The Diet for Thinning Hair
86The Diet for Thinning Hair
If you are experiencing thinning hair or hair loss, some changes in your diet can help. An underactive thyroid may be the cause and that can be rectified. Another cause is the heavy meat consumption in the American diet. Provided that you are not regularly using toxic dyes and chemicals on your hair (see link below) - here are some eating suggestions that have been proven useful.
It is important to look for organic whole foods, locally grown, mercury-free fish, and foods as fresh as possible. While supplements are often recommended they cannot compare or offer the same beneficial results as a diet of real whole food.
The Diet for Thinning Hair:
Sea Vegetables - If you have a thyroid issue sea vegetables are highly recommended for an underactive thyroid. An underactive thyroid can cause thinning of the hair and even the eyebrows. These sea vegetables include kelp, nori, and dulse (see the link below for the amazing health benefits of sea vegetables, also known as seaweed). If you east sushi it is often wrapped with nori. It is also sold in dried forms and can easily be sprinkled over foods. Add them several times per week. They are also sold in supplement form. Sea Vegetables have been determined to be far more beneficial than food grown on land.
I lived in Seoul, S. Korea over a 4 year period. Their diet is rich in sea vegetables. I can truthfully say in a city of 14 million people that I do not remember seeing bald men. Of course the overall Korean diet is superior to the American (US) diet.
Protein - Hair is made up mostly of protein so a protein rich diet is necessary. But not if your main source of protein is a large steak. In fact, eating large quantities of meat as Americans do can be counterproductive. A steak will increase testosterone levels, and this has been linked to hair loss. Eggs are an excellent source of protein (see link below on how to boil the perfect egg). Also add nuts, seeds, beans and fish. Other good choices are soy foods, and hemp foods. I can add too that the Korean diet has little or no meat on a daily basis.
Zinc - It has been shown that a zinc deficiency is common in men experiencing hair loss. While supplements are usually recommened there are food choices. The food richest in zinc is oysters. Other zinc rich foods include crab, lobster, almonds, cashews, chick peas, kidney beans, yogurt, mozzarella, flounder, and oatmeal, etc.
Silica - this mineral, the most abundant on earth, strengthens collagen which is what supports the hair matrix and accelerates hair growth. Silica is high in fibrous foods which include dark green leafy vegetables. Also beneficial are tomatoes, figs, grapes, apples, berries, onions, and flax seeds. Very high on the list is the skin of cucumbers. Unfortunately, we tend to peel cucumbers for fear of the pesticides that may be on them. Bean sprouts, red peppers, and green peppers are also high on the list.
It has been reported that the average American diet is made up of 80 percent processed food. Unfortunately, in processed foods, fiber (and silica) are the first things to go.
For a list of toxins in our shampoo and other personal care products/and healthy eating suggestions see links below:
The Amazing Sea Vegetables
- Sea Vegetables and the Amazing Health Benefits
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The Toxic Personal Care Products
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Often the beauty and personal care products we buy in our search for beauty and good health are in fact filled with toxins. The synthetic chemicals mimic estrogen and studies indicate that exposure to... - Are There Any Safe Hair Dyes?
Many hair dye companies have jumped on the natural hair dye bandwagon offering products labeled 'natural' but the consumer needs to be educated and cautious. Hair dyes used on darker color hair are often... - Is Your Salon or Barber Shop Clean and Safe?
Is Your Salon or Barber Shop Clean and Safe? It may not be. In fact, based on a study by a clinical assistant professor of dermatology at Baylor College of Medicine, who has studied salon infections and...
Healthy eating suggestions
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You can boost your fat burning metabolism by eating foods that contain L-carnitine. Avocado is a rich source of L-carnitine. As an added bonus, it is also an aphrodisiac. L-carnitine is an amino acid found... - How to Boil The Perfect Egg
How to Boil the Perfect Egg - Without Boiling It This method of boiling an egg is not new. However, with ‘green’ being the current buzzword it is now deemed eco-friendly and in fact it is. The method...
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I used to have real thick hair, but noticed that it's been thinning quite a bit. I dye my hair and take medication, could these be the reasons as well? Now you get to be my hair expert, hahaha! Good one!
Great hub once again! I always look forward to your hubs.
Hello creativeone59 - I love your clever comments! I think many women are seeing hair loss. We have been talked into so many toxic hair products. But we can cover it up much better than men but we are affected too.
I'm pretty sure IslandVoice that dye has a lot to do with it. I linked a hub to this hub about toxic personal care products and hair dye - it's pretty astounding how toxic it all is. But you still look great in your photo so you're doing something right. A healthy diet I bet.
Thank you Veronica Allen - and the feeling is mutual.
Thanks so much for writing.
Thanks you for your information and good advice.
You're welcome Hello, hello!
Another great hub, really enjoyed reading this one, going to send it to a few friends who are having issues with their hair LOL. BTW thanks for the comments on my hub
Glad you liked the hub edguider!
