, can lead to successful new products.

ABCs of Anti-Aging