The Caring Hair Boutique

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Whilst a nutritionist may not be a "Hair Care Expert" it is fair to say that good nutrition can offer your hair growth system true support...

• Supplements can offer added strength to aid hair growth and improve texture

• Help aid skin, hair, and nail problems

• Did you know that breakfast is the most important meal to support your hair?

• Scalp disorders can benefit from individual nutrition assessments

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The term “we are what we eat” is becoming more widely understood, and during and after some treatments for cancer you may have experienced problems with eating or maintaining a healthy weight. You may realise that your body feels exhausted from dealing with both the physical and emotional effects of cancer and treatment and all these factors can have an effect on your hair.

The body regards hair as a non-essential organ, so it takes all the nutrients and energy it needs to the essential parts of the body first thus leaving the nutritional supply to the hair at the end of the list. This is why it can take a while for you to notice improvements to your hair, as the body takes the nutrients elsewhere first.

It makes good sense that a well balanced diet can help supply the body with the nutrients it needs to support the hair growth system. It is not just that you should eat healthily, but that during illness and treatment the body’s ability to effectively absorb essential vitamins and nutrients can alter. You may have been asked to change your eating habits during treatment or follow a particular diet. All of this may affect your nutritional intake, and thus your hair.

Often after illness or treatment people say that their hair and skin feels different ,and not as good as before because the combination of disease, illness, and lack of nutrition can show on the hair. For some the new hair growth, or existing hair, is brittle or weaker, others notice scalp issues such as an increase in dandruff or an oily scalp and good nutrition can help level these situations out.

For those who have experienced hair loss as a temporary side effect of treatment, (in particular chemotherapy), a nutritional boost can help you support new growth and gives you the essential vitamins and minerals necessary for optimum growth.

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In general, having checked with your doctor first, and providing they have no objections, the following nutritional advice will help support a healthy head of hair and encourage hair growth:

• Breakfast is the most important meal of the day for our hair. This is because overnight the body is depleted of energy levels and this affects the energy that supports the hair follicles and hair growth system. Hair is composed of mainly proteins and so likes a healthy balanced diet and protein for breakfast such as a combination of fruit and protein foods such as nuts, eggs, salmon, fish or meat.

• Healthy snacks every 4 hours, such as nuts, fruit and vegetables help to maintain energy levels – as soon as your energy dips so too does the support to the hair growth system

• Maintain a balanced and healthy diet – if you are a vegetarian or have any specific diet issues then make sure you have the right combination of nutritional intake. A nutritionist can help advise you

• Eat organic foods – it is commonly believed that the chemicals used in industrial farming do not have a positive effect on our health, so eat organic. This way you can be sure of what is going into your body

• Plenty of water helps our entire system function and keeps skin and hair looking good – check with your care team what amount is recommended as your daily intake

• Taking a natural supplement specifically for hair growth will help boost essential vitamins

For more detailed information please see the links below: