The Beauty Diet (23 page)
Authors: Lisa Drayer
The
medulla
is the innermost layer of hair. This part of the shaft reflects light, which is why hair looks so different in sunlight.
Healthy hair depends on two things:
1.
Having a healthy scalp with healthy follicles
2.
Giving your body the building blocks it needs to construct strong, lustrous hair shafts
Stunning hair and a healthy scalp require quality protein, healthy fats, clean water, vital vitamins, and mighty minerals—in the correct amounts. If you consume too much of any one thing, you may end up causing more problems than you correct. For example, an excess of some micronutrients can cause you to lose hair. As long as you follow my Beauty Diet, you'll have all the beneficial components you need with no risks and no harmful side effects.
Many people assume that good hair care starts with shampoo. In fact, beautiful hair starts with what you eat. Hair is about 97 percent protein, so protein is a good place to begin this discussion.
Your protein intake can have a dramatic effect on the texture of your hair. Without enough protein, your body cannot make new, beautiful hair to replace the hair that has shed. Too little protein can change the texture of your hair. It can result in hair that is dull, dry, thin, brittle, and weak. Not getting enough protein can affect hair color, too. According to Dr. Martha H. Stipanuk, a Cornell University professor who studies the effects of protein malnutrition, if you're consuming less than 7 percent of calories from protein (or less than 26 grams on a 1,500-calorie diet), you can undergo changes in hair pigmentation. You may start to see pale hair or have a band of hair that is a different color.
A main component of hair is keratin, which gives hair its strength and elasticity. Keratin is made up of amino acids, particularly cysteine. It is not necessary to find dietary sources of cysteine, specifically, because it can be synthesized by your body—provided you consume an adequate amount of protein daily.
Eating food from a variety of different protein sources will help ensure you take in adequate amounts of hair-protective amino acids. Among my Top 10 Beauty Foods, the highest amount of protein is found in salmon, yogurt, walnuts, and oysters. Other good sources of protein include fish, shellfish, turkey, chicken, beef, lamb, soybeans, eggs, nuts, and dairy products. (For more information about protein sources, see
Chapter 1
.)
Your body needs quality fats to grow hair, since about 3 percent of the shaft is made up of lipids. In addition, fats are needed to build the cell membranes in the skin of your scalp and for the natural oil that keeps your scalp and hair from drying out.
As you saw in the last chapter, a deficiency of essential fatty acids can cause problems like eczema and dermatitis.
|
Mayonnaise Makes Hair Sleek and Glossy |
You would think the ingredients in mayonnaise—including eggs, lemon juice, and oil—would help condition hair. However, applying mayonnaise directly to your hair is just a messy, smelly process that is not worth the unconfirmed benefits. No scientific evidence exists to justify using this sandwich staple for sleek hair; it just leaves your hair feeling heavy and is difficult to rinse out. Treating your hair with mayonnaise is effective only if you have head lice, since mayonnaise suffocates them. For healthy, shiny hair, consume a well-balanced diet that is high in omega-3 fatty acids and monounsaturated fats, found in nuts, avocados, and olive oil. Quality fats will help you maintain healthy, glowing skin and shiny, soft hair from the inside out—with no smelly, sticky residue! |
BEAUTY MYTHThese conditions can affect your scalp and give you dandruff. A lack of essential fatty acids can also make your hair dry, brittle, and slow growing.
You are probably getting enough omega-6 fatty acids in your diet already, but you may have what's called a
subclinical deficiency
of omega-3 fatty acids. Among my Top 10 Beauty Foods, salmon, walnuts, and spinach contain omega-3 fatty acids. Other sources include mackerel, herring, sardines, trout, flax, hemp seeds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, soybeans, and whole grain products.
About 12 to 15 percent of hair is water. As you already know from
Chapter 2
, it's important to drink plenty of clean water for its beauty benefits and for the proper functioning of every system in the body. Every cell, and every hair follicle, needs water. Water is also needed to transport amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients to your scalp, keeping the surface of the skin healthy.
As you read in
Chapter 1
, dietary fiber helps make sure food moves through the intestinal tract in a timely manner. This prevents undigested food from hanging around in the intestines for too long, a problem that can prevent nutrients from being absorbed, leading to dull, dry hair.
Dietary fiber also plays a role in eliminating toxins from the body. When food does not exit the body quickly, toxins can build up in the gut. Some skin-care experts believe toxins contribute to scalp and hair problems. Toxins like heavy metals are absorbed into the hair and excreted, which is why hair analysis is used to look for mercury, aluminum, iron, copper, cadmium, lead, arsenic, and nickel.
