Preventing Hair Loss

Hair loss could be the cause of our diet, lack of nutrients, medications, stress, or basically, our genes. Hair loss mostly affects middle aged to older people, and usually happens more to men. If you happen to feel that you are suffering symptoms of hair loss, have no fear, because here are a few tips on how you can make hair loss less of a problem to you.

How to prevent Hair Loss:

1. It's all about your diet

Eat foods that are rich in protein such as fish, beans and tofu. Foods rich in protein will help you maintain healthy hair as hair is primarily made of protein. However stick to healthier sources of protein as rich meats such as steak are high in fat.

To ensure a healthy scalp, we need to ensure our blood is well circulated to that area. It is only through good blood circulation to the scalp that allows our scalp to stimulate and promote hair growth. Hence, foods rich in iron should be consumed as it promotes the creation of hemoglobin in our blood which functions as a carrier of oxygen to all parts of the body. Foods such as liver, cherries and cereals contain high iron content.

A high number of people who suffer from hair loss do not have enough zinc in their bodies. Zinc promotes cell reproduction and helps maintain hormonal balance, which helps in hair growth. They also manage the glands that attach to our hair follicles. When our zinc levels are low, these follicles become weak, causing strands to break off or fall out. To prevent this problem, try to eat zinc-rich foods such as mussels, shrimp and oysters. However, take these zinc rich foods in moderation as excessive amounts can cause hair loss too.

2. Reduce your stress

Stress is one of the main reasons for hair loss. When one faces stress, the frequency of hair loss increases. Hence, once can try to reduce their stress levels by sleeping early or by meditating.

3. Keep exercising

Now that we all know a well circulated scalp can promote hair growth, exercise is also key! Exercising increases our heart rate which increases blood circulation throughout our body, including our scalp! This helps prevent hair loss as well.

4. Treat you hair well

Don't subject your hair to frequent heating and drying. Heat weakens hair proteins and in worse cases, it damages the hair follicles permanently. Constant heating and drying of hair can cause our hair to be brittle and weak which causes hair loss.  Minimizing the usage of accessories like hair dryers or hair straighteners can make our hair last longer. If need be, use cool air from the hair dryer to dry your hair instead of hot air.

5. Massage scalp daily

Massaging our scalp helps circulate blood and brings nutrients to the scalp. To complement the massage, one tip is to use coconut oil while we massage our scalp as it acts as a natural conditioner that improves our hair growth. This is due to lauric acid found in coconut oil that moisturizes our hair, protects our hair roots and prevents breakage of our hair strands.

Hope this helps!

Health Pyramid - Your Guide to Eating Better and Healthier!

Hello people, I have decided to talk about the health pyramid so you can make better informed choices when you pick the foods you eat.

To start, have you ever heard of the phrase "What you eat is what you are?". I'm sure you all have, and I'm here to tell you about different types of foodstuffs
It is very important that we know what foods to take frequently and also those that we should avoid or take in moderation. Hence, watching your own diet is a very important factor to lead a healthy lifestyle. With a healthy life, one falls sick less often and is more alert mentally as well.

The choice of food you choose to take can give you better health or could increase your chance of getting diseases such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. So treat you body well and make wise decisions when choosing what type of foods to eat.

The food pyramid below shows you foods you should take frequently, and those you should avoid or take in moderation.

Image Credits: http://www.hpb.gov.sg/HOPPortal/health-article/2638

Right choices have to be made in order to nourish your body. We all have to eat a wide variety of foods in moderation to ensure our body takes in the right amounts of nutrients. As you follow the guidelines below on foods to take based on the pyramid, it will certainly help you to achieve a more balanced diet and a healthier body.

Things to take note:

Eat your grains

Grains contain alot of carbohydrates that provide your body energy to support our daily activities.
If you can, eat whole grain foods like wholemeal bread or brown rice as they contain more nutrients than refined grains such as white bread and rice.

Remember the fruits and vegetables

This is what this whole website is about. Fruits and vegetables provide various amounts of natural Vitamins and nutrients to nourish your body so you can be fit and healthy without falling sick so easily. Antioxidants found in many varieties of fruits prevent cancer too!

Remember your calcium and protein

Our body uses protein to build and repair tissues. You also use protein to make enzymes, hormones, and other body chemicals. Food rich in protein includes, eggs, fish, meat, and cheese. However, meats or cheese which are high in fat and cholesterol should be avoided.
To strengthen our bones and teeth, we would need calcium. Calcium also reduces the risk of osteoporosis. Foods such as dairy milk, yogurt, and cheese are very good sources of calcium. For lactose intolerant people, you can look to soya milk or tofu as alternatives.
However take note that because foods rich in calcium and protein are placed in the third level of the pyramid, servings taken should be lesser than fruits, vegetables and grains.

Avoid foods at the top of the pyramid

Foods placed on top of the pyramid should be use sparingly as they are harmful to our body if taken in large amounts. If need be, use healthy types of oil such as olive or sunflower oil to cook food as they contain no cholesterol. Salt and sugar should be used sparingly as they may cause liver problems and diabetes respectively. When buying food from supermarkets, do take note of the salt, sugar and oil content of the items and choose stuff that do not have much of these in them.

Take care of your health people!