The lockes are what make the person shine. Hair is the strands that connect our souls to the open plane we all inhabit. No one feels the same without it, and so everyone tries to prevent losing it. However, they only start to prevent losing it when they actually are losing it. This is problematic because you will only notice balding after you’ve lost 20-50% of your hair. Reversing balding takes much longer because of this, so much so that people often get discouraged and stop. This also contributes to the notion that balding is permanent and should just accept your fate. Never accept your fate, because you just need to read a book and ignore stupid people. Most balding is completely reversible. Why do you think balding treatments are still around? This article details every way to prevent, reverse, and improve hair loss and quality naturally.
What Causes Balding and Poor Hair
Temporary Balding & Thinning
The majority of balding people experience is in fact only temporary. The hair follicle enters a ‘resting phase’ due to certain factors. The main cause of this temporary balding is lack of nutrients to the hair follicle, affected by blood flow, diet, hormones, stress, and stripping of said nutrients. The hair follicle is an organ, and just like all other organs cannot function properly or dies without nutrients.
- Blood Flow – Blood is what transfers nutrients to parts of the body. When blood has trouble getting to an organ, it loses much efficiency and may die.
- Hormones – Your hormones aren’t something that magically causes hair loss. Men experience baldness much more than women because of their higher levels of DHT, the more potent form of testosterone, the masculine sex hormone. Chemical baldness treatments work by blocking the production of DHT. DHT actually causes balding by miniaturizing the hair follicle and root, preventing blood flow and the supply of nutrients. Another reason women experience much less balding is they have higher levels of Progesterone, a hormone that blocks DHT from binding to receptors and doing it’s thing.
- Diet – Just as quantity of blood is important, quality is as well. The western diet is void of much nutrients, and in fact contains many anti-nutrients that worsens the problem. Too much iron or copper, or even too little contribute to hair loss, as well as low amounts of many other nutrients. Changes in diet and supplementation of some nutrients is essential for hair health.
- Stripping of Nutrients – Adequate supply of nutrients to the scalp is important for hair health. This is worsened by stripping the hair & scalp of nutrients through damaging activities such as hot showers. When you strip your hair & scalp of nutrients, it leaves them unable to repair or protect themselves from the natural damage of the day.
- Stress – The hormone released in response to stress, Cortisol, halts regenerative processes, constricts blood flow, and overworks cells. This causes a triple-threat to hair, making it ideal to lower it as much as possible.
Permanent Balding
While we’ve established most balding and hair loss is actually temporary, one thing does cause permanent hair loss. That is scarring. When the body receives an injury, it responds by forming scar tissue, skin that seals the wound and helps prevent against further damage. However, not only is this tissue weaker than normal skin, it also does not reproduce sweat glands or hair follicles. Many common hair rituals can contribute to the formation of scar tissue on the scalp, particularly women. Things that are especially rough on the scalp and hair, just like they would be to the body, are what it. Hair straighteners & curlers, cuts and scrapes, and chronic damage cause the formation of scar tissue. If you are experiencing baldness or are bald, it should be noted that the majority of it likely isn’t permanent. In fact, buzzing and waxing your head makes it permanent because of how damaging it is to the scalp and hair follicle. Stripping of nutrients contributes to scarring by removing the natural nutrients and oils that protect & repair your hair.
Shower Routine
Avoid Hot Showers
Your body wasn’t meant to handle a daily barrage of scolding hot water, yet this is what so many do. Hot showers are one of the biggest contributors to hair loss, stripping the hair & scalp of vital nutrients and oils that protect & repair them. Not only does this directly damage the hair & root itself, but also leaves the scalp unprotected, contributing to the formation of scar tissue and permanent hair loss.
Don’t Curl, Iron, or Blow-Dry
Just like hot showers, using intense heat from one of these sources strips you hair of nutrients and kills cells. Pain is reaction to something that is killing or will kill cells, and so something that causes pain to the skin should definitely not be used on the hair. See below for how to properly dry you hair.
Easy On The Drying
The drying process is especially damaging to the hair strand. Your hair and scalp are stripped of much of their protective oils, leaving them vulnerable to damage. Beating your head with a towel is like sand paper on the hair & scalp. Instead, pat dry with a good towel, simply pressing the towel on the hair a few times to soak up the liquid. After that, wrap your hair in a towel and let it sit for 30-60 minutes. Hold your towel horizontally and lean your head and hair forward so it’s all hanging freely. Next, align the edge of your towel with your neck hairline and wrap your hair with the towel in front of you. Then, twist the wrap until it is a tight twist and throw over the back of your head. It will keep itself in place. It shouldn’t be tight enough to feel pain like someone is pulling your hair. If you hair doesn’t go past your cheeks, all you need to do is pat dry.
