Essential Repair Diet

You are looking for Essential Repair from the inside --> out! You are looking for a a good, essential repair healthy hair diet and at least using a vitamin nutritional supplement (or specific Vitamins for Hair Growth). This is not new or cutting edge  information but rather a quick general overview (or review) of basic information related to hair and diet.

In some cases finding our Essential Repair Diet can be as easy as writing down what we are eating and comparing this to what we the experts say we should be eating. For this purpose and in alphabetical order: carbohydrates,  fats,  proteins, and water,  are the basic building blocks of a good diet. So first write down what you are eating and review to sure you start with a good diet before making any further adjustments. (see **** below for tables to showing  both the USDA, the Harvard, & vegetarian  minimum dietary recommendations.)

If you have a history of hair loss in the family you are probably already using the vitamins targeted at hair growth or preventing hair loss. You already know the family history leans in the direction of hair loss. So you are looking to find the combination of diet and supplements that will reduce your specific hair loss problem for your. Luckily what is good for your hair, is also good for your entire body. The trick is finding and using the combination of diet and food supplements that keeps you hair healthy and growing. It is possible that mom, dad and both grandparents were not even aware that diet could be a contributing factor. On the other hand they may have discovered how to correct their problem with diet so start by asking family members (especially those with hair) if they had any experience with hair loss.  Asking family members is particularly important for women, as hair loss can be a side effect of hormone changes after pregnancy and during menopause. Hormone replacement therapy may also help, reduce or stop hair loss. 

It is lucky for us that diet is something we all do every day. Getting advice from a dietary specialist can cost us some up-front money but it may also save a lot of time. Professional help is generally a wise investment where own health is concerned. just ask the dietary specialist if they have experience with hair loss prevention or hair loss reversal diets. If they do not have hair loss dietary experience perhaps they have a colleague that does. Even if they do not know anyone you have made them aware of your "hair loss priority" so then ask them if they are willing to work with you to find your answers for your hair loss. In short we need to A)- learn  to pay attention -- and B)- have the patience to discover those things that working for us. Just be aware that this process does not happen overnight it takes a relatively long period of time (3 months to a year) to see any changes at all in our hair.

For example, being overweight runs on my side of the family. My daughter wisely decided being so much overweight was threatening her long term health so she went in for lap-band surgery. One of the side effects was hair loss (no disappearing hair now but noticeable, falling out, hair loss). This hair loss was and and still is an expected side effects of the large reduction in protein that goes along with the "lap-band diet."  After all, our hair is a protein that grows out of the hair follicles. In her case she knew this could happen. Just like many mothers tell their daughters that after you have a baby you may experience hair loss. It seems that while you are carrying the baby your hormones change and you "keep your hair longer." Then after the baby comes the hormones change again and you loose the extra hair your "baby on board" hormones were helping you keep.  In both cases (the decision to loose excess, almost life threatening, weight, ...  and the decision to have a child) the hair loss is a side effect and the main goals (gaining an over-all healthy weight and having a baby) are much more important than the temporary changes in hair density.

The easiest thing to do is take a pre-formulated, essential repair diet supplement. If you have done this and still have a hair growth problem, here is a starting place for your review. It is like a "homework assignment" that you can apply to your life and take with you, to your nutritional specialist, if you are not getting the desired increase in hair growth, you want. Remember hair grows only 1/2" per month and it takes your body 3 to 4 months to react to changes you are making in your diet and food supplements. So if you are healthy and have the time, start taking supplements and see if your hair improves. Keep accurate records of what you have tried, to take to a nutritional specialist (hopefully you started with a nutritional specialist) if you do not see the increased hair growth you desire. Here is a chart of the vitamins & minerals associated with hair growth and the foods where you would find them.

Also see Damaged Hair, Best Deep Conditioner for Damaged Hair, Best Hair Conditioner, Conditioner, Conditioning Masques,

** Recommended Daily Allowance (RDAs)  is defined by the government board to mean:  "the levels of intake of essential nutrients considered, in the judgment of the Food and Nutrition Board on the basis of available scientific knowledge, to be adequate to meet the known nutritional needs of practically all healthy persons." The RDA should not be confused with nutritional requirements. Individual requirements vary due to genetic differences, and many other factors. Therefore, the RDAs represent estimates that exceed the requirements of most people. They were not intended to be as a guide for optimal individual nutritional needs, which vary depending on age, gender, weight, height,  and general health of each person. In short if you are serious about optimizing  your diet you need the help of a health care professional who has been trained to adjust diets based on your specific needs. 

*** Warnings: here are some warnings we found while reading various articles related to nutrition.

• Except for vitamins A and D, it's not harmful to consume two to three times the recommended levels of vitamins.
• Additionally, where hair is concerned too much zinc causes a reaction in the body that gives the same end result as too little copper (think of zinc as the pack man video game character eating the copper).
• Iron supplements should be taken only if a deficiency exists. Instead we suggest eating the foods rich in iron, listed below.  If you are going to take an iron supplement, always take it separately, rather than in a multivitamin and mineral formulations. Do not take iron with a supplement containing vitamin E, and of course do not take vitamin E at the same time you are taking your iron.
• If you smoke cigarettes you need at least twice the normal amount of vitamin C

**** Food groups from - the food pyramid guide  (shown here in chart format) - suggested minimum daily requirements

from the Harvard pyramid (shown here in chart format)   - suggested minimum daily requirements

from the vegetarian food pyramid  (shown here in chart format)  - suggested minimum daily requirements

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