Your Best Hair Yet Part 1

Hello Loves,

Happy Spring! I am so excited about the longer days, fresh produce, and abundant time in nature that’s just around the corner. Isn’t it wonderful to feel the surge of Life opening everywhere?

Perhaps you (as I am…) are contemplating how to refresh your hairstyle. A great hairstylist is wonderful, but the real key is what we give them to work with. I have learned so much about hair health over the years and I am excited to share much of it with you over the coming weeks.

Today, I want to share what you can do to have the lushest hair ever. The kind of hair you thought might never be yours. Whether it’s overcoming a “my hair won’t grow past this length” plateau, rebalancing hormone levels so hair normalizes, or finding the best diet and products for lustrous locks, I’ve got your back!

Over the past 3 decades of studying and teaching about optimal health, I have seen that no matter what we desire to improve in our health/appearance, there is always a way to move forward and make big progress towards our goals. Consistent effort towards balance and wholeness is always the path. While results aren’t always immediate, in a matter of weeks or months they are measurable…and over the years those results accrue dramatically.

Our hair reflects our overall health. It especially mirrors the health of these organs and glands: ovaries/testicles+thyroid+kidney/adrenals. These organs/glands reflect our vitality levels, how balanced our hormones are, our ability to sustain energy/Chi/Life Force effectively. If our hair is thinning, dry, brittle, won’t grow, or is prematurely greying it is particularly connected to these organs.

In addition to testing normal levels (and optimizing, if needed, with a Naturopath or Functional Medicine MD), or having specific blood work done, there is a lot you can do to nourish your hair (via your circulation and health) with your diet and lifestyle. In Part 1 we will be discussing what you can eat (and not eat) to grow gorgeous hair.

Your Beautiful Hair Diet

Our hair loves nutritive fats! Quality fats make our hair shiny and healthy. Also, the right sourcing and amounts of protein give hair strength and helps it grow. Abundant phyto- nutrients balance our systems and hormones so we can glow from the inside out. Some of the best foods for lovely hair are:

Avocados
Extra virgin olive oil
Coconut oil
Avocado oil
Seeds (sesame, flax, hemp, pumpkin, and sunflower especially)
Freshly shelled nuts (outside of their shells, nuts are susceptible to having the fats go rancid)
Wild caught fish
Eggs from pasture raised, foraging hens
Pasture Raised Meats (good sources of iron, choline, protein, etc.)

Healthy Hair Kryptonite
These things make your hair look dull, grow slowly, and break easily. Avoid them and upgrade your diet to the high quality nourishment you really crave.

Alcohol—consume this rarely. Biodynamic wines and clear alcohols are better. Consume with greens and proteins to lessen the effect on the body.

Sugar—a little seasonal fruit, a spoon of local honey, stevia, coconut sugar, and lakanato are the best ways to sweeten your diet without sacrificing your beauty and health.

Simple Carbs—you know the drill—white sugar, white flour, crackers, pastas, chips, pizza. All of these put your blood sugar out of whack and offer little to nourish your beauty.

Damaged Fats—the sneakiest! Most people think they do great on this one but are unaware of where they lurk. All of the packaged foods you eat, the shelled nuts/nut butters, heated oils, fried foods, hydrogenated fats, and even the vast majority of organic/“healthy” salad dressings (see the next point….).

Seed oils—Canola, cottonseed, corn, peanut, safflower, sunflower, and soy oils are chief culprits. These cause inflammation and build weak cell walls. It takes 2 years to replace 1/2 the cells in your body. Your cell walls are tremendously important to your health. They decide how well nutrients are assimilated, how well wastes are removed, and how the intra cellular fluid is contained in the cell (hydrated and healthy) or leaks out (unable to hold in the fluids).

Factory farmed meats and animal products—GMO seeds and glyphosate soaked soils kill our microbiome, destroy our innate immune system (the lining of the gut), and add a toxic load to our systems. Organically sourced animal products are the most important category of organics to have in your diet because they are higher up the food chain and accumulate more residues.

Aim for these 4 things daily:

1. 10 servings Organic Produce:
   1. 2 servings of low glycemic fruits (especially berries, green apples, kiwi, pomegranate seeds, and grapefruit).
   2. 8 servings green veggies per day (for example: 1c. Spinach blended into your morning eggs or smoothie, 4cups of salad at lunch and 2 cups lightly cooked veggies at dinner).
2. 2-3T super food oils
   1. Eat the freshest/highest quality, in dark glass, unheated.
   2. Cook your foods in broth and add oils after removing from the heat source.
3. 1/2 your body weight in protein grams consumed daily
   1. 3-7 servings per week of pasture raised/wild animal products.
   2. alternate with nuts/seeds to get adequate protein.
   3. consider adding collagen to your diet in bone broths or supplement form.
   4. Vitamin C helps us produce collagen naturally, too! So prioritize this in your diet and supplementation.
4. Drink 2-3 liters of purified water daily—hydration is health

The results are in the details—quality…exacting quality for everything you take in your body is key to the results you will get.

This regime will contribute to your overall health and beauty immensely. Please let me know what you are doing well already and where you want to up level your game. I can’t wait to hear what is motivating for you and what results you are seeing.

Cheering you on,
Rachel