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Dull, lifeless hair, a ponytail that is becoming less and less full… Well, both men and women struggle with hair loss, but the difference between men and women is very clearly present here.
While men often struggle with a receding hairline or a bald spot on top of the head, women tend to deal more with diffuse hair loss. In other words, women's hair becomes thinner overall . And consequently, often less shiny as well. In this blog, you will read everything you can do to regain a beautiful, shiny head of hair.
The main causes of thinning hair
Below, we give you a brief overview of the main reasons for thinning, duller hair, so that you will know exactly what the cause is in your case. And, of course, what you can do about it.
1. Reduce and avoid stress for your beautiful hair
Anyone familiar with my books or programs knows this: stress is the biggest disruptor of your hormonal balance. At its core, stress is about survival, and your body drops everything to fight or flee. Consequently, the thyroid hormone is also put on hold. And this hormone is intended, among other things, for the daily care of your body. As a result of high stress, you often notice this first in the poorer quality of your skin (drier), nails (breaking), and hair, which becomes thinner and dull.
2. Your hair also needs important vitamins and minerals.
The second important reason is our diet, which often contains insufficient healthy fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals. And in fact, it is simple: if you do not get those nutrients, your hair cannot be adequately cared for from the inside out. We often buy expensive creams and shampoos for our hair, but real care actually starts from within. With the right nutrients. And don't forget, unhealthy food is also stressful for your body, and that negatively affects your thyroid hormone. So, you are essentially getting hit twice.
Now, an unhealthy diet high in sugars and carbohydrates also causes a disruption of another hormone: insulin, the hormone that regulates your blood sugar level.
This can lead to insulin resistance , and that also negatively affects your hair.
We won't go into too much detail here, but it boils down to the fact that too much insulin in your blood stimulates a specific enzyme, 5-alpha-reductase, which in turn is responsible for converting testosterone into a stronger form called DHT. And unfortunately, this DHT reduces your hair quality, while it does, for example, promote hair growth on the rest of your body. This hormone can also cause male pattern baldness, and therefore also in women. This plays a role, for example, in PCOS, (severe) obesity, and metabolic syndrome.
3. Perimenopause and hair
Finally, I would like to specifically highlight perimenopause, as many women who follow me are in this phase of their lives. During this time, there is a decrease in the hormone progesterone, and this too can lead to an increase in the enzyme 5-alpha-reductase and thus to stronger DHT.
What you can do for beautiful, shiny hair
- Well, first of all, of course: ensure there isn't too much stress in your life, if at all possible. That supports the functioning of your thyroid and ultimately has a positive influence on your hair.
- Continue eating healthily, with sufficient nutrients to care for your hair from within. In other words: ensure your diet contains enough healthy fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals.
- Thirdly: ensure a stable blood sugar level. It often helps to eliminate fast carbohydrates and sugars from your diet and eat less frequently throughout the day. Instead of 6 to 8 meals a day, you eat only 2 to 3 times, also known as intermittent fasting.
- To determine if you suffer from insulin resistance, you can ask yourself the question: can I easily skip a meal, or do I become grumpy? In other words: do I experience a blood sugar dip, and do I *have* to eat something to combat that dip? If you answer yes to that question, there is a good chance that you are struggling with insulin resistance.
- Support the decline in progesterone by following the tips above. The stress hormone cortisol, for example, shares the same basal hormone as progesterone. So now you understand even more clearly how important it is to 'manage' your stress, because otherwise there will be too little building block left to produce progesterone. This is not ideal if you are in (peri)menopause and progesterone is already declining.
You might be curious about which nutrients I am specifically referring to to support your hair. This concerns vitamins B2, B8, B11, B12, and C, the minerals zinc and selenium, and the omega-3 fatty acids and the omega-6 fatty acid GLA. You can get some of this from your diet, and for the rest, a natural supplement is recommended. And guess what ? I have a great supplement in my range.
Hair Support for a beautiful, shiny head of hair
This supplement contains important herbs, vitamins, and minerals that support your hair, skin, and nails, namely, in addition to the mentioned vitamins and minerals (vitamins B2, B8, B11, B12, C, and selenium), also two wonderful herbs: saw palmetto extract and horsetail.
You might be feeling overwhelmed by all the information in this blog. Do you want to know more or get started yourself? I would be happy to give you a few tips:
If you want to work on a healthy lifestyle, without blood sugar dips and with a healthy weight, I would like to draw your attention to my online program . Are you in? That really is the best way to adjust your eating and lifestyle habits. And to get a healthy head of hair again, of course if you are at risk of losing it. Because really, that hair loss doesn't have to happen!
Are you a bookworm? Then be sure to also read my books Restore Your Hormones in Ten Steps or Restore Your Weight. In these books, I explain in detail the ins and outs of insulin resistance, intermittent fasting, and the influence of stress on our thyroid hormone.
I wish you to be, remain, or become the best version of yourself again with a beautiful, shiny head of hair. Isn't that what we women all want?
