Losing Weight and Feeling Great

I hate it when I brush me hair and when I’m done, it seems like there is more hair stuck in the brush than is left on my head.

I get depressed in the shower when I wash my hair and see all the hair caught in the drain.

I keep wondering if I’ll have any hair left by the time I reach my weight goal.  Great, my body is fine but I’m bald — not an appetizing thought.

So, I went searching on the internet (as usual) to see what I could find out about what might be causing my dieting hair loss and how I could keep what I have.

Let’s see, the two  main reason that would apply to dieting in particular are:

• Weight loss stresses the body and sometimes it reacts by releasing hair follicles.

• I might not be getting enough of the nutrients that help keep my scalp healthy.

There was also another reason, in my particular case:

• After 40, a woman’s hair naturally thins with age.

So, what to do, aside from getting a fall or a wig (or use Rogaine)?  Since I can’t do a whole lot about weight loss stressing out my body or getting older, I focused on what I could do as far as nutrition.

GLA (gamma lineolenic acid), an omega-6 “good” fatty acid can help reduce hair loss and make existing hair a bit less susceptible to breakage.  Good sources are mainly in supplements for evening primrose, black currant, borage and hemp oils.

Exercise, moderate workout.  You don’t want to do stuff like a body-building routine, but a resistance band, light weight, walking or bicycling routine can help the body and the hair.

Saw palmetto, often thought of as a “man’s herb” can also help us ladies.  You can try a cup of saw palmetto tea every so often.

B vitamins, mostly because they help your body cope with stress better.  B-complex is great, but also consider a sublingual B12 theraputic dose, since B12 (and all of the B vitamins) are water soluble, meaning that the body doesn’t retain them.

Also, I saw to beware of getting too much zinc in the diet.  Apparently it depletes copper, and low copper levels are implicated in hair loss.  The amount?  No more than 30 mg of zinc a day.

I’ll leave you with a couple of interesting links on hair loss, for your reading pleasure:

Natural hair loss remedies and Historic hair loss remedies