Great Hair Days
On which you can call me a qualified speaker (includes pictures of me with hairy armpits)
It shout be a surprise that what you put into your body is exactly what you’ll get out. That your skin is in fact a huge organ that absorbs the things you put on it. So if your creams are containing harsh perfumes and microplastics, what would that suggest is flowing into your body…?
Although it’s not the most important thing in life, hair is an indicator of how good your health is and can be a source of vanity. So I can tell you the tricks I know that has brought my hair from thin and dying to, well, the above.
Of course, things are going to vary depending on if your hair is straight, curly, afro or in dreads. But as a girl with Irish/Slavic roots, my hair is fine and (very) prone to tangles, so that is what I’d be an expert on. There are certain fundamental things that need covering if you want to bring hair into good condition. In no particular order of importance
-Getting enough sleep
-The diet you eat
-Minimizing stress
-Using organic or homemade shampoo
Which all basically boils down to, you want nice hair, you need a healthy lifestyle. Which is the foundation of most things, really. How easy or difficult it is for you to make these changes will depend on how ‘clean’ a lifestyle you lead already. For some of you this will be no effort at all, while for others, it may involve a complete overhaul. With diet, for example, you want to get as wide a range of nutrients as possible. Hair needs omega-3 fatty acids in order to grow and restore, which can be found in nuts, eggs, fish, plant oils and seeds. Even animal fat has amazing stores of energy and nutrients. Many people grimace at the texture of fat, throwing these parts away, which I can’t understand as personally I find it the tastiest part! There’s also wisdom in the saying ‘eat every colour of the rainbow.’ Since each colour found in fruit and vegetables is there for a reason, the properties that make it that colour are also the range of properties that make them minerally rich. Too many processed foods (such as ready meals, fastfood or sugary snacks) on the other hand, weaken hair, make it too dry or too oily, brittle, or hard to grow.
Stress and sleep go hand in hand. Ever heard the saying of being made to go grey? This is down to the stem cells found in our hair follicles, which typically reduce as we age and stop regenerating themselves. However, acute and prolonged stress can also cause us to lose the cells that determine our hair colour. Similarly, if we’re not getting enough sleep, it means our body won’t get enough time to heal itself properly. Human Growth Hormone, (as the name would suggest, is needed for bone and hair growth) becomes depleted and overall weakens us. The good news, however, is not all is lost. Even if your hair has thinned out considerably or is not in good condition, this can be reversed. The quicker you’re able to adapt to healthy habits, the sooner good results will come. *As to whether stress-induced grey hair can be reversed, is up for question. Some sources say you can, and others that you can’t. Let’s just say for argument’s sake, your chances to regain the stem cells for colour as a 30-year old a higher than at 50.* Understandably, this is easier said than done. For some, “cutting out stress” might just be physically impossible for where they’re at in life. But there are certain things we can all do to calm ourselves just that little bit more, to remain grounded even in tough situations.