Get A Shower Filter
Tap water actually contains many different heavy metals and minerals which your body absorbs and subsequently gets intoxicated from. Calcium and Fluoride in particular contributes to hair loss, clogging the pores and hair follicles of the scalp and reducing blood flow. Iron, Copper, and Lead in tap water also contribute to hair loss, among a host of other health issues, by building up in the body and causing toxicity. Chlorine is also present, which strips the hair & scalp of its important nutrients and natural oils. Most shower filters and softeners are cheap and ineffective. Quality ones are a bit more pricey, but considering they last 6-10 months and have a host of beauty and health benefits, they are well worth it.
I recommend Omica. They offer several other water filtration devices in addition to being one of the only suppliers to actually list the filtration reports, proving that it works.
Opt For A Waterfall Shower Head
In addition to the damage caused from hot water, the force of the water also damages the hair & skin, being a blunt force smack to them. Normal shower heads spray shoot water out as opposed to falling out. This causes abrasive force that scrubs off the natural oils and nutrients of the skin & hair, subsequently damaging it. A free flowing shower head on the other hand allows water to fall out, switching to a gentle and massaging shower instead. This prevents damage to the hair and improves blood flow by gently massaging it.
Don’t Shower Too Long
Showering, even in cold water, strips the hair of nutrients. Therefore, you should limit the time you spend in shower. A lot of time is wasted in the shower just standing there and over-washing. Your shower should be under 5 minutes, you don’t need anymore time than that. If you find them relaxing and peaceful, draw a bath a few times a week and meditate.
Limit Shampoo Use
Shampoo strips your hair and scalp of nutrients and oils, that’s why people use it. They use shampoo to help remove the excess amount of oils they, however this excess amount is caused by the constant removal the oil & nutrients. Your hair overcompensates. This is why some people only need to shower every other day or three, they likely never built the habit of daily showering and went easy on their hair. If you remember your childhood, you didn’t shower every morning and yet your hair wasn’t greasy. It’s not just a correlation, it’s a cause-and-effect. Only use shampoo every 2 or 3 days.
Be Gentle On The Scalp
When you work shampoo into the hair, it should only be the hair. You shouldn’t run your hands through it and ‘massage’ your scalp. This irritates the scalp and hair follicle, further stripping them of nutrients and irritating them, potentially causing scarring. Instead, simply brush your hair back with your hands and swish it around, working the lather around your scalp without actually touching.
Avoid Chemical Detergents and Fabric Softeners
If you aren’t already using natural detergents, you’ll want to as soon as possible. Detergents and fabric softeners are chock full of dangerous and irritating chemicals, which rubs on your body and is absorbed through the skin. This causes rashes, hives, nausea, dry skin, and everything else you can think of. These will transfer to your hair and scalp when you dry them, further damaging them and irritating the scalp, preventing blood flow and causing hair loss. If you can’t opt for a natural detergent, at least avoid fabric softeners as they are incredibly toxic and the emissions cause & worsen respiratory issues.
Replace Your Towels Often
With natural use, your towels lose their fluff and effectiveness. This leaves them a rough and abrasive rag.Since they lose absorbency you’ll have to work harder to dry your hair which causes more damage to it. The texture of your towels will also damage the hair, rough & old towels being like sand paper. It’s recommended to replace your towels every 1-2 years.
Clean Your Brushes
This is overlooked by almost everyone. Your hair brushes and combs get covered in oil and dirt, leading to the growth of bacteria. These brushes then contaminate your head with your bacteria and are just gross. Soak them in warm water and baking soda or a professional cleaner for a few minutes every week. Rinse them off when you’re done and you’ll be good to go.
Diet
Protein & Fats
Your hair is made of protein, making it essential to ingest adequate amounts. Fat is also essential to healthy bodily function, especially hair, skin, and nails. This is why many Vegans experience hair loss and poor nail health. Eat a couple eggs each day and a pound of meat should is suffice. Eggs also contain almost every essential nutrient, making it a true super-food.
