The last of the turkey is now a curry in the freezer. We’ve hardly moved off the sofa for two weeks. Yep…we’re primed and ready for New Year’s Resolution territory. And, unsurprisingly, our top goals involve looking better, feeling better, and dropping a dress size…even if it’s just to return us back to where we were prior to December 1st! (I’m not sure which is worse, lockdown or too many parties?)
But in these dark days, there’s a light on the horizon. Earlier last year (it still seems strange to say that about 2022), while studying nutrition in trichology, I was delighted to learn that carbohydrates are good for hair growth! Let’s all take a moment to savor that, shall we?
As you might imagine, this was naturally an invitation to enjoy more bread and pastries than I’d eaten for ages, and to put on a few pounds. To be honest, there are simply times when we take want we want from the information we have and run with it !!!
But there’s no doubt that one of the most common causes of diffuse hair loss (general shedding and thinning all over) that I see with my clients crash dieting – especially Keto-type very low-carb dieting. You may lose a stone….plus half of the density of your hair at the same time.
The pounds take moments to put on, and weeks to take off, but the hair will take years to regrow.
So what happens here? As we drop the carbs from our diet, our energy diminishes, our very clever bodies prioritize our main organs and the blood supply to our hair growth is dramatically reduced. More hair rests, less hair grows, and before you know it your ponytail is half the thickness it was a few months back!
So here’s the plan: eat healthily, shed a few pounds but none of those luscious locks. Firstly, hair is hungry, and skipping meals is a no-no for optimum locks, remember how much hair we grow each day? (it’s around 0.5 mm per hair per day. With 100,000 hairs on an average head, that’s around 50 meters of growth a day.)
And all that growth needs fuel. Enjoy just enough carbs (we are allowed!) plus plenty of veg, especially the leafy green stuff and as much if it as we want. As 70% of us are low in iron, this one is very important – as are foods rich in vitamins D and B12 (good news here…it turns out your turkey was a decent source of B12 so you’ve made a start!) And do fully use the ‘2 boxes of eggs per household‘ rule that supermarkets currently apply. Eggs are one of the best hair foods.
And with all this washed down with plenty of water and a little less alcohol, I believe we can keep our existing wardrobe and have beautiful-looking hair.
See you in the salon soon!
