Hair Loss Remedy

>From WellnessMedicine.info Diet, Nutrition and Hair Loss One key factor in maintaining a growing protein on a part ofone’s biological body is obvious: one must maintain a healthydiet. Although certain factors have been definitely identifiedas contributors to hair loss, we must keep in mind that hair ispart of the complete biological system of the human body. Beinga system, dysfunctions in one part of the system can contributeto dysfunctions in other parts; chain reactions occur when onepart of the body malfunctions, causing other parts within thesystem to falter. To maintain optimum health, it is best tomaintain a healthy diet and regular exercise regimen. Definingexactly what a healthy diet is when it comes to preventing hairloss can be a little more complex. Principally, the mainvitamins, minerals, and nutrients that one must ingest in someform to maintain healthy hair are vitamin A, all Bvitamins-particularly vitamins B-6 and B-12, folic acid, biotin,vitamin C, vitamin E, copper, iron, zinc, iodine, protein ofcourse, silica, essential fatty acids (EFA’s, formerly known asvitamin F) and last but not least one must consume water. Thereare also certain foods that may cause dysfunctions that willcontribute to hair loss. The best way to maintain a healthyvitamin and mineral intake is a good diet. It is not necessaryor advisable to go out and buy a bunch of over-the-countervitamin supplements in order to achieve your suggestednutritional levels. Many over-the-counter vitamins arechemically processed and are not completely absorbed into thesystem. It is also easy to overdose oneself with over thecounter vitamins particularly when taking supplements offat-soluble vitamins and minerals, causing toxicity and adversereactions. The likelihood of doing this is far less with food;therefore it is always best to obtain the bulk of your vitaminand mineral requirements from whole foods. Vitamin A is a keycomponent to developing healthy cells and tissues in the body,including hair. Additionally it works with silica and zinc toprevent drying and clogging of the sebaceous glands, the glandsvital to producing sebum, which is an important lubricant forthe hair follicle. Vitamin A deficiencies commonly causethickening of the scalp, dry hair, and dandruff. Air pollution,smoking, extremely bright light, certain cholesterol-loweringdrugs, laxatives, and aspirin are some known vitamin Ainhibitors. Liver, fish oil, eggs, fortified milk, and red,yellow, and orange vegetables are good sources for vitamin A, asare some dark green leafy vegetables like spinach. Beparticularly careful if you take vitamin A supplements, asvitamin A is fat-soluble, allowing the body to store it andmaking it easy for the body to overdose on vitamin A. Vitamin Aoverdoses can cause excessively dry skin and inflamed hairfollicles, and in some cases ironically can cause hair loss. Ifyou choose to take supplements of this vitamin, consult with aspecialist first. As mentioned above, the likelihood ofoverdosing by achieving your vitamin A intake by food sources isalmost nil, so it is best to attempt to achieve this at allcosts. B-vitamins work interdependently and therefore all levelsof B vitamins need to be sufficient in order to maintain properhealth. Vitamins B-6, folic acid, biotin, and vitamin B-12 areall key components in maintaining healthy hemoglobin levels inthe blood, which is the iron-containing portion of red-bloodcells. Hemoglobin’s primary function is to carry oxygen from thelungs to the tissues of the body, so if these vitamins weredeficient in one’s body, then hair and skin would indeed suffer.Fortunately some of the tastiest foods contain these vitamins.Vitamin B-6 is found in protein rich foods, which is excellentbecause the body needs a sufficient amount of protein tomaintain hair growth as well. Liver, chicken, fish, pork,kidney, and soybeans are good sources of B-6 and are relativelylow in fat when they are not fried. Folic acid is found in wholegrains, cereals, nuts, green leafy vegetables, orange juice,brewer’s yeast, wheat germ, and liver again. Meat, fish,poultry, eggs, and other dairy products meanwhile providehealthy amounts of B-12. Biotin deficiencies are rare unlessthere is a severe case of malnutrition or a serious intestinaldisorder, since a healthy gut produces biotin through goodbacteria found there. Note: if you have a known intestinaldisorder and are plagued by hair loss, ask your doctor aboutbiotin deficiencies and possible solutions. Vitamin C isresponsible for the development of healthy collagen, which isnecessary to hold body tissues together. A vitamin C deficiencycan cause split ends and hair breakage, yet this is easilyreversible with an increase to normal vitamin C levels. VitaminC can be found in foods such as fresh peppers, citrus fruits,melons berries, potatoes, tomatoes, and dark green leafyvegetables. Vitamin E is necessary to provide good bloodcirculation to the scalp by increasing the uptake of oxygen.Vitamin E is derived from foods such as green leafy vegetables,nuts, grains, vegetable oils, and most ready-to-eat cereals,which