Aging Gray-cefully - 3 Ways to have healthier Hair and combat Hair Loss
As we age, our bodies transition in a number of ways that can affect our appearance, which can be a difficult and challenging adjustment. One big change that occurs within the aging process, is the change in our hair density and health. The rate of hair growth slows and strands become smaller with less pigment. The full mane that you may have once had eventually becomes thinner, drier, and gray in color. Sorry, to be so blunt. With each passing generation, as well as the advent of social media, the extremely high beauty standards that our society holds for women become more and more impossible to fulfill, including specifically the importance of hair as an identifier. As women age, witnessing the once beautiful hair of their youth turn gray can be psychologically detrimental. However, there are early action steps to follow that can slow down the parts of the process of hair loss and those changes do not have to be negative.
Here are 3 ways to be healthy in your hair maintenance:
Supplementing or increasing the intake of :
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Protein: Not getting enough protein on a daily basis can adversely affect your hair growth. Another step is to have get tested for specific vitamin deficiencies and consider using supplements (something you well get more exposure to through the Vitelle App in the future).
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Iron: a deficiency in iron may lead to anemia and in turn cause hair loss. Although there isn't much research that suggests taking iron supplements will prevent hair loss, a lack of iron is known to hinder the production of hemoglobin (which is needed for new hair growth).
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Vitamin B: Vitamin B is often known for its cognitive attributes but also contributes to the production of red blood cells, which is crucial to hair growth. More red blood cells means that more oxygen can be transported to the hair follicle.
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Vitamin E: Vitamin E can increase blood flow which, combined with Vitamin B, allows oxygen to be delivered in higher quantities at a much faster rate. Vitamin E can also serve as an antioxidant by relieving oxidative stress on your scalp.
RECIPE:
Nutritional yeast is high in vitamin B and sunflower seeds in vitamin E. For a nutritious and savoury snack, you can add both to popcorn. Don’t knock it, til you try it.
Improving your sleep quality:
Stress is bad for your hair and is created by poor sleep hygiene. You want to ensure the proper amount of sleep and quality thereof. As we get older and our lives seem to be more chaotic it can be very difficult to ensure that our bodies are receiving the adequate amount of hours of sleep each night. There are a few tips that can be incorporated into our lifestyle to help make sleep a priority in our daily routines. It has been said that we should not use technology right before bedtime, but it can be hard for some of us when it feels like that time right before bed is the only free time in our busy day to use our cell phones. So what can you change?
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Use Blue Light Glasses: Blue light glasses are a great way to help our eyes adjust when looking at the screens and avoid some of the harmful effects of late night scrolling.
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Switch on Night Mode / Lower Brightness on Electronics: Instead of cutting off your phone completely, we should be turning down the brightness to help our eyes and putting it into the night mode settings. The dim light might put you off holding the phone anyway and allow you to rest sooner.
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Setting a Bedtime: Giving ourselves a set timeline for when we want the lights off and to be in bed is a great way to ensure consistent sleep.
YOUR BRAIN ON SLEEP
“Sleep is a period of extraordinary and meaningful activity for the brain. Researchers have discovered that sleep acts as sort of a “flushing out” system for the brain and clearing harmful waste proteins that build up between its cells - a process that may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s and other brain diseases…
How many hours of sleep do we need? There are indeed individual differences, but the rough rule of thumb is to get five sleep cycles of 90 minutes each, which translates to 7.5 hours of sleep.
So if you want to make better decisions, rise to a higher level of performance and take care of your brain, commit to getting the sleep you need, every night. Your morning self - recharged, refreshed, and ready to take on the biggest challenges and most important decisions - will thank you”
– Baba Shiv, professor of marketing, Stanford Graduate School of Business, who has done extensive work on the emotional brain and its role in shaping decisions and experiences
Caring for not just your hair, but your scalp, too:
Like our skin is often overlooked as an organ, the scalp is only now entering the mainstream and being properly cared for.
We’ve discovered three that we love for being cruelty-free, natural and scalp focused:
The best way to handle the hair change as part of aging, is to do it positively. Like Mary and Carol, who are part of our wonderful community of women and who have put it best:
“My hair is frizzier and coarser. I have to smooth it out but don’t feel ugly because of those changes. It takes more effort to get my hair right, because of the frizz, but that’s ok. I want to keep my natural hair and let it turn gray so I can age gracefully”
– Mary Margaret Johnson, 58
“When my hair first started going gray I felt too young to be gray because I was under 50. I started coloring it but then I realized ‘why am I doing this’? so I let it go natural and I liked the gray. Get real, go gray! Gray is the new blond!”
– Carol Upshur, 60