Lifestyle Choices

What is the Cause of Hair Loss?

There are many causes. The most simple is that of poor circulation in the scalp, hair breakage from poor treatment or overprocessing, and temporary illness or stress. Other reasons include hormonal imbalance, underactive thyroid, drugs, and poor diet (specifically too little B vitamins, vitamin C, zinc, sulfur, and iron). If you find you are losing your hair at a rapid rate, don’t panic. There is a strong link between anxiety and hair loss, and a temporary excess shedding of hair at the telogen stage can be made much worse by worry about it. Instead, go through the process of elimination to discover possible causes and then seek whatever treatment is necessary to help correct the excess shedding. Start by asking yourself the following questions.

Are you taking any medication? The Pill or estrogen in hormone- replacement therapy is a common cause for thinning hair—thinning that is usually corrected in a few weeks after stopping it. Anti-coagulants, cortisone, and diet pills such as amphetamines are other offenders, as is boric acid, which occurs in many common proprietary products, from ointments for cuts and burns to eye baths. Thyroid medication can also be the culprit. So can simple aspirin, if you take as many as one or two a day. (more…)

Forget about counting kilojoules, but accept that they are not all equal. By now you know that unnecessary kilojoules gained from fat are the biggest contributors to your excess weight and detractors from your general well-being. You might as well also accept the fact that the enjoyment of fat-rich foods started off as a habit; one that perverted your taste buds to favour certain kinds of foods -the fatty kind, usually concocted into a fat feast with the addition of refined starch, sugar and/or salt. And I daresay, a habit that possibly grew into full-blown emotional dependence on the sensual comfort they provide - a dependence that hampers emotional growth in the long run and pushes you further into the vicious cycle of eating to feel better, only to wake up feeling worse.

But simply removing fat from the cooking process would mean removing a great deal of taste and juiciness as well. And you should also know that in the long run, bland and fat-free food could cause you to abandon your healthy eating plan. (more…)