Iron & Copper
Iron & Copper are tricky because too much or too little leads to a host of health problems, including hair loss. You absorb some copper from tap water when you shower and get more than enough in your regular diet. Emphasis on more than enough. Copper toxicity is incredibly common in the west, and many confuse it with anemia (low-iron levels) which cause them to supplement with Iron. This is problematic because, unless you aren’t eating any meat, you likely get enough of. This causes a double-whammy to your body, contributing to hair loss, again, and cancer. Track your food and calculate the iron and copper content. Keep an eye on grains, meat, and fortified food like white rice & cereals. Also account for cooking with cast-iron pans as some iron is rubbed off on the food. Iron & Copper are problematic because of how long it takes to naturally excrete them. The best & only way to speed this up is to donate blood regularly, roughly every 2-3 months. Only do this if you eat quite a lot of meat & eggs (2lbs+) or calculated you get too much iron from your average diet. The RDA of Iron for males is 8mg and for females is 18mg. Women need more because they excrete it through their periods each month.
Minerals
Other minerals important to hair health are Zinc, Selenium, and Chromium, three way overlooked nutrients that most don’t get enough of. Nuts are a very efficient way to get these in addition to many other essential nutrients. In fact, 6 Brazil Nut has your entire weeks worth of Selenium. Have a handful of mixed nuts with some Vitamin C each day to see an improvement in every aspect of your life, especially energy & libido.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C benefits everything and doesn’t have any downsides nor a toxic dosage. It is important for combating the effects of stress and synthesizing several important proteins and enzymes in the body.
Iodine
Iodine is essential nutrient that only those supplementing with don’t have a deficiency in the west. This is because the only foods with Iodine are seafood and kelp/seaweed. I will be writing an article on Iodine because of how beneficial it is to take. It maintains hormonal balance and benefits the skin, hair, brain, eyes, and nails. In fact, it is an essential Nootropic, a supplement that improves cognitive function. Iodine supplementation during pregnancy has been shown to increase fetal IQ by 13 points, and is one of the reasons Asian (coastal) populations have a higher mean IQ than everywhere else.
Foods
Add a Banana, 2 Kiwis, 2-4 Eggs, and some Red Meat to your diet each day if you don’t already eat them. These foods are especially high in a variety of essential nutrients that most are deficient in, making them efficient for getting adequate levels of essential nutrients.
Hormones
Balance Your Hormones (Women)
Estrogen and Progesterone are the 2 female-sex hormones. These are responsible for the development of female characteristics such as breast growth, moodiness, and bodily figure. These two hormones block DHT from binding to receptors and contributing to hair loss. When these hormones are out of balance, hair loss occurs. After pregnancy, these hormone levels drop drastically, causing sudden hair loss. While it may be costly, have your hormonal profile checked to make sure they’re balanced. Proper hormone balance is important for health and longevity.
Turmeric
Turmeric is a wonder supplement, aiding in every aspect of health. Turmeric is full of antioxidants that prevent free-radicals from damaging the hair follicle and blood vessels, keeping them healthy and alive. Turmeric is also a powerful DHT blocker, preventing it from shrinking the hair follicle and eventually leading to follicle death. Turmeric also helps with digestion and the absorption of nutrients, furthering it’s benefits for hair and body.
Reishi
Reishi works in much the same way as Turmeric, blocking DHT production. Reishi is also a very potent longevity & immune system booster, in fact one of the best in the world. However, it blocks much more DHT than Turmeric, so much so that Reishi supplementation is an official treatment for prostate cancer in japan, which can throw off your hormones if you aren’t careful. I only recommend it to women and men who are really struggling with hair loss.
Blood Flow & Strain
Avoid Ponytails & Buns
Tying your hair back is a common cause of hair loss. Buns & ponytails keep your hair in place by straining them. This also strains the root, slowly accruing damage & causing scar tissue to form over time. Eventually, the hair follicle dies and falls out of the scalp, never to return. Tie your hair back sparingly and make sure it isn’t too tight. Limit it as a daily style to once or twice a week (tying it back to work for an hour is fine).
Avoid Hats
Hats constrict the scalp which in turn hinders blood flow. Avoid wearing hats for long periods of time and if you are going to wear one, try for a looser fit as opposed to a snug fit. It is best if the hat rests on the head rather than fits on it.
Increase Nitric Oxide
Nitric Oxide is a chemical your body produces. It is a vasodilator, meaning it widens the blood vessels, allowing for improved blood flow and nutrient cycling. I have an article on increasing Nitric Oxide.
Blood Rush
To help get blood flowing to the scalp, hang upside down or do a handstand everyday. You can also try hanging you head and shoulders off the end of your bed or sofa. Do this for 3 minutes each day and be careful, you’ll get lightheaded and a bit dizzy afterwards. Blood rushes down with gravity and the last part of the body before the skin is the hair follicle, making this a great exercise for restoring blood flow to the hair follicle.
