WOMEN - How to Feed Healthy Hair

How to Feed Healthy Hair

by Linda L. Prout

Your hair is a reflection of your health.  When hair loss, dry scalp, or dandruff are experienced, the instant conclusion is that your hormones and/are stress are to blame. However, studies are increasingly revealing that diet may play a much larger role.

According to the American Academy of Dermatology, nearly half of all adults in the U.S. experience hair thinning by age 40. More importantly, the study suggests that you can play a much more active role in nourishing your hair directly, while balancing your hormones and buffering against stress.

Hypothyroid Syndrome?

If you’re finding massive amounts of hair in your shower drain, suffer from very dry skin, feel continuously chilly, and are slowly gaining weight, you may suffer with hypothyroid syndrome. Hypothyroidism is state in which the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone – the most  common symptom being hair loss.

Healthy hair (and metabolism) requires adequate hormones produced by the thyroid gland–including vitamin A, selenium, zinc and iodine, nutrients commonly lacking in the American diet.

Good sources include:

• Grass fed butter and liver
• Brazil nuts and garlic
• Red meat and sea vegetables
• Coconut oil

Work to minimize goitrogens, as they may have an anti-thyroid effect. These include: raw cruciferous veggies (broccoli and cabbage to name a few), and soy (tofu, soy oil). Cooked broccoli and small amounts of fermented soy, including soy sauce, are OK.

Vegetable oils (now overwhelmingly common in restaurant and packaged foods) also contribute to a sluggish thyroid.

Instead, insist on olive oil, coconut oil or butter.

Fluoridated or chlorinated water can inhibit thyroid by displacing iodine from the thyroid gland.  Have spring water delivered, or filter your tap water with reverse osmosis if your water is fluoridated.

Thyroid medications — or an overactive thyroid, characterized by feeling jittery and weight loss — can also lead to hair trouble.  If you suspect any of these imbalances in your thyroid health, and diet isn’t helping, see your doctor.

Enough Protein, Fat, and Nutrients in Your Diet?

Healthy hair also requires protein, zinc, iron, good fats and vitamin D. Ideally, you’re getting vitamin D from sunlight on your skin.  If not, consider a supplement.

Hair is more than 95% protein.  Being a vegetarian or carb-lover may leave you short on this nutrient. Be sure you get at least two servings per day of meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, dairy, legumes and/or nuts and seeds.

Another advantage to meat and eggs is they provide iron, which carries oxygen to the hair follicles — preventing hair loss (and fatigue) associated with anemia.

If your hair is dry, dull or you have dandruff, you may need more good fat. Sources include deep cold-water fish, pastured eggs and butter as well as flax and chia seeds.

Stressed Out?

Stress can trigger hair loss too.  Find ways to bring calm into your life.  Take walks in nature, practice yoga or meditate, and don’t overdo sugar (it fuels anxiety). Be sure you’re getting enough magnesium, a calming mineral found in nuts, seeds and leafy greens such as spinach and kale.

Your hair is an extension of your body.  If your diet is rich in the whole foods mentioned above, low in sugar, and you take time out to exercise and relax, you will support the health of your body, mind, hormones and hair.