If you have a family risk of hair loss over time, make sure you lay the groundwork to protect your hair follicles as much as you can now. This means making sure that your diet is full of healthy protein, that your supplementation plan is as good as it can be, and that your hair care regimen is built around protecting your hair follicles.
Your Hair is What You Eat
A simple way to make sure that your plate is supporting healthy hair growth is to enjoy a diet loaded with fresh herbs and raw vegetables. While this won’t stop genetic hair loss, you can delay the onset of female or male pattern baldness.
Low-fat protein sources are also a great addition to your diet for healthy hair growth. Foods including:
- eggs
- nuts
- fish, particularly fish high in omega-3
- low- or non-fat dairy products
- chicken and turkey (white meat)
A high protein diet can mean a high-fat diet, which is not necessary for strong hair growth. However, you do want to avoid a low-protein diet if healthy hair and strong nail growth are important to you. It is quite possible, on a vegetarian diet, to get enough protein for healthy hair. You just have to watch your amino acid combinations.
Supplements, Vitamins and Minerals
At the very least, you will need a daily multivitamin to keep your entire body healthy. For strong hair growth, particularly as you age, consider adding saw palmetto to your daily supplement plan. This herb, in doses of 200 mg, was shown to help foster hair growth. It can also help fight hot flashes in women and maintain testosterone levels in men.
If you’ve started losing your hair, boost your Vitamin D intake. Shoot for at least 800 units daily, but make sure you confirm this with your doctor. Additionally, carefully review your multivitamin label, as some vitamins can be toxic in high doses.
Carefully review any medications you’re currently taking. Hair loss is a well-known side effect of chemo, but people taking high blood pressure medications can also find their hair getting thinner. If you’re taking any medications for arthritis, keep an eye on your scalp as well.
Hair Care
If your hair is longer and you just can’t stand to sleep in a braid or a ponytail, invest in a silk pillow cover. Cotton, no matter how fine a weave, will grab at long hair across the pillow as you move in the night. This constant tugging can impact the health of your hair follicles.
Use a mild shampoo, but do wash your hair every day. This habit promotes healthy oil production from your hair follicles. Once a week, try a coconut oil treatment on your hair to promote blood flow and strengthen your hair. If you don’t care for the feel of coconut oil, work two tablespoons of olive oil into your scalp, let it sit for 30 minutes, and shampoo it away. Again, this massage will gently stimulate your scalp and promote healthy hair growth.
If your hair loss is due to genetics and you hate the idea of being bald, do look into a consultation on a Hair Transplant NYC. If your hair follicles have completely failed, a transplant via strip or plug can be the answer. In either case, hair will be taken from the back of your head and placed at your hairline. This new section of hair will be harvested from follicles that aren’t doomed to fail by genetic baldness.
No matter the cause of your hair loss, you have choices. If you are interested in an appointment to discuss your surgical or aesthetic options, there are many doctors who provide the strip surgery for baldness, and many doctor’s offices that can transfer follicle plugs of hair. You may need to do some prep work, such as cutting your existing hair short to make the transfer process easier. However, no matter how you address your hair loss concerns, the initial steps to protect your hair can also protect your overall health, now and in the future.
