I have been an advocate for making healthier choices for years and have done everything from vegetarian, to vegan, to RAW vegan in search of gaining the best possible health for my family and me.
BUT… I wasn’t always that way.
Before I get into the whole “healthy body… healthy hair” thing; I’d like to share something personal with you to kinda set the stage.
In 1999, I thought I was gonna lose my husband 🙁
We had no idea what was going on. His weight drastically dropped, he began having anxiety attacks, and his eyes began to bulge out.
He went to the doctor and was diagnosed with Graves disease a.k.a. hyperthyroidism or an overactive thyroid gland.
It was a pretty scary ordeal, so much so that we packed up and moved from WA state back to Detroit to be near family because we didn’t know what was going to happen or when.
By the time we got there and my husband found and went to a doctor out there, they told him he was literally a walking miracle because his vitals indicated he should be dead.
He underwent their treatment plan, which was to take a radiation dye pill that would kill his thyroid and afterward, he’d end up with the reverse, hypothyroidism, and have to take synthetic thyroid meds for life.
But OH the GRACE of God…
*waves praising hand in the air* – he did NOT end up with a dead thyroid, nor having to take the meds! It’s like it was reset and, to this day, doctors are astonished at that fact. Normal t-cell count and just a clean bill of health overall.
This life altering event paved the way for us to begin making dietary changes, starting with him because initially, I was NOT on board with changing our poor eating habits.
But I eventually got on board and had I not; I’d be suffering from the ailments that “run in my family” , and preceded the death of my grandmother, mother (5 days afterward), and aunt.
And we ain’t perfect… not by a long shot… but we do try to make good choices in the midst of a few bad ones. lol
Ex: While we may eat pancakes or waffles on the weekends or indulge in the occasional cookie or three; we’re also regularly drinking healthy shakes and green smoothies, or eating Greek yogurt with fruit. Stuff like that.
Okaa-ay, so what does all-ll that have to do with YOUR HAIR?
Again, I shared that information because it would lead up to why and how I decided to get healthier, AND to assure you that although I’m not a health expert; I kinda-sorta know a little something… just a little. lol
I’m sure you know that, aside from what you do or don’t do to your hair, there are other factors that can have a direct impact on it.
Stress
What does stress NOT affect? So many areas of our lives are impacted by stress and your hair is no different. According to Trichologist, Dr. Sharmishtha Deshpande:
“Chronic stress impacts the hair growth cycle. As you know, each strand of hair goes through a growth cycle consisting of three phases – anagen, catagen and telogen. At any given point of time, each strand may be in a different phase of the cycle.”
Crappy diet
The root of your hair is fed by blood and the nutrients in that blood. If you’re nutrient deficient, naturally this will have an affect on the condition of your hair.
Poor health
When your health is compromised, there is a possibility it may take a toll on your hair. And even if the ailment itself doesn’t cause problems, the prescribed medications may.
Medications
Unfortunately, some of the medications you may have to take for your ailments have some nasty side effects, including hair loss or, at minimum, damage. One of my former client’s experienced hair loss due to meds she’d been prescribed after surgery.
So, yeah, the health of your hair (or lack thereof) is predicated on a number of things.
And if you are faced with health challenges, you may also notice your hair isn’t as healthy as it should be either.
It might be brittle and dry or…
Perhaps you’re noticing a great deal of shedding (more than normal) or breakage or…
Your scalp might stay dry and flakey although you’re putting grease or oil on it, or worse…
Maybe you’re suffering from hair loss or stunted growth
Don’t fret… there IS a silver lining
Up to this point, this article has probably been somewhat of a bummer. But there’s a bright side to all the doom & gloom.
Things don’t necessarily have to stay that way!
At least, not for the most part. I mean, sure there are some things that get so far gone, it’s irreversible, but hopefully you’re reading this at a point where something can still be done or even reversed.
It’s not a quick fix… it may take time, but the important thing is to start, no matter how small.
Take Baby Steps
One way you can do so is sign up for my “Baby Steps to Getting Healthier” tips, where I will share with you ways to start improving your diet, a little at a time, in a way that isn’t daunting.
You’ll get:
- Tips to help your body actually crave healthy foods
- Sneaky little ways to trick yourself into eating healthier
- Ideas to make better choices with every day items
In addition to that, I’d also like to introduce you to some of the things that have helped my family and me over the years.
Liver Cleansing
Okay, so how and why does your liver affect your hair?
For starters, the liver’s main responsibility is to keep your blood clean. Blood from your scalp is what feeds your hair roots.
But if (a.) your blood isn’t clean because, (b.) your liver is toxic and not functioning at its best, the outcome is bound to be shown in the condition of your hair.
Also, a toxic liver will slow down your results from vitamins, minerals, or foods you eat. So if you’re taking supplements (hair vitamins or otherwise), the state of your liver will determine the results you get from them.
The liver determines the function of your thyroid. Severe hypothyroidism and hypothyroidism can definitely cause brittle, dry, thinning hair or hair loss – something my husband experienced when he had thyroid disease.
So, if you consume alcohol, fried foods, coffee, or simple carbohydrates (sugar, candy, syrups, etc) – you don’t have to give ’em up, but you’ll definitely want to do a periodic liver cleanse.
My company offers a really good liver cleanse program with two options to choose from.
First, take a look at this informative video, then decide which one you’d like to start with.
Digestive Cleansing
Okay, so let’s say you feel you don’t need a full blown liver cleanse at this time. At the very least, you’ll want to do a digestive cleanse.
Why?
Because within the colon walls is where many of your nutrients are absorbed HOWEVER if your colon is backed up and impacted with fecal matter, it can’t absorb properly, if at all. You can read more about that here.
Just know that if you’re not “going” at least once daily (preferably 2, even 3 times daily) you more than likely have some impaction going on.
And if that’s the case and all the hair skin and nail vitamins you’re taking aren’t producing results; before you decide to toss the vitamins or send ’em back for a refund, do some colon cleansing first and see if that makes the difference.
Now, there are a lot of products out there to choose from… some good, some not-so-good. PLEASE don’t be like,
“Oh, I’ll just run and get some laxatives.”
It’s not the same. Laxatives irritate the bowel and can cause dependency.
The one my family and I have used for YEARS (since around 2002 or so) is gentle, so you won’t end up living in the bathroom, yet effective.
It actually helps “retrain” the bowel to function properly, and the herbs in this 100+ year old formula aid in detoxifying your body.
And it’s also one of the components of the aforementioned liver cleanse program.
Take a look at the following video and if you like what you see, grab a bottle. And to get even better results, couple it with our digestive enzymes that are also probiotics and prebiotics. It’s real good stuff!
Vitamin & Mineral Supplementation
Alright, now that you’re all nice and cleaned out and your liver is functioning at peak condition; NOW you can feel good in knowing your vitamins will work… maybe.
If you’re taking a hard, thickly-coated, horse pill vitamin, I can’t make any guarantees because most of those don’t even break down in your body, let alone produce any favorable results.
But if you’re taking a good, high quality vitamin that is either sublingual (dissolves under your tongue), chewable, or liquid; you’ll have a greater chance of it working.
You can learn more about vitamin dissolution here, as well as, in the following video.
Now, I can’t vouch for all of the ones out there, as I’ve only used those tips with one brand of liquid vitamin… the one we’ve been taking for about the same length of time as the digestive cleanse.
It has a lot of really good stuff in it, including things to help with healthy hair growth such as: b vitamins, biotin, zinc, selenium, and essential fatty acids.
Iron is also said to be essential to healthy hair, and while this supplement doesn’t have any added iron, it does contain good sources of iron in its super green & super seed complex.