“How can I prevent hair loss” is a question I hear every day from my patients. “I wish I could have your hair” is a comment I also hear frequently. Here is my advice to prevent hair loss and grow healthy hair, based on my own experience.
1. Stress Free Living to Prevent Hair Loss
Stress, physical as well as emotional, wreaks havoc on your hair health and causes excessive hair loss. Physical stress includes any physical illness, surgery, radiation or chemotherapy. Among physical illnesses underactive thyroid, autoimmune diseases, malnutrition, Zinc deficiency, Vitamin B12 deficiency and iron deficiency are common causes of hair loss.
Emotional stress includes anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and the Stress of daily living. In particular, anger and hate can cause hair loss. So next time you get angry, realize you are also losing your hair, in addition to increasing your risk for heart attack, stroke, and stomach ulcer.
I got enlightened when I hit 50. Since then, I am totally free of anger which I used to experience. I believe my “freedom from stress” plays a major role in my healthy hair.
The root cause of emotional stress lies inside you, not out there. Therefore, the solution also lies inside you. Please refer to my book, “Stress Cure Now.”
2. Proper Nutrition For Healthy Hair
Hair loss is often a sign that your body is missing some key nutrients, especially minerals and vitamins. Therefore, proper nutrition is a key to your overall health and it also prevents hair loss. Proper nutrition implies avoiding junk foods, processed foods, packaged foods. The best food is what you prepare yourself from fresh ingredients. Caution: Tossing a frozen pizza in a microwave oven for a few minutes is not a good food. Pouring some milk on a bowl of cereal is not a good food.
Good nutrition means balanced food from a variety of natural sources such as meats, vegetables, fruits, nuts, lentils, dairy and a few grains. These food items should be organic and of high quality. Try to grow your own fruits and vegetables, which is better than even organic foods.
Take a good daily multivitamin such as Glupride Multi, Zinc Plus Copper, Vitamin B12
3. Adequate Sleep to Prevent Hair Loss
Most people suffer from sleep deprivation for a variety of reasons. Your body rejuvenates during sleep. You need about 8-9 hours of sleep every night. Here are some tips to have a good night sleep.
- After sunset, avoid looking at bright screens such as TV, computer, smart phones, etc.
- At night go outside and look in the dark. Look at the stars and the moon. Exposure to the dark sends signals to your brain – it is night time – and gets it ready to go to sleep. Avoid bright lights in your rooms.
- Avoid chit-chatting at night
- Get a massage from your partner if possible.
- Take an evening bath. Add 2-3 tablespoons of Epsom salt in the bathtub water.
- Listen to some calm, instrumental music
- Do meditation sitting or walking meditation. Refer to my book, “Stress Cure Now.”
4. Avoid Hair Products
Hair products are actually chemicals, toxic for your hair. Some of these chemicals cause your hair loss. These hair-toxins include some shampoos, conditioners, sprays, colors. Don’t wash your hair every day. This practice removes all of the good natural oils that your scalp produces to nourish your hair. Dry your hair naturally without the dryer. The thermal heat damages your hair.
5. Nourish Your Hair
Like every other organ in the body, hair need proper nutrition. In addition to a healthy food, I apply some oil in my hair once or twice a week. I usually use almond oil during cold weather and coconut oil during hot weather.
6. Avoid Unnecessary Medications
Almost all medications have potential side-effects. For this reason, there is a golden rule when prescribing drugs: risk benefit ratio. In other words, take a drug only if its benefits outweigh the risks. Unfortunately, many physicians don’t adhere to this basic principle in medicine.
Let me share with you that I do not take any medications on a chronic basis not even cholesterol drug or aspirin.
I am a living example of what I just described. I follow each of these steps in my personal life. At age 60+, my hair is healthier than it was 30 years ago. That’s why it is not just my genes.
To illustrate this point, here is a gallery of my hair in chronologic order.
