Gut Biome and how it impacts our Hair & Scalp

We’ve all heard the saying ‘We are what we eat’. I found out exactly why that statement is so true when I met Gut Health specialist Charlotte Lucas at our most recent session at the Association of Registered Trichologists.

As 80% of our immune system lives in our gut it turns out we can control many of our health problems if we take a closer look at what we are putting into our system. As far as hair loss, hair quality and scalp issues are concerned, in many cases we can control or, in some cases even eliminate the problem completely.

Hair health issues are often caused by inflammation. This can lead to hair loss, itchy scalp, flaky scalp, oily scalp and reduced hair quality.

Gut health is all about keeping our gut biome healthy, and a healthy gut biome really means a good balance of helpful gut bugs. Why are gut bugs importants? Because it’s their job to support immune health and reduce inflammation. Without enough good gut bugs our hair and scalp suffer.

The Western diet has a lot to answer for with the amount of processed foods in our super markets and on our TV screens. Whilst it tastes so good on our lips, too much of these foods have instant and long term negative effects on our bodies, minds and hair.

The helpful gut bugs need to feed fibre and colour found in fresh fruits and vegetables to thrive. When they don’t get enough fibre and colour this can also leave room for unhelpful bugs to take over and we can get sick because they can’t do their job of reducing inflammation and supporting our immune health and our guts start absorbing essential nutrients.

Because these bugs are starving they then start to eat away at our gut wall creating gaps for pathogens and food particles to pass into circulation. This can trigger allergies, inflammation, infections and immune issues affecting every part, including our skin, scalp and hair growth.

Processed foods are low in all of the things that the good gut bugs need in order to thrive and do their job looking after our health. The foods our good bacteria need is found in natural foods such as fruit, vegetables, salad, wholegrains, nuts and seeds.

In a nutshell the food we eat is sending messages to all of the cells in our body and is arguably the biggest influencer of our immune and Endocrine systems. Our food is driving our gut health and impacting the ecosystem of good or bad bacteria. A poor gut health is linked to the rise in autoimmune diseases and allergies and many other diseases.

So how about our genetics?

Well an interesting fact is that while we may well be predisposed to certain types of hair loss or other health concerns, these can be triggered by poor lifestyle, diet or illness. Whereas our identical twin for example could live a healthier life and not suffer from the same effects despite possessing the same genes.

Other interesting facts:

• Fasting is great for gut health. A 10-12 hour window overnight is an excellent way to help to restore a healthier gut.
• Hunter gatherer tribes who lived off the land and have no processed foods within their diet do not have many of our health issues that we suffer from within their society. This includes many cancers!
• Big take-away – focus on feeding your gut bugs each day by eating lots of whole plant foods.
• Eat the rainbow every day.
• Eat the veg on your plate first, before the carbs!
• Take vitamin D daily with a nut or some other good fat to aid absorption.
• Try eating fermented foods once a day.
• Swap your oils in for Extra Virgin Olive Oil (15mls per day recommended).
• Avoid foods with things like `high fibre’ health halos. These are still highly processed.
• Fat free/reduced fat…. Go for full fat!