Hair Loss Might Be A Diet Issue

While it is normal for us to shed between 40 and 100 hair strands a day, if you are starting to find that there are days when you are losing more than a few strands, you may want to take a good look at your diet.

Hair loss can be the result of many things. As we age, our hair can get thinner and stress, anxiety, hormonal issues, and even the medications we take can cause irregular hair loss. But for a large number of folks that are experiencing unexplained hair loss, the regular diet of individuals may be the key and can bring on the potential for a reversal once the problem is addressed.

Let’s take a look at some of the dietary factors that can affect hair growth.

Not Enough Protein
When you are on a protein-free diet or perhaps you are a vegetarian, you may experience bouts of hair loss because when the body is lacking protein, it will cause the growth of hair to go into a resting phase. After a few months, there can be a large amount of shedding that occurs. Eating better proteins, such as soy protein, can stimulate the growth of hair and in most cases, hair loss is reversible. You can also get protein from eating low-fat cheeses, beans, yogurt, and fish.

Missing Zinc
If your body is not getting enough zinc, you may find frequent loss of hair. Zinc deficiencies can lead to a lot of shedding because your hair shaft is weakened and it allows for easier breakage and prevention of new hair growth. Zinc helps with cell reproduction and affects the oil secretion glands that are attached to the follicles in your hair. If you need to replenish zinc in your diet, you will find a variety of supplements that are for sale in retail outlets. There are even zinc supplements that are advertised to helping hair loss. Take only the recommended dosages because too much zinc can cause hair loss since it can disrupt the absorption of other mineral your hair needs to remain healthy.

B-Vitamin Deficiencies
If you are not getting enough B vitamins in your diet, you may want to start eating more eggs and liver. Biotin in one example of a B vitamin that is required for new hair growth. It is also a crucial part of healthy nails and skin. You can also find biotin supplements to take to help improve new hair growth.

Need Iron
Iron deficiencies are more common in women than in men. Menopausal women are very likely to have iron deficiencies that lead to hair loss due to pregnancy and their regular menstrual cycle. Eating iron-rich foods like bean, spinach, raisins, and lean beef can help keep adequate supplies of iron in your daily diet. Too much iron however can cause hair loss as well as organ damage to the liver, the heart, and the pancreas.

Silica Deficiencies
Silica relates to collagen in the body and is found in hair, nails, and the muscles of the body. If you have a silica deficiency, you may notice that you are particularly sensitive to cold, even when it’s hot outside. Silica deficiencies can also lead to wrinkles, poor bone development, brittle nails, and hair loss. If you have a silica deficiency, you can supplement your diet with red peppers, potato skins, almonds, peanuts, onions, cabbage, carrots, and fish. There are even silica shampoos that are sold to prevent baldness and stimulate new hair growth.

Diets in General
If you have taken to using “crash diets” to control your weight, a side effect of these kinds of unhealthy diets is the body’s inability to regenerate new cells, resulting in unhealthy hair that breaks and falls out. Your body needs calories each day to be healthy. Crash diets prevent you from getting adequate nutrition and calories that can lead to hair loss but also to other more severe health effects.

Spinach – The Benefits

Everyone’s favorite sailor man loves his spinach but Popeye was really on to something when promoting the power of spinach. Green, leafy vegetables have more nutrients the human body needs than any other food. Not only does spinach make you strong, it also helps you prevent a number of diseases and health conditions including heart disease, arthritis, osteoporosis, and colon cancer. Spinach contains at least 13 flavonoid compounds that are considered to be antioxidants. Spinach extracts have even begun to be used in certain cancer treatments.

Incredible Health Properties

In addition to the antioxidant properties, spinach offers over 200% of the daily value of vitamin K in just one cup of fresh spinach. Vitamin K is necessary for maintaining bone health, If the spinach is boiled, one cup (which includes 6 x’s as much spinach) can total over 1000% of the daily value of vitamin K. Vitamin K1 aids the prevention of cells that break down the body’s bone. After Vitamin K1 is ingested, bacteria in the intestines convert it to Vitamin K2 which activates osteocalcin. Osteocalcin is the top non-collagen protein in bones. Helping bones even further, spinach contains magnesium and calcium.

Vitamin C and Vitamin A are also found in spinach. Both vitamins are important antioxidants that help to reduce the amount of free radicals in the body. They help to keep cholesterol from building up in the blood vessels and cuts down in the incidents of blocked arteries, strokes, and heart attacks. Spinach is also an excellent source of folate, which is needed to help convert the dangerous chemical homocysteine which can cause heart attacks and strokes if levels get too high.

Spinach Keeps Us Young

Research has shown that spinach may even help protect the brain from the effects of stress and age-related brain health issues. This is especially important because as we age, we start to lose our mental performance abilities. Eating 3 servings of spinach or other green leafy vegetables per day can help slow the rate of decline. Interestingly, when compared in studies against fruit, vegetables, and brain health, vegetables were shown to improve brain function while fruit studies did not.

Other properties of spinach includes lutein, which helps protect your eyesight from disease such as macular degeneration and cataracts and iron which helps prevent iron deficiencies especially in menstruating woman and helps the body efficiently transport oxygen to the lungs.

Choosing Spinach

Spinach should be chosen fresh, with deep green leaves and no signs of yellowing. The best time for spinach is from March to May and September to October, though it is available all-year round. You should store fresh spinach in a plastic bag in the crisper section of the refrigerator. It will stay fresh for approximately 5 days. Remember to wash the spinach only right before you are ready to use it and not before you store it or the excess moisture will ruin the freshness. Cooked spinach should be eaten and dispose of the left overs as it does not store well after cooking.

The Health Benefits of Raw Vegetables and Nuts

“Eat your vegetables!” How many times were you told this as a kid – or if you’re a parent, how many times have you reminded your children to eat their veggies?  We’re all aware of the need to eat vegetables but most of us don’t eat nearly enough.  When we do eat vegetables, chances are they’re cooked, which means we’ve removed most of the natural nutrients the body needs.

It doesn’t matter whether you consume your raw vegetables via vegetable juice or through eating them.  In some cases, vegetable juice may be absorbed into the body instantly because it requires less internal work from your body to digest.

What’s So Great About Raw Veggies?

When vegetables are in their natural, raw state, they are extremely rich in vitamins and minerals, trace elements, natural sugars and enzymes.  Our body requires all of these to normalize the bodily functions properly. The enzymes found in raw vegetables help our bodies digest food, and work as a natural laxative.
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