Damaged Hair + Dry Air = Hair Nightmare – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 204
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Amanda Williams, MPH
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It’s that dreaded time of year again, when the humidity starts to drop and that dry air starts to hit. That can impact so many aspects of our health, when we think about breathing, when we think about our skin. But we also want to think about our hair. For many people, they will experience extensive seasonal hair loss during this time. We transition into fall and into winter, and it is because of that lack of humidity that the hair really starts to suffer. Obviously, we can make things worse by having things such as color-treated hair and using heat on the hair itself via hair drying and using flat irons and curling irons. So what can we be doing to hydrate from the inside out as well as topically that allows for a nourishing effect?
Oftentimes, when people start to lose hair, they start to think that something is wrong internally. And in a sense, we can say yes, we do not have the right nutrients at a high enough amount to support the structural foundation of the hair.
The hair itself contains two different structures. We have the hair follicle itself, so that’s the bulb and that’s the living part that’s underneath the actual scalp. Then, we have the hair shaft, which is the non-living part, and that’s what we actually perceive as the hair. Now, there are many different components to the hair shaft that help to make the hair strong and flexible. We can look at things like keratin, for example, which makes a big impact. When we start to strip away a lot of the humidity, that can impact that keratin, so we have to think about what we should be doing.
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What can we be doing from the inside?
We want to make sure that we are focusing in on nutrients that we know have hydrating properties. When we talk about hydrating properties, we want to think about things that are oil-based, both in terms of what we’re eating and in terms of supplementation. We want to talk about things like omega-3 fatty acids, so things like fish oil and flaxseed are always going to be beneficial. Incorporating those fatty fish like salmon into your diet can be very beneficial. We can look at those fat-soluble vitamins, such as tocotrienols, that very powerful form of Vitamin E that not only helps to support with its antioxidant properties, but it also really helps with that nourishment from the inside out, allowing for hydration through the bulb and into the hair shaft.
For more information about supplementation and diet changes that can benefit your hair health, tune into the full podcast episode.
How do outside factors impact our hair?
Hair itself is very porous and we have this fat-coated membrane that prevents the hair itself from a lot of the damage. However, when we have a loss of that fatty layer on the outside of the hair, this is when the hair becomes incredibly prone to more extensive damage. When we talk about the exposure to colorants and the chemicals that are used to dye your hair, when we talk about the high heat exposure from hair dryers, flat irons, and curling irons, this can do a significant amount of damage. Then, we add in the fact that the air itself is very dry during the fall and the winter, so this can allow that hair shaft itself to become very fragile, and it makes it more prone to breaking and splitting. This is really quite problematic.
Natural ways to help your hair
We don’t want to add insult to injury by using products with chemicals, so we want to think about things that come from nature that we know are incredibly nourishing. We think about things like coconut oil and olive oil, which we know allow the hair shaft to experience rehydration. We can look at collagen. This is key. During the fall and winter, we want to make sure that we’re not only using hydrolyzed collagen internally via a supplement, but we also want to topically be able to apply hydrolyzed collagen. It’s the same thing when we look at those tocotrienols. Not only do we want to incorporate the Tocotrienols with Pine Bark Extract orally, but we also want to topically be able to apply those powerful Vitamin E components.
We have this really great formulation, it is our Hair Repair Treatment Mask, and this is a really deep conditioning treatment for dry and damaged hair. We know during the fall and winter, people are more prone to the drying and damage of the hair. We don’t just stop with the hydrolyzed collagen, the tocotrienols, the coconut oil, and the olive oil. We also have shea butter in this, B Vitamins, and wonderful herbal extracts such as rosemary, nettle, sage, and lemongrass oil. All of these things coming from nature that help to support not only the hair shaft, but also deep down and looking at the bulb itself.
There’s also something really cool in the Hair Repair Treatment and that is egg oil. Eggs are an incredibly rich source of all different nutrients that are required for the health of the hair. When we look at all of the wide spectrum of vitamins and minerals that are contained within eggs, this is really important. The egg oil itself allows for this key way to really hydrate the hair.
Tune into the complete podcast episode to learn more about nutrients that can help your hair during the colder months.
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