I want my hair to look good again

[kimie]

A little background of my situation, I am a very fit 50 year old who physically, energetically, and facially looks like a 40 year old. I have had hair loss and regrowth throughout my life. It seems when I am particularly happy, content, my hair grows like a weed. I'm generally healthy and always ate pretty well. Over the last few years however, I eat less consistently (healthy but little food overall), not a lot of protein, low vitamin D, and unbelievable horrid stress (why not eating consistently) .

And out of my entire body my hair is getting hit the hardest it appears. I did have some all over hair loss last year, but I had a respite from the stress and doubled down on eating healthy quantities and my hair appeared to recover. But now I'm having a challenge t my eating is not as great (not frequent specifically) and I believe my vitamin D levels are really low again. I will be getting a blood test but the hair loss, though all over, appears to target my long hairs (about 11 inches long) and significant volume hair in the nap of my neck (weird). In fact, I just really noticed how extremely sparse the hair in my nap has become.

Consequently between then last few years the accumulated hair loss brings me to about a 1/3 (or maybe even less) to what I had 4 years ago. I had thought that with the significant hair growth I was witnessing last year when I tried to focus on many small health meals a day (which my body actually craves when I'm happy and healthy), I thought we were evening out. But another bout of HUGE stress, heartbreaking stuff, caused me to have issues getting my dietary needs and food volume. So, these bouts of hair loss are on top of an already compromised head of hair. Plus I started working out more and don't think I was compensating properly. I am not too thin but when I exercise and don't eat enough, I do start to get too thin. So anyway, back to trying to eat multiple health meals a day but suffering with significant shedding.

That all said, a few questions:

1. Are your scalp exercises primarily for men? And would that be only young men? As opposed to women and 50 year old women?

2. When you exercise, which I do in stops and starts though out my life, primarily running and yoga, doesn't that provide the same blood flow to your head to help with hair follicle production and toxin removal?

3. Can low protein, based upon your bodies needs, cause hair shedding. As mentioned, my eating consistently is my biggest challenge.

4. Can low vitamin D cause hair loss. My dermatologist recommended vitamin D because my D come up 20. When I brought it up to 30 my PCP said to discontinue. When I did I talked later to my dermatologist and she said I definitely should not stop. And then, with life stresses, I ran out of vitamin D and haven't been supplementing for about 6 months again.

5. I have been taking code liver oil on and off over the last 4 years. a teaspoon a day. Started again 3 weeks ago. Maybe I should just go with primrose and flax?

6. Brewers yeast, how much is good to take daily? And to confirm you replace your vitamin B complex with that?

Currently, based upon some circumstances, I have been very sad the last few months. I am, overall all, a super optimistic happy person by nature. But some reoccurring situations have really been making my heart heavy. Don't know if that can be a factor in my hair loss combined with the other stuff.

Thanks so much!!!

[Tom Hagerty]

Kimie, I watch some of the lectures that medical people give on public TV. Many of them talk about how prolonged psychological stress (a "heavy heart") takes its toll on physical health. Bad hair is one of the first indications of less than optimum physical health. (Have you noticed the coats of cats and dogs when they are not feeling 100 percent?) Perhaps the immune system and other systems too struggle when the body is not functioning at its full potential. But on to your questions -

1. I think the scalp exercise is effective for both men and women equally. But from all the emails I get, I assume that men learn how to do the scalp exercise faster than women. Women tend to get discouraged and quit trying to gain control of the occipitalis muscles at the back of the head. If these difficult muscles at the back of the head are not brought under control, the scalp exercise in not being done correctly - and hence, of very little benefit.

2. Exercise in general is good for your physical health and your psychological health too but I don't think it specifically targets the capillaries that bring nutrients to the hair follicles. The scalp exercise not only "pumps up" the blood vessels in the scalp, it also quickens the lymph flow in the lymph vessels, thus getting rid of metabolic waste products in the scalp.

