Wellness Tree

In my family, most men get bald around the age of 32-35. I on the other hand have lush black hair – it looks exactly the same today as it was when I joined college! I have the pics too 🙂

I had discovered – in 2001-2002 – that a certain style of hair care would add phenomenal value. Part of the conclusion was drawn through analytical thinking and offline research; but as the internet became more and more available to me I researched online – and found that it’s a global epidemic, and that most people don’t know what to do about it. Even today people sell more hair removal and hair ‘growth’ than hair care – why not just take care of it when you have it instead of plugging in more $$ later? Right!

Here I illustrate the methods of good hair care I’ve used and found to provide great success.

Regular oiling

• Wash your hair thoroughly and ensure your hair is

  

  totally clean.

• After shampooing, don’t apply a conditioner.
• Once you’re done with your shower and your hair is dry – apply virgin coconut oil to your hair.
• Rub it in along the entire length of your hair and let it sit through the night.

This reduces split ends and heals back damaged hair. Also decreases any dandruff / dry hair issues that affect nearly everyone these days. Also even if you reside in a dusty environment (most towns and cities qualify as dusty) – the oil absorbs the dust and keeps it from coming in contact with your hair.

Leave the oil in for the night; then wash it off the next morning. You can use your shampoo, conditioner or whatever you normally use.

Scalp massage / hair ‘pulling’

A thorough scalp massage increases blood flow and brings increased oxygen to the roots of your hair. Also vitamins normally present are made available in a larger amount for hair growth.

I enjoy having my hair pulled – lightly – and it seems my hair loves it too! Do this during your scalp massage as an added incentive for the hair folicles to ‘activate’. Be careful that you don’t pull too hard though. If the hair comes out there’s no putting it back!

Now I know what the doctors say – “hair fall happens to everyone – accept it” and what the psychologists say “hair fall happens to everyone – but come over and you can chat with me for $99/hr for it” (kidding) but really here’s the closes proof we can get:

There was this kickass hair care study back in 2016, a standard scalp massage was administered to nine men for 4 minutes daily. After just 24 weeks (i.e. little less than 6 months) of this treatment, they noticed:

“Standardized scalp massage resulted in increased hair thickness 24 weeks after initiation of massage (0.085 ± 0.003 mm vs 0.092 ± 0.001 mm). […] Hair thickness was shown to increase with standardized scalp massage.”

Plus, the trial also checked for increased presence of hair ‘cycle’ related genes (the standard genes: NOGGIN, BMP4, SMAD4, and IL6ST) and decreased presence of the hair loss gene IL6. The results are startling:

“In vitro, DNA microarray showed gene expression change significantly compared with nonstretching human dermal papilla cells. A total of 2655 genes were upregulated and 2823 genes were downregulated. Real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction demonstrated increased expression of hair cycle–related genes such as NOGGIN, BMP4, SMAD4, and IL6ST and decrease in hair loss–related genes such as IL6. […] Stretching forces result in changes in gene expression in human dermal papilla cells.”

In short, scalp massage has a strong positive effect on hair growth, hair thickness and overall hair quality.

Trim Split Ends

Split ends tend to continue splitting until they reach the scalp. Neeedless to say this looks shabby and makes the hair feel pretty pathetic.

Good hair care sometimes involves cutting the hair too.

Hair is basically protein!

Hair is made of a tough protein called Keratin. To ensure a healthy supply of keratin to the hair, you need to ensure you take the correct nutrients for your body to product keratin. And then exercise to have those nutrients get absorbed correctly.

Biotin rich vegetables like kale, broccoli, cauliflower and onions improve nutrient supply to needed for keratin formation in the body. Also, vitamins and Beta-carotene rich foods add both shine and strength to your hair. You can get healthy amounts of this from carrots, sweet potatoes, cantaloupe and yams – and even mangoes. Pumpkins and apricots are also an excellent Beta-carotene source.

Diet regulation – good quality protein for good quality hair

I’ve found that my hair quality improves when I’m on a raw diet as against when I’m not. I think this may have to do with the increased amount of carrot, cucumber and green leafy veggies I have. However this is a personal observation. My tips for you in this regard are as follows:

• Test our various diets and keep a track of your hairs behaviour
• Try each diet for at least 3 months; because during that time a reasonable amount of hair would have grown, and this will allow good comparison
• Don’t give up! Keep trying other options; there’s always hair care treatments available but growing the right hair will replace all of it!

I hope that helps. Write back to me in a few months’ time and let me know whether this worked for you!