WELLBEING

from Your Time Magazine Sunshine Coast - February 2021

WHAT’S ON

Hair loss can be the result of a number of factors. TRUDY KITHER examines the effects of stress and anxiety.

Stress and anxiety, gut issues, and hormones can all be responsible for hair loss. Stress relates to the hormone cortisol which is made by the adrenal glands when they react and adapt to internal and external stressors.

When the body encounters too much stress, cortisol levels increase and become very destructive to its proteins. Your body will start using proteins, such as hair, skin, nails, collagen, and muscles, as fuel for energy supply by breaking them down and using them as sugar.

This is the reason why you may have blood sugar issues if you have too much cortisol.

If your cortisol (an immune function) is too low, you can also have hair loss. It will be similar to alopecia, where patches of hair fall out.

Alopecia is an auto-immune condition in which the body starts attacking its own tissues, primarily hair, causing it to fall out. It can occur if you go through a severe loss or trauma, as it will shock the adrenals, so you then lose your cortisol function.

To improve cortisol function, you will need to resolve or improve stress levels, balance cortisol levels, and treat adrenals with supplements.

Hair also needs because stress depletes B vitamins, potassium, and calcium. Another suggestion would be to increase growth hormone levels, which is the opposite of cortisol, and protects proteins.

Growth hormone helps with stress and is anti-ageing, whereas cortisol is ageing and makes your hair fall out. Growth hormone is triggered by sleep, a good amount of protein, and is stimulated when you do intermittent fasting.

When you have a receding hairline, it is often due to having higher levels of androgens (male hormones) or 5-alpha-reductase.

How can you reduce these? By taking zinc, omega 3s, and vitamin D supplementation. To reduce high levels of androgens, you will need to reduce the high levels of insulin in your body. Take the supplementation along with a ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting, as these will minimize insulin levels in your body.

Another reason for hair loss can be nutrition. One of the critical nutrients for hair is biotin, a B vitamin, which also happens to be an essential nutrient for growing and increasing hair health. It is a necessary co-factor to help the enzymes in your gut make proteins from amino acids, which is why it is required to make hair.

B vitamins, including biotin, are also made from the microbes in your gut. When you have taken antibiotics, it decreases the number of friendly bacteria in your gut, creating a microbial imbalance and lessening your B vitamin and Biotin production.

It then also increases the growth of another microbe (Lactobacillus murinus), that cannot make biotin.

Other factors that cause microbial imbalances are GMO foods as they contain glyphosate residue. (In 2010, Monsanto got patents for glyphosate to be classified as an antibiotic). Traces of glyphosate can be found in the water supply, food, vegetables, livestock feeds, soy and corn oils, etc.

The herb horsetail (which is high in natural silica) is another excellent way to produce and maintain healthy hair growth.

The recommendations in this article are not meant to diagnose or treat specific health conditions and are for general information only. Always consult your trusted registered natural health practitioner for your individual situation. Trudy Kither is a naturopath and owner, Nature’s Temple. Visit naturestemple.net

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