My Mission for Thicker Hair!

[qwerty988]

Well, I've read about it happening to other people and now it's happened to me..... a few months into this new raw lifestyle my hair is suddenly drastically thinner. I'm shedding. What hair I do have is drier and breaking more. YUCK.

So, the following is my gameplan to take charge and create a gorgeous head of thick shiny hair. It's my intention to do everything I possibly can. If anyone has any thoughts, ideas or suggestions for anything I've missed, please let me know!

1. No 'poo. I'm on Day 6 of no more shampoo, conditioners, products -- nothing's going on my hair from now on except for ACV, baking soda, coconut oil and aloe vera.

2. Supplements -- For the past few weeks I've started taking biotin, B-complex and B-12 (both in pills and nutritional yeast), MSM (5,000 mg a day) and evening primrose oil.

3. Seaweed - I always have a tablespoon of spirulina in my daily green smoothie. I also have plenty of nori and wakame in my diet and just started using dulse flakes as a seasoning.

4. Circulation - I'm exercising 5-6 days a week and also taking cayenne pepper in my lemon water each day.

5. Dietary fats. I'm eating at least one avocado a day and have chia seed pudding almost every morning. I also use EVOO freely and raw tahini in salad dressings. I have spirulina and evening primrose oil daily.

6. Protein. Right now all I'm doing for protein is my daily green smoothies and having lots of kale and greens in salads! I don't use many nuts or seeds in cooking yet, mostly just almond mylk in my chia seed pudding..... aren't chia seeds a good source of protein as well?

7. Probiotics. Is this important for hair health? I make my own kimchi and eat A LOT of that as well as having miso soup several times a week.

Well, that's my program. I've been doing this for a while but not long enough to see any change in my hair yet.

I've also heard of Fo-Ti and am considering adding this to my regimen as well.....

Have I forgetten anything?? Any input greatly appreciated! I have no genetic predisposition to baldness and have not lost nearly enough weight to merit this kind of shedding. I'm assuming it's detox or just diet-related as it only started since I've gone raw.

Thanks for any advice! :heart

[MysticTree]

I'll be interested to see how you get on in your quest. My hair thickened up a little when I started raw but it is basically thin and I take after my father, one of his sisters and their mother in so far as we all have thin hair

[qwerty988]

I'll be posting updates, for sure!

I've always had thin hair, too -- I'm really hoping for a big change.

I have to say, my nails are already growing at twice their normal speed since I started the MSM!

[qwerty988]

Okay..... not to over-post about this but something INCREDIBLE just happened!

I had gone about 3 days without wetting my hair down in the shower, which I've done before in the past when using shampoo, since I usually only shampooed a few times a week.... anyway, this has always meant a HUGE bunch of hair would be left in the shower when I did finally shampoo it...

... and of course lately, since "the shed" started, there'd be TONS of it falling out every time I shampooed....

But this time? There was NOTHING. Seriously, not one single hair came out when I washed it just with cool water!!!!!!!!!!

Is this because of the MSM or some other supplement? Is it because I've gone no-poo???? The coconut oil massages?

I have NO IDEA.

But I'm VERY VERY HAPPY right now with how this experiment is panning out.....

[MysticTree]

It may be in part down to positive thinking! That certainly can't hurt.

[MysticTree]

oh and if you don't already know . . . you do less damage to hair with a comb than you do with a brush. Wet hair especially should always be combed through not brushed through.

[kaleboy]

I find that the green smoothies for some reason make your hair super soft and also darker in colour. What I also do is a couple of daily handstands up against the wall to get blood circulation to the head. I'm pretty sure that baldness and greying is related to a lack of blood flow and nutrients to the area. Once you come up from a handstand go and stand in front of the mirror and have a look at the scalp. You will see it is bright red from the increased blood. Another benefit of the handstand is all your organs get a nice mini reversal of gravity which will strengthen the connecting arteries etc, plus you build strength in you arms and chest over time which will also give you positive hormonal benefits and a nicer physique. Not a bad result for 1 or 2 minutes a day...

[MysticTree]

I find that the green smoothies for some reason makes your hair soft and also darker in colour. What I also do is a couple of handstands up against the wall to get blood circulation to the head. I'm pretty sure that baldness and greying is related to a lack of blood flow and nutrients to the area. Once you come up from a handstand go and stand in front of the mirror and have a look at the scalp. You will see it is bright red from the increased blood. Another benefit of the handstand is all your organs get a nice mini reversal of gravity which will strengthen the connecting arteries etc, plus you build strength in you arms and chest over time which will also give you positive hormonal benefits. Not a bad result for 1 or 2 minutes a day...

