What are the true causes of hair loss and what can we do to deal with problem hair? Ann-Louise Holland from Kansha Alchemy tells all
There are so many nutrients you can take to help feed your hair so it grows stronger and healthier, but if you actually have problem hair that is shedding or thinning, your hair needs more than just extra nourishment.
The problem of shedding and thinning hair is not that it lacks the nutrients, the problem is, the systems in the body that grow the hair are compromised and need to be corrected. I went on a journey of discovery when my hair started to get really thin; you could see through to the scalp, and I was diagnosed with androgenic alopecia. This is also called Male Pattern Baldness, but women get this too and it is becoming more and more common.
I learnt a few simple truths, yes the hair probably does need better nutrients, but according to the American Hairloss Association, androgenic alopecia is caused by DHT, a derivative of testosterone. And with DHT, it’s not that we have too much testosterone, it’s that our bodies are converting it too readily into the dreaded DHT. So why does it do this?
Symptoms
The number one reason this happens is modern, excessive food production and poor diets which disrupt the microbiome, the harmony of bacteria in the gut that helps us digest and assimilate food. Some people have far more sensitive stomachs than others, but any kind of disturbance in the digestion, whether it’s the occasional bloating, heartburn or a full-blown food allergy, can indicate the gut flora is out of whack. The causes are many, from eating mainly processed foods or ready meals, increased use of pharmaceuticals especially anti-biotics, plus too much sugar and alcohol are all key. A recent study showed that alchohol and binge drinking is a major factor in poor quality gut bacteria and symptoms related to leaky gut, which means food is not being absorbed properly.
Eating a healthy and more natural diet, taking a pro-biotic, eating super greens and juicing will all help to bring back a healthy gut, but none of us are saints, and we also need to turn the mechanism that creates the DHT off. After taking tons of supplements that didn’t do anything for my hair, I created Good Hair Nutrient Complex. Good Hair is a nutrient complex and I created it to address the causes of thinning hair and excessive shedding which works in four key ways:
Ingredients
Firstly Good Hair contains DHT blockers to stop the conversion from testosterone and decrease sensitivity to DHT, turning off the thinning hair mechanism once and for all.
Secondly Good Hair contains all the vital nutrients the body needs to create good hair such as amino acids which help metabolise nutrients into keratin the substance of hair, and biotin which is well-known for its role in healthy hair formation. So that when you turn off the DHT and switch on the hair growth, the nutrients are there to feed the follicles.
Thirdly it helps increase blood flow to the scalp, so that the nutrients are delivered where they are needed, but you can also help this by massaging the scalp.
Lastly the natural ‘anti-androgenics’ in Good Hair keep the hair in the growing, anagen phase (because after this, hair gets ready to fall out), which means far less shedding, which is vital to keep hair in a thick and healthy state.
Active
Good Hair does not contain any synthetic fillers or bulking agents which you see in the ingredients list on so many major hair vitamin brands. These ‘extras’ add another layer around the active ingredients, so they are harder to absorb readily. I know how distressing hair thinning and shedding can be, so I made sure Good Hair would work optimally without the hindrance of these. I went to extra lengths to source good quality ingredients that are minimally processed, and then didn’t mask them in anything synthetic, so they are super potent and can be absorbed more readily and therefore work harder.
Top Tips To Help Hair Growth:
- Improve your gut microbiome, take a pro-biotic regularly.
- Massage your scalp either with your fingertips, or use a massage tool, or if you are braver, a scalp-roller.
- Diet wins such as eating more greens and dosing on super greens, juicing and even seeing whether giving up dairy will help.
- Kick the prophylactics, reduce the amount of pharmaceuticals such as painkillers or sleeping tablets, and if you do take them, take them with a pro-biotic or with food.
- Stop using shampoo and conditioners with silicones, as fine hair doesn’t do well with the coating that these provide, so look for ranges that say they don’t contain them.
Kansha Alchemy was developed by beauty industry exec turned alternative health practitioner and yoga teacher Ann-Louise Holland, who wanted to create products that made a difference, and after suffering from thinning hair herself, Ann-Louise researched the underlying problems to thinning hair and recognised it was possible to re-gain healthy hair growth. After studying alternative health and herbalism for fifteen years she developed Good Hair Nutrient Complex to address the actual ‘root’ of the problem.
Key ingredients in Good Hair:
Vitamin A, C & E plus B Vitamins, Magnesium, Zinc, Saw Palmetto, Green Tea, Niacin, Iron, MSM, PABA, N-Acetyl-Cysteine, Inositol, Choline, Selenium, Grape Seed extract, Gingko Biloba, Beta Carotene, Bamboo Silica, Nettle Leaf, Biotin, Manganese, Chromium, Folic Acid, Iodine.