And thanks for sharing it with your friends. Now that I have written this I am finding out that many of my women friends are having hair loss issues. I thought it was mostly men.
Hope it proves useful. And I enjoyed your first hub!
Thank u for sharing useful and adoptable food habits, which avoids thinning of hair.
You're very welcome sarovai. So nice to meet you!
Thank you for reading and commenting!
Thanks Bk creative for sharing this info. The list you have given for thinning hair is very informative and should be of great help. Cheers
Thanks jab23. I hope it will be useful. I'm so happy to see people going back to real whole foods instead of a magic pill - which doesn't work.
Thank you for writing!
I just wrote an article on thinning hair for another website and decided to check yours out. Good tips and I definitely second the one on sea vegetables. Seaweed is high in selenium, an essential nutrient for hair growth.
Thanks for sharing.
I'm surprised anginwu - at all the women telling me about their hairloss - it's seems to be approaching epidemic proportions in the US. We have to change our diet and environment - this is yet another health warning that we need to heed.
Nice to meet you by the way - I've become your fan already. I love your hubs and I love Singapore - one of my all time favorite places in the world!
very helpful thank you I do have a problem with my thyroid and I take medication for it but I have lost most of my hair and it's very thin. I worry that one day I won't have any at all.
Glad the info is helpful and maybe adding some of the sea vegetables will help your thyroid.
Thank you Tracy711 for commenting!
Very informative. Thanks.
You're very welcome Philipo.
Thank you for commenting!
Great information. I'm sharing this with others.
Thanks for the compliment steffsings.
I appreciate your sharing it with others. There has to be reasons why Americans more than any other country is having this epidemic of serious hair loss. Diet is a good place to start because it benefits us wholistically.
This is tru as I myself suffer from an underactive thyroid and my hair has been fine for a long time now. I would like to think it will thicken up soon and maybe with a little help from your hub it will.
Hello Helen Cater!
I am learning so much about hair loss as I do this research - it's even much much more common than I had originally thought.
I do hope you will see some changes if you add certain foods to your diet. I'm sure hubbers would love to hear from you and your positive results.
hair loss and thinning appears to be a problem with most of the people these days. Is it really that our food is low quality these days or some other factors like pollution is also responsible?
I enjoyed reading your article. This is good information. My thyroid is normal from what I was told. I lost somewhat a great deal of hair. I love the food source of Zinc,Lobster, Crab, yummy. That would be my daily diet from now on, LOL! Thanks again:)
It's so true mudasir - and I was taken by surprise when I learned the amount of women affected but then we can always wear headwraps and wigs and it is not as noticeable. So why in the US more than other countries? - our low quality foods as you say - and pollution. Then just the other day the news reported that shower heads are filthy and spew dangerous toxins - what if all those years showering with water hitting the scalp is part of the problem? Something else to think about.
Glad you enjoyed the article tim-tim. I'd really like to know if you see change when you add more natural zinc to your diet. Maybe you will write a hub.
Now, I'm concerned too about showerheads and the toxins they rain down on us. Sigh! It just doesn't end. We have been had and in every way.
Thanks again to you!
Best hub About The Diet for Thinning Hair
.
Thanks
Nice to meet you sumon6 - and thanks for the compliment!
Great hub. Another one to bookmark =).
Thanks so much emievil!
Glad you are finding it useful!
BK, not for me actually. For my husband, I think he's going to need to read your hub in a few years. Sssshhhh, don't tell him I told you =).
Ok emievil! - and he'll be lucky to have you there to guide him! I'll try to keep it quiet!
Interesting. I know a lot of women wind up with thinning hair and actually some younger folks I know as well. Thanks for the info.
It seems to be all too common Delores Monet - a lot more women are experiencing thinning hair - much more than I realized.
Thank you for commenting!
I never realized all these foods could actually be good for growing hair. Thank you for the information.
Thanks for posting this. While I don't think that my hair is thinning, there are times where I'll run my fingers thru my hair and several strands will come out; I can repeat it several times and still have hair come out. It's not clumps, but it still worries me.
Thanks again!
You're welcome Stuart Barnes. I'm glad you found the information useful!
Hello TheSablirab. I've read that we do lose a certain amount of hair daily - shedding maybe. You're probably okay. When I wash my hair it seems like a ton comes out but then I don't feel like I have any less. Nice to meet you by the way.
Thanks for writing!
I am guessing this boat has sailed for me...
Good diet article on hair loss and thinning. Try Henna it thickens the hair, and adds body!
Hi Lee Boolean - I see you have made the most of your 'do!
Thanks nan.mynatt@comcast.net for the tip - true about henna, a safe alternative to most of the hair dye products - it can color or just nourish.
Thanks for writing!
You bet BkC, after all, there are only that many perfect heads, the rest must be covered (just kidding)...
Note to the men reading this hub in a desperate attempt to keep what's left.. If you can keep it good for you, but if not, have some dignity about it, there are much worse things in life than going topless.