Ginkgo Biloba
Ginkgo Biloba is one of the oldest species of tree in the world. Ginkgo Biloba has been used in Chinese medicine to support memory and alertness for several hundred years. It does this by increasing blood flow to the brain, improving it’s ability to function and its supply of nutrients. This improved blood flow benefit also transfers to the scalp, supplying the hair follicle with more blood which in turn helps hair grow and ward off hair follicle miniaturization. It is important to ask your doctor before taking this as it interferes with some medications and should be avoided by people with circulatory and coagulation issues.
Lowering Stress
Meditate
Meditation has been repeatedly shown to lower stress. Not only does it lower your current stress levels, but it also changes your response to future stress. Meditation changes the neural pathways in the brain, meaning you react differently and more calmly to stress on a physical level. You change your body’s coding. There are plenty of resources out there on meditation and it’s benefits so I won’t delve too deeply into it. In short, sit in a place without too much light or noise, close your eyes, and only focus on breathing deeply for 10 minutes each day.
Sleep
We all know the majority of regeneration happens when you sleep. This is when you will experience the most hair growth as well as being the only time your cortisol levels are almost zero. Not getting adequate sleep also increases your cortisol levels the next day, a response to your mind perceiving something as wrong (potential danger) and in order to keep you awake & alert to it’s best ability. Fun Fact, cortisol is what keeps you awake throughout the day and is released in response to light. This is how your circadian rhythm and sleep cycle works.
Just Take Deep Breathes
Just relax. The majority of the stress you experience is all a product of your imagination and all in your head. You can change your circumstances if they bother and if you can’t change them, what’s the point of stressing over it. Remember, you only stress what you tolerate.
Have Hobbies
Find something you like to do and do it. Any time we can do something without stress or worry is good. You’ll also feel better and stress less throughout your day. Just have fun.
Supplements
Collagen
Collagen makes up the majority of the proteins in your skin, hair, and nails, making a very good supplement for improving these things. Collagen is also very good for wrinkles and tendon/joint issues. It is taken just like a regular protein powder, in a shake or smoothie. Bone Broth and Meats, especially stewed pork, are good natural sources of it.
Hyaluronic Acid
Hyaluronic Acid has quite a good synergistic effect with Collagen, making them a very good combination. Hyaluronic Acid helps your skin & hair retain moisture, keeping them supple and healthy. It’s taken just like a normal Vitamin and has zero side effects.
Biotin
Biotin, a B-Vitamin also known as Vitamin H, became a very popular supplement for hair health several years ago. It is important for the absorption and efficiency of many nutrients, as well as contributing to protein synthesis in hair, skin, and nails. Studies have shown it increases hair growth so supplementing with it would obviously help with balding and thinning.
Hair Massage
Playing With Your Hair
This is something you can do immediately to see results. It works in three ways: by massaging the scalp and improving blood flow, evening out natural oils through the strand, and softening & untangling the hair, giving that luscious, free-flowing look. Get a partner or parent to simply play with it, running their hands through your hair and twirling it around. It’s relaxing like no other activity. When you eventually get up, look in the mirror and mess around with some different flowing hairstyles.
Nightly Hair Brushing
Another method for achieving the same results is brushing your hair every night with a soft-bristle brush. Brush your hair 50-100 with a soft-bristle brush each night, gently of course. This will move the natural oils secreted by the scalp down to the ends of the hair, evenly coating it in a protective and regenerative cloak. The ends are what take the most damage, being the furthest away from the scalp it takes much longer for oils to reach it, often not reaching it in adequate amounts before being stripped away the next morning. This is why so many people struggle with split-ends. This technique has been used by women for several hundred years and is why you often see women brushing their hair so much in historical or fantasy movies. If your grandmother or great grand mother was born before the 1950’s she will likely have done it as a nightly routine.
Natural Hair Growth Soak
Soaking your hair and scalp with natural products can drastically boost hair growth and size. Essential oils, coffee, and tea all improve hair health. In particular, green tea and coconut oil are incredibly potent for this. These two ingredients are full of antioxidants and nutrients that hair and scalp need to be optimal. Simply mix a quality coconut oil with green tea, massage into the scalp and hair, let sit for 30 minutes, and rinse out with gentle cold water. Do this twice a week or as for a drastic improvement. Letting coconut oil sit in your hair overnight has been shown to speed hair growth by up to half an inch a week if you really wish to try it. I experimented with this and gained roughly an inch in two and a half weeks which matches the reports.
Apex of Men 