I love that idea. It's so simple it probably does exactly what you say! I will try it.

[qwerty988]

Thanks for the great ideas.

I'm only using a comb from now on..... and I guess I'll have to give handstands a try as well, I've never done one in my life!

[qwerty988]

Update time!

I'm pleased to report a HUGE DIFFERENCE in my hair, both length and thickness.

The rate of growth has been insane the past 2 months.... easily over a half-inch a month. There's also lots of new shorter growth coming in, and visually it's really different.... my scalp just isn't showing through like it was.

What I kept up consistently for these results:

- supplementing with MSM (3,000-5,000 mgs a day) and biotin and evening primrose oil
- daily fats from lots of avocados and EVOO, but not chia seeds so much anymore
- no 'poo...... washing it in baking soda and rinsing it in ACV
- only using a comb
- exercising SOMETIMES, but not consistently 5/6 days a week like i was at first hahahahhaaaa!
- using NO HAIR STYLING PRODUCTS whatsoever, other than dyeing it once every six weeks or so.

Now I've just decided to start using henna instead of dye, so hopefully that'll help too.

I'll post again in another month or so.... but so far I'd say this program is working incredibly well and I'm thrilled with the results!!!! I don't know what caused the hair shed, I'm just relieved that it finally stopped....

[PansyLo]

I was hoping my hair would get thicker and healthier on a raw diet, not thinner. Only time will tell I suppose!

My hair's thickness is pretty normal, it's not incredibly thick but not thin at all.

I'm taking pretty good care of it, washing it once every week to ten days. I deep condition it, don't blow dry or straighten it. Comb it carefully with my fingers/a wide tooth comb and brush it with a boar bristle brush to distribute the natural oils through it. I do as little as possible to it so as not to stress it.

I would sooner stop washing my hair altogether than to use baking soda and lemon on it, too harsh. I have quite curly hair and it tends to react badly to anything that's not gentle, I've used bicarbonate of soda before on it when removing dye and it just strips it. Your hair will actually cope very well without being washed. Most people wash their hair way too often. Every time you wash it it causes minor stress and damage that builds up. When you do wash it you want to use the most gentle products.

Anyone who's ever worked with real hair extensions will come to better understand the fragility of hair and how to treat it.

The head stand thing sounds very silly but also fun and worth a try! I can see the logic.

[qwerty988]

I was hoping my hair would get thicker and healthier on a raw diet, not thinner. Only time will tell I suppose!

My hair's thickness is pretty normal, it's not incredibly thick but not thin at all.

I'm taking pretty good care of it, washing it once every week to ten days. I deep condition it, don't blow dry or straighten it. Comb it carefully with my fingers/a wide tooth comb and brush it with a boar bristle brush to distribute the natural oils through it. I do as little as possible to it so as not to stress it.

I would sooner stop washing my hair altogether than to use baking soda and lemon on it, too harsh. I have quite curly hair and it tends to react badly to anything that's not gentle, I've used bicarbonate of soda before on it when removing dye and it just strips it. Your hair will actually cope very well without being washed. Most people wash their hair way too often. Every time you wash it it causes minor stress and damage that builds up. When you do wash it you want to use the most gentle products.

Anyone who's ever worked with real hair extensions will come to better understand the fragility of hair and how to treat it.

The head stand thing sounds very silly but also fun and worth a try! I can see the logic.


I treated my hair very gently as well! I never washed it daily and have never used lemon on it.

The hair shed was very sudden and drastic and resulted from the change in diet. It's pretty common from what I've read on this site. I hope it doesn't happen to you -- you'd think a raw food diet would make hair thicker, not fall out! But apparently some women do experience this as a form of detox, so I wanted to post my experience to help anyone it does happen to!

My hope is that my hair will grow back thicker and stronger than it was...... it's still too soon to know for sure, although I have to say there's a TON of new growth happening now, probably due to the MSM and hair supplements (my nails are growing insanely fast, too!)

When you go no 'poo, as I have, you usually wash it just in water with only the occasional baking soda/acv rinses. The baking soda paste is harsh for some people, but I don't do it often and find I miss it when I don't use it. I do this a few times a month and after using henna, otherwise it's just washed in cool water.

There are many threads here about people who no longer 'poo and love it!! (Myself included, I'll never 'poo again hahahahahaa!)

[MysticTree]

hair loss is probably a very normal thing to expect. If you think of how an animal moults and sheds fur when there is a change in diet or when their bodies go through a rough patch. I think it could be expected that hair would get worse before it got better when going raw.