To be on the safe side, aim for at least 20 to 25 grams of fiber each day. An added bonus is that fiber takes the edge off appetite, which helps you stay slim.
Many commercial vitamin and mineral preparations claim they will accelerate hair growth, make hair stronger and longer, help prevent hair loss, and so on. If you are eating a balanced diet, these products should not be necessary. In some cases they might even throw off the natural balance among the nutrients found in the food you eat. Following are some vitamins considered important to a healthy scalp and rich, luxuriant locks.
Vitamin A plays a vital role in the growth and health of cells and tissues throughout the body, including the cells of the scalp and hair. A fat-soluble antioxidant, vitamin A also helps produce and protect the sebum (oil) in the scalp, and a deficiency can cause dandruff. Ironically, an excess of vitamin A (due to supplements) causes hair loss. My favorite way to get enough vitamin A is to consume plenty of beta-carotene, since the body can then synthesize
all the vitamin A it needs. Among my Top 10 Beauty Foods, you'll find significant amounts of beta-carotene in sweet potatoes, spinach, kiwi, and tomatoes. You can also add beta-carotene to your diet with foods like pumpkin, carrots, chilies, mangoes, cantaloupe, and apricots. Among my Top 10 Beauty Foods, preformed vitamin A can be found in oysters, yogurt, and salmon. (For more information on vitamin A, see
Chapter 7
.)
Without vitamin B, hair growth slows and the hair shafts produced are weak and brittle. Some B vitamins are believed to help prevent hair loss, some are thought to assist with the production of keratin, and others are said to boost circulation to the scalp. Vitamin B
6
helps create melanin, which gives hair its color. A major player in commercial hair products is biotin (B
7
), perhaps because a bona fide deficiency of this vitamin causes hair loss. On the other hand, studies have not demonstrated that people who already have adequate levels of biotin will benefit from ingesting even more. Some shampoos now contain biotin, but it is not certain this ingredient has any useful effect. Vitamins B
6
, B
12
, and folate (B
9
) all help to form red blood cells, which bring oxygen to the hair and allow it to grow at a healthy rate. As you have learned already, the B vitamins work together, so a deficiency of any one of them can affect the proper functioning of the whole group. Different foods have different amounts of each B vitamin, so eat a varied diet to obtain all of them. Among my Top 10 Beauty Foods, the best source of thiamine (B
1
) and biotin (B
7
) is walnuts, the best source of riboflavin (B
2
) and pantothenic acid (B
5
) is yogurt, the best source of niacin (B
3
) is wild salmon, the best source of folate (B
9
) is spinach, and the best source of cobalamin (B
12
)—which is available only from animal sources—is oysters. Spinach, walnuts, and salmon are all good sources of pyridoxine (B
6
).
|
Lemon Juice Will Lighten Your Hair |
True or false? This beauty myth is actually partly true. If you put lemon juice in your hair and stay inside, nothing will happen, even if you use a hair dryer. To get the lightening effect of lemons, work a generous amount of lemon juice into your hair, then go outside in the sun. The UV light will lighten your hair. When lemon juice is applied to your hair, the citric acid in the lemon juice opens up the cuticle. Once the cuticle is open, the hair becomes more sensitive to changes such as sunlight. The combination of the acid in the lemon juice, the oxygen in the air, and the UV rays from the sun results in a bleaching process. The lemon juice acts as a catalyst, so you will see your hair lighten faster. This reaction is called |
A nutrient superhero, vitamin C is essential to fabulous hair and a healthy scalp. It aids circulation to the skin and maintains the capillaries that support the hair follicles. If you are not eating abundant amounts of vitamin C–rich foods every day, you may not have enough to take care of your lovely locks. In fact, a deficiency of vitamin C can cause hair breakage. Among my Top 10 Beauty Foods, significant amounts of vitamin C are found in blueberries, kiwi, sweet potatoes, spinach, and tomatoes. Vitamin C is also found in foods like peppers, oranges, strawberries, lemons, and broccoli. (For more information on vitamin C, see
Chapter 1
.)
Because it is a fat-soluble antioxidant, vitamin E protects the scalp's natural oils. Vitamin E also works well with other antioxidants to protect lipid membranes. This vitamin has also been reported to improve scalp circulation. Among my Top 10 Beauty Foods, vitamin E can be found in blueberries, kiwifruit, spinach, tomatoes, and walnuts.
Other good sources of vitamin E include wheat germ, sunflower seeds, safflower and sunflower oils, almonds, peaches, prunes, cabbage, asparagus, and avocados. (For more information on vitamin E, see
Chapter 3
.)
Good things come in small packages. If you've ever opened a blue gift box from Tiffany and Co., you know that a very big box is great . . . but a small box is better!