HAIR
Finding the keys to healthy hair.
Author/s: Karyn Siegel-Maier
Whether its long or short, thick or thin, your hair is more than a biological accessory -- it tells a story about you. Just as your skin can reveal your current state of emotional and physical health, the look and manageability of your locks can reflect good health or a hormonal and dietary imbalance. Your hair also reveals something about your genetic background, which dictates its texture, volume, and color. Pretty amazing, huh? Especially given the fact that you hair is not alive.
Hair is composed of non-living tissue, mostly of a fibrous protein known as keratin and is devoid of nerves. Obviously, if this were not the case, getting a haircut would be a painful event. But, even though hair is not alive it isn't stagnant either. In fact, it's the most vigorous growing protein found in the body and is encountered everywhere with, thankfully, the exception of the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet. The only living and feeling component of hair is the root, which sprouts from one of approximately 100,000 follicles on the average human head. However, blondes and redheads usually have more hair follicles than do people with darker hair.
Dressing your hair
What about the myriad products available on the market today to make your hair look its best? Can they really nourish, condition and add glorious shine? Well, yes -- and no.
Since each strand of hair that stems from the scalp is protected by a fairly impermeable shaft, vitamins and minerals often found in hair-care products offer limited benefits in terms of actually nourishing hair. Mainly, your hair receives its nutrition from what you feed your body. Nevertheless, the nutrients included in better hair-care products do penetrate the uppermost layer of your scalp to nourish the network of underlying blood vessels and encourage healthy new cell growth and the production of keratin in hair follicles. As new cells are formed, the old cells are pushed away from the scalp and form a string of dead keratin cells (your hair) at an average rate of six inches per year. Stimulation of the blood vessels received while massaging the scalp in applying such products as shampoo, for instance, also promote healthy cell growth. The addition of vitamins and certain botanicals in hair-care products also serve to coat the hair shaft, leading to increased shine, softness and manageability.
What's in your haircare products?
Not all hair-care products are created equal. While the labels of many shampoos and conditioners on the market today boast that they contain natural herbal extracts and flower essences, they may also contain some potentially harmful ingredients that aren't as aggressively lauded on the label. Of course, deciphering what's in the product isn't always an easy task either.
Even simple botanicals and vitamins must be listed according to their chemical name among the list of ingredients, as dictated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But you can learn which all-too-common ingredients are best to avoid.
Sodium Laurel Sulfate and Sodium Laureth Sulfate: Both of these chemicals are high in nitrates, irritating to skin and known to cause allergic reactions.
Lauramide DEA: Added to promote lathering, this semi-synthetic agent is also irritating to skin and responsible for allergic reactions.
Propylene Glycol: Check the label of your hair-care products for this ingredient, which is also a common skin allergen.
And, what about hair coloring and perm solutions? These products are designed to alter the chemical and molecular structure of hair and may contain some potent and hazardous chemicals to do the job. A few such chemicals are nitro-2-aminophenols and resorcinol and phenylenediamine derivatives (often containing the suffix o-, p- or m-). Ammonia is another common ingredient sometimes masked by the more pleasing term aromatic amines. All of these have been associated with an increased occurrence of asthma, Hodgkins disease, lymphoma, breast cancer, bladder cancer, and a form of leukemia called essential thrombocythemia.
Other Pages
The key to healthy hair 1
The key to healthy hair 2
The key to healthy hair 3