[qwerty988]

hair loss is probably a very normal thing to expect. If you think of how an animal moults and sheds fur when there is a change in diet or when their bodies go through a rough patch. I think it could be expected that hair would get worse before it got better when going raw.

I totally agree. But I have to be honest -- it was pretty devastating to suddenly have all my hair start to fall out!

I'm still happy I switched to raw..... but if I had known this was a possibility I would've started taking supplements immediately.

[Traceyraw]

Qwerty How do you like the Henna. I tried it before but it was very tedious and all parts of my hair didn't take to it. I read alfalfa sprouts help hair growth. I am glad to see your progress

[qwerty988]

Qwerty How do you like the Henna. I tried it before but it was very tedious and all parts of my hair didn't take to it. I read alfalfa sprouts help hair growth. I am glad to see your progress

To be honest, I ADORE the henna.

It's more time-consuming than dye, though -- the first time I did it, I left it on for 2 hours, next time I'll probably leave it on for 5 or 6.

It really conditions the hair nicely. But it can take a few applications to get all your hair the shade you want (I like deep red-red-red hair hahahahaaa!)

For me, there's no downside. I love the color, I love that it's natural, I love the conditioning aspect..... I wish I had known about it years ago, I feel bad for how many years I've colored my hair with chemicals!!! Since going raw I had stopped coloring it -- but that looked horrible, so the henna was a real godsend to me.

[PansyLo]

There are many threads here about people who no longer 'poo and love it!! (Myself included, I'll never 'poo again hahahahahaa!)

I'm too much of a hair freak to go no 'poo! Going no 'poo would be pointless as the only reason I take such good care of it is so I can chemically treat it and cause minimum damage in a few months.

I'm hoping this detox shedding thing doesn't happen to me...

[isabellamcguire]

Raw Ho Shou Wu works.

[isabellamcguire]

I found the Ho Shou Wu in bulk at our local Co Op. Don't ask me what made me buy it. I didn't know anything about it but it just looked interesting and I love experimenting. After 3 weeks I suddenly noted new hair growth at my hairline on one side of my forehead. I had no idea what had caused this so I carefully went through all my supplements trying to figure it out. I researched the Ho Shou Wu and voila I found my answer. My hair had been thinning but I made no particular effort to fix the problem though inadvertently found an answer. I wound up with very thick hair with consistent use of the Shou Wu. I don't remember who but someone (maybe someone at the store) explained that I should boil it initially then let it simmer for half an hour. I use an old pyrex coffee pot since it's fairly big and I can make tea for about five days to a week in it. (Don't use metal for this. You can probably find and old Pyrex coffee pot at the Goodwill.) I put a very small handful of herb and fill the container up with water, boil, simmer and there you have it. Store in frig. and have a cup or more each day. I learned yesterday that Shou Wu has a high iron and zinc content. Seems like a lot of women have low ferritin levels these days so maybe that explains at least on some level how the herb works to thicken hair. Ho Shou Wu also comes in pill form but I think the raw herb is the best form.

[LexieW]

Oooh.. Ho Shou Wu sounds neat! Since I stopped 'poo-ing I've had considerably less hair loss, and my hair is growing at a much faster rate. Like, so fast I can see it, even with really curly hair which usually disguises a lot of length.

But I have been trying to find more Zinc-rich foods/herbs (I don't like the texture of soaked pecans and I'm too lazy to do too much with them anyway), so I'll have to look into it.

[isabellamcguire]

I have been using the Shou Wu (or sometimes it's called Fo Ti) for about a month now. I now have new hair growth at both of my temples. I had my labs done last week. They show low Ferritin and Red Blood Cells. Ho Shou Wu has high levels of iron so it's probably helped build my ferritin (iron) level because I feel much more energetic than I did. And looking forward to feeling even better once it's built up to normal. It takes at least 3 weeks of iron use to start feeling better so it'll take probably maybe a few more months to bring my levels up to normal. Also I see that it's very difficult to get vitamin B12 without using animal products. So I'm eating cooked eggs. B12 helps build and maintain red blood cells. I eat mostly raw. The diet has helped me feel much clearer and more positive but each time I try it I start losing hair. Not sure why but I'm taking care of the iron and B12 problems. Otherwise my labs are great and I feel pretty healthy. I hope this helps others. Hair thinning is a terrible problem. I suggest people have their ferritin levels checked. And ladies who exercise a lot especially runners are at risk of low levels. Never mind menstruation also!

[glacier921]

I am starting to use tons of msm for thicker hair. 8 grams starting today. I have been taking 2 grams but I am starting to up it to 8 grams. How is your project coming along?