are fortified with vitamin E. Vitamin E deficiencies arerare in people in North America and Europe. In the rare cases ofvitamin E deficiency, usually caused by the inability to absorboils and fats, dietary supplements are available. Copper is atrace mineral that is also necessary in the production ofhemoglobin. Hemoglobin as mentioned earlier is vital to theprocess of carrying oxygen to tissues such as the hair, andobviously hair is alive cannot grow without proper oxygen, yetit does not breathe as other components of our body do, becausethe oxygen must get to the shaft of the hair. Good sources ofcopper are liver again, seafood, nuts, and seeds. Another keymineral vital in the production of hemoglobin is iron. Iron isfound in two forms, heme and non-heme; heme iron is much easierto absorb into the system. This is where the problem lies. Ofcourse most people know that red meat is a good source of iron,however red meat is non-heme iron and is difficult for the bodyto absorb, as are many iron supplements. Good heme iron sourcesare green leafy vegetables, kidney beans, and bran.Additionally, one can increase the absorption of non-heme ironinto the body by consuming non-heme food sources and vitamin Csources in the same meal. Zinc is another vital component tohealthy hair, being that it is responsible for cell production,tissue growth and repair, and the maintenance of theoil-secreting glands of the scalp. It also plays a large role inprotein synthesis and collagen formation. For this reason, zincis important for both hair maintenance and dandruff prevention.Most Americans are deficient in zinc. Most foods of animalorigin, particularly seafood, contain good amounts of zinc;oysters are particularly rich in zinc. Zinc is also found ineggs and milk, although in much smaller amounts. Zinc fromsources such as nuts, legumes, and natural grains is of adifferent type than those found in animal sources and is noteasily used by the body, although oats are a good source of zincthat is readily used by the body. Protein is found in most ofthe aforementioned animal source foods, particularly meats,fish, milk, cheese, eggs and yogurt. There is no need for aperson eating the average Western diet to eat additionalprotein. Too much protein, even though hair is made of protein,will not improve hair growth and may cause other healthproblems. A challenge for vegans is to maintain healthy levelsof protein, being that complete proteins containing all nineessential amino acids necessary are found mostly in animalsources. Legumes, seeds, nuts, grains and vegetables do notcontain the same form of protein necessary for a healthy body.There is only one common non-meat source for complete protein,and that is the soybean. Fortunately, soybeans have been madeinto tofu and texturized vegetable protein (TVP) so that theycan be made into various dishes. Additionally, one may eat froma wide variety of vegetable sources in order to obtain all theessential amino acids. Iodine is vital to the growth of hair.Sheep farmers long ago discovered that vegetation void of iodinedue to iodine-depleted soil will adversely affect the growth ofwool in sheep. Likewise, our hair needs iodine to grow. Iodineis synthetically added to table salt, however in this form it isnot assimilated well into the body and can therefore causeiodine overload. An excess of iodine in the body can adverselyaffect the thyroid. It is best to use non-iodized salt andretrieve your iodine from natural food sources. These includeseaweed, salmon, seafood, lima beans, molasses, eggs, potatoeswith the skin on, watercress and garlic. One of the mostdifficult nutrients vital to hair growth to get in one’s diet isthe trace mineral silica. Silicon is a form of silicon and isthe second most abundant element in the earth’s crust, secondonly to oxygen. The Earth provides everything we need forhealth, and with silicon being so abundant, it would seem thatthere would never be a problem with silica deficiency.Unfortunately, trace minerals are rare in Western diets becauseour food is processed and our soil depleted by chemicaltreatments so often that trace minerals are lost. Silica isvital to the strength of hair, and although it will notnecessarily stop hair from falling out from the follicle, itwill stop hair breakage. It works by stimulating the cellmetabolism and formation, which slows the aging process. Foodsthat are rich in silica are rice, oats, lettuce, parsnips,asparagus, onion, strawberry, cabbage, cucumber, leek, sunflowerseeds, celery, rhubarb, cauliflower, and swiss chard. Note thatmany of these foods, particularly rice, are a large part ofAsian diets and Asians tend to have the strongest and healthiesthair. Be sure to seek out all the above foods from sources thatgrow food organically, as this is vital to obtaining the traceminerals that are usually not present in North American soil andtherefore not in American foods. Additionally these foods shouldbe eaten uncooked, or in the case of rice-unwashed, as traceminerals are easily cooked and washed away. To read more about Hair Loss gotohttp://www.WellnessMedicine.info/hairloss