3. Getting enough complete protein is necessary for healthy-looking hair. But you don't have to overload your body with protein. I you were a bodybuilder who wanted even more massive muscles, you might need to ingest a lot of protein. I assume that you are a normal-looking woman, though, who does not have 16-inch arms.

4. I take 1000 IU of D3 every day. That's probably plenty. Some nutrition gurus recommend massive quantities of vitamin D3 and they give convincing reasons for this. Perhaps they are right but I never like to consume massive amounts of any nutrient.

5. I take a teaspoon of cod liver oil (the real stuff, not the capsules) almost every day. It has vitamins A and D plus the omega-3 fatty acids. You don't want to take more than a teaspoonful though because an excess of vitamin A is not healthful. I don't take primrose oil or flaxseed oil anymore, even though these are probably good for the hair.

6. I blend a tablespoon of brewer's yeast into orange juice or apple juice almost every day. I think this is a magic food. It has almost all the vitamins (especially the B-complex), minerals, and amino acids. The only thing missing is B-12 but I get that in milk and meat. I don't need any B-complex supplements even though these are OK if you don't use brewer's yeast.

You are 50 years old (even though you look 40). That's a great age. I hope you enjoy the present decade and beyond. Get that "heavy heart" thing taken care of.

Complete sadness

A heavy heart.jpg (6.13 KiB) Viewed 16326 times

[kimie]

Hi Tom,

Thanks very much for your detailed reply. Very helpful! You are really awesome - your site, approach, and support!

One quick follow up:

Regarding, code liver oil. I started taking it about four years ago after reading it was so very good for you. Prior to that I was taking the fish oil supplements by Nordic Nature for years. I think a teaspoon a day is what is recommended and is what I take. That said I am petite, 5'3, so after reading previous email threads on your older site, it seems reducing slightly may be an ok thing while still getting benefits. I think I will start with an every other day approach. That said, the question, why did you move off flax and primrose and go back to code liver oil?

Thanks again Tom! And thank you for your kind words,
K

[kimie]

Oh, and one last different question. As mentioned, there's been a bit of upsets in life and I just noticed something last night surprising. I was looking at picture from two to three years ago and I believe there has been a significant increase in the volume of grey hair, the volume I consider significant over a short period of time. With everything going on, I simply wasn't noticing this, really, dramatic change possibly related to life stuff or hereditary. Interesting to note, that said six years ago my hairdresser said my grey was actually reversing, he saw less. And it did seem so at the time. As I recall you have touched upon this subject regarding grey hair production in the past as well as with regards to the scalp excercises (which I am going to try). So:

Beyond your scalp excercises, from which you (and others agree) have maintained or kick-started thick dark(er) hair, are there additional beneficial nutrients, habits, etc. that can also help stop or reverse the greying of hair?

Thank you Tom.
K

[kimie]

P.S. Actually, I guess the change occurred over 18 months, a friend just pointed out.

[Tom Hagerty]

I used to take flaxseed and evening primrose softgels but I no longer do this. In fact, the only softgels (capsules) I take now are D3 and Astaxanthin. I also take sea kelp tablets which are a natural source of iodine. Read Shelley Moore's article (Oct. 03, 2017) about flaxseed oil and ground flaxseeds. Or just type the "bad side effects of flaxseed" into the Google search bar. Anyway, I avoid most capsules and supplements because I don't want to look like this:

You don't want to look like that!

Pill person.jpg (12.21 KiB) Viewed 16299 times

My hair is still dark. I attribute this to the scalp exercise and a nutritious diet. Beyond this I won't speculate. There are many articles that promote the power of some foods and supplements to darken the hair. I'd like to believe all that is written but I don't. You are suffering from prolonged psychological stress. I wonder if that might make the hair lose its color.

[kimie]

hahahaha! That picture of the vitamin person may be who I'm becoming. I'd better watch it!

Thanks again Tom! Appreciate your link and help!

Have a good night. Kind regards, K