That makes me feel better. Even when I'm in the shower, strands still come out when I wash my hair, its crazy. I still want to try what you recommended, I like my hair.
It doesnt matter about your hair guys. It's your personality. It's how you treat a lady, like making her feel safe by first meeting her in a coffee shop around people, caring how she feels, taking her to lunch and not just saying come home with me or arriving with a bottle or putting dirty pictures on the internet with great looking bodies and HAIR
Speaking of hair Lee Boolean - my son shaved his head at 19 (much to my horror) and now 21 years later he still shaves it. He made this choice because he knows he looks great this way - he kind of grew into the bald head look. Men can do the bald thing - but I think it should be total - not a comb over or that horseshoe - for women it has been a different issue.
As I commented earlier Sablirab - I seem to lose a ton of hair when I wash it - I have a lot of hair but still I'm surprised with how much comes out - but I read it's supposed to. By the way - the shower - have you heard that shower heads are toxic? So much gunk remains and then showers on us. I wonder now if this is a cause of hairloss for men getting that horseshoe shape - I mean it just fits - the way the water rains down on that part of your head.
Yes, lela, men need to recognize that there are 10 million more things that are more important - and if you're going bald, just shave it - don't cling to it, maybe wear a nice turtle neck - that looks good.
Thanks for writing!
lela is quite right, in my experience ladies don't really care unless they are absolutely fixated on hair in their partner, this is ok, no use going into a relationship when you are not attracted to your partner.
BkC, glad you said that, nothing worse than the combover really, everyone knows it and it becomes less likely that a lady will find a man attractive if he is not comfortable with himself.
As for the shower head.. an interesting theory, but then in some parts of the world where showering is optional the horseshoe takes shape anyway... would be grand if man's greatest vanity fear were that easy to solve though.
A nice turtle neck with a bald head can make you look like man's 'other' great vanity fear though, so stay away from beige (or brown) turtlenecks guys }:->
Yikes - so true about the color of the turtleneck!!!!!! I never would have thought of that. That is so hilarious! Now I have this vision that won't go away. I mean like never - it will never go away! Thanks for checking back - this is vital information - and funny too! Vital funny information.
see Bk, you were just impressed for life by a bald man...
have a great weekend!
Great Info..
Thank you cutedoll! Nice to meet you!
very good info. indeed
Thanks lovofnight - glad you found the information useful!
Really very useful hub for all people.I will bookmark this hub.Thank you.
Thank you meteoboy! Glad you found the information so useful! I learn so much as I do this research.
Supplements are also a great addition to help treat hair loss. It is very difficult to get the adequate amount of vitamins and minerals from diet alone.
So true, unfortunately. Our food supply is not only seriously lacking in nutrition, it can be toxic.
But a warning - Just know that supplements are not regulated by any agency - not even the FDA so you have no idea what you are getting. Anything can be in the supplement - it is only after a problem that the FDA steps in.
It's always best to go with whole foods, locally grown, organic and in season. Know your whole food source for best health options.
BkCreative, thank you for this hub. I used to have natural curly hair, but my highschool classmates used to tease me about it. My aunt used to own a beauty salon and she straightened my hair two times. The result, thinning hair but the curly locks is still here. Now, I appreciate what my parents gave me (that's genetic).
Enjoy your curly hair travel_man1971! I bet your classmates were hoping they had your curly hair!
We've all done so much to our hair - it had to be the opposite of what we had. I'm surprised more of us aren't bald!
Always good to hear from you!
Thank you for this, it has been most helpful, your newest fan, Kimberly
Thank you, very helpful.
You're welcome lyricsingray!
And Big Brother. I'm glad it's helpful!
I've read this hub a few times now. I've been using zinc for about the last year or so, but only in supplements, and seen perhaps a little difference. I want to get a hold of some proper foods which contain it though.
I'm glad you wrote Anti-Valentine!
Foods are always better - as supplements are not regulated by any agency so you don't know what you are ingesting. If you are seeing a difference then it sounds like you have a good product. But whole foods always offer extra benefits.
Nice to meet you too!
Great HUB - a lot of useful information. I would like to add that the herb "horsetail" is high in silicon (silica) and is great for hair, skin and fingernail health. Thanks for the info.
Thanks for the extra information Edith!
I don't know much but i have read it somewhere that if you add some nuts like walnut, peanuts, pistachios etc than you can solve the problem............
You can't go wrong adding those nuts and the peanuts - nutrition can only be beneficial overall. Thanks Tomma Busse!
these might be another reason for hair loss....
There are always other reasons. Share some of your thoughts. Sounds like another hub!
I will try your suggestion BkCreative.
I'd love to know how it works for you Bbudoyono! Thanks for writing!
thinning hair
creativeone59 says:
2 months ago
Did you do this hub just for me, I have had hair loss problems for a while. thank you a well needed hub. godspeed. creativeone59