Ways to Regrow Hair
First and foremost – give up using chemical hair dyes. Hair dye, unless it is a pure, herbal, unadulterated product like powdered henna, will cause your hair to thin over time, and predispose you to diseases like cancer and arthritis.
Photo by Merrilyn on Holly’s camera, 25th December, 2012, Dunedin.
The following suggestions are all natural, pure, organic ways in which you can help your hair to regrow. Please note that it is advisable to see your doctor or health professional for advice before trying out any home remedy, or vitamins, or iodine, or any technique mentioned here. No responsibility can be taken when these suggestions do not work, or make the condition worse, or make you feel bad. Ask your doctor for a diagnosis first, and then ask about any remedy you might want to try.
The Castor Oil Treatmenout is one of the best ways to regrow hair. Castor oil can be applied externally to the hair, and it can also be taken internally.
The Castor Oil Treatment will cleanse your body of harmful chemicals which inhibit your hair growth. Toxins accumulate in the body, and these undermine your health and affect your hair growth.
Dr Max Gerson, and others, have used castor oil as an integral part of an alternative treatment for cancer.
It has been found that many people using castor oil as part of a cancer treatment have grown new hair. Mind, these people have all been on diets which include maximum amounts of all the necessary vitamins and minerals which are essential for good health. The Gerson therapy for treating cancer included eating a giant bowl of oatmeal porridge every morning. Oats are very high in silica which is excellent for the hair, so it is no wonder that many people on the castor oil/porridge treatment for cancer grew new hair.
Diet, of course, is the most important consideration for curing any ill health AND for promoting hair regrowth.
Castor Oil Applied Externally to the scalp has long been used as a treatment to encourage hair growth. Mothers apply it to their baby’s scalp to promote hair growth, and also to cure ‘cradle cap’ which affects babies and small children.
Castor oil applied externally can be used by anyone to treat scalp conditions, and to help regrow hair. You can rub it into the scalp at least once a week. Leave it on overnight. In the morning, wash off the castor oil using plenty of organic soap, or a good quality shampoo which does not contain harmful chemicals.
Castor Oil Used Internally
Castor oil is used every second day on the Gerson plan for alternative cancer therapy. I have used this diet myself, to good effect, when I had a breast lump years ago. After three months on the diet, which included the medicinal dose of two tablespoons of castor oil every second morning, with 90% raw food in the diet, I had recovered. The bonus was that my hair rejuvenated itself: my hair became very thick and shiny after using castor oil for three months, in combination with a mainly raw diet.
Raw Egg Yolk Benefits Hair Regrowth
External Use: Raw egg yolk can be used externally as a hair conditioner: see the recipe for AIOLI below, under the ‘Olive Oil Treatment’ section.
Internal Use: Two raw egg yolks were also taken each day on the alternative therapy which I used, and I think these raw egg yolks also had a pronounced effect on the growth of the hair. I know some nutritionists warn against using too many eggs, but many others ‘in the know’, such as Dr Max Gerson, Walter Last, and myself included, swear by the use of raw egg yolk taken daily to help build the body’s immune system. When you are on a diet which uses minimal amounts of cooked food, including meats, then raw egg yolks are just the thing. They are easily digested, have good quality protein which nourishes your body and brain, and contain large amounts of lecithin, iron, and vitamins A, B, C, D, and E.
Lecithin, contained in raw egg yolk, is an important nutrient, as this helps the liver and gall bladder in digesting and processing fats and other nutrients so that your body can use them to regrow things like bone, and hair, teeth and nails. The lecithin contained in two raw egg yolks a day will provide you with enough good quality lecithin so that you can process the olive oil, or avocado fat, or grape seed oil, which are all important food items for helping you keep your hair on. Diets which are deficient in fats and lecithin usually lead to thin hair. You need good quality oils and fats in your diet too.
You do not eat the egg white raw, only the egg yolk. Raw egg white is not used in the Gerson diet, or other alternative approaches to healing disease such as cancer. Egg white contains albumum, which is not so easily digested, especially when it is taken raw. Egg white must always be cooked, unless it is beaten up in a smoothie, which renders the egg white digestible.
Gelatine Dietary gelatine gives a boost to hair growth. Gelatine contains many amino acids, and is naturally very high in protein. You could take two heaped teaspoons every night: simply drop the powder onto a how drink, such as a drink of cocoa, or an egg nog. Let the powder drop down into the hot liquid, then stir until it is dissolved. Gelatine is a good nourisher of the nerves, as well as the hair, and will help you to sleep well when taken at night.
The Olive Oil Treatment
This is another great treatment for helping you regrow hair. You can use olive oil straight from the bottle, rubbed well into the scalp, to help with hair regrowth. Using plenty of olive oil in the diet, especially raw on salads, or using it to make the fabulous aioli, which is raw egg yolk combined with olive oil, will not only help your general health, but your hair health too.
Aioli Mayonnaise: This is the famous recipe which uses raw egg yolk as its base. Aioli is used as a butter substitute in many parts of the Mediterranean. It is a healthful supplement to the diet, and taken internally, it is a benefit to the health of your hair. Aioli mayonnaise is just great on fresh salads, or as an accompaniment to cooked fish, but it can also be used externally, on the hair, as a hair treatment for the conditioning of the hair.
To Make Aioli Mayonnaise/Conditioner:
- Put two egg yolks into a small bowl. Be careful not to get any white in them.
- Slowly, drop by drop, add olive oil. You need to add this VERY slowly in the beginning, but as the egg yolks take up the olive oil, and grow in volume, you will find you can add the oil slightly more quickly.
If you are making this for the table, then you would add the traditional chopped garlic to the mixture. However, if you are going to use this as a hair conditioner, then omit the garlic.
How To Use: Simply smear a generous quantity of the aioli mixture onto the hair. Massage well in. Leave for several hours, if you can, before washing off in warm water and a good quality soap. This conditioner leaves the hair very shiny, and actually nourishes the hair roots as well.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple Cider Vinegar is so good for the hair, and so easy to apply. I have used it for years, simply dashing a bit of undiluted apple cider vinegar over the hair after each wash.
The nutrients in apple cider vinegar really do encourage hair growth, if you regularly use the cider vinegar with each wash. These nutrients are absorbed into the scalp, where they feed the hair roots. Silica, and potassium are some of the important trace elements which you find in apple cider vinegar.
Apple cider vinegar also helps to restore the normal acidity/alkalinity ratio to the hair again. Soaps and shampoos tend to make the hair and scalp too alkaline. An alkaline scalp does not help hair growth at all, as it usually results in dandruff and an itchy scalp. Apple cider vinegar helps to make the scalp slightly acidic again, whilst nourishing the hair roots at the same time.
Using pure apple cider vinegar on your children’s hair after each wash will help prevent catching head lice. Head lice do not like this cider vinegar acid environment, but prefer the alkaline state which is the result of using soaps and shampoos.
Silica-Rich Herbs Help Hair Growth
Comfrey, horsetail, borage, nettles and oat straw are just a few herbs which have high amounts of silica. Oat straw is an especially nice tea to drink, and is especially high in silica. This is also an excellent tea for expectant, or young mothers. Comfrey, borage and nettles can be added to your vegetables to ‘up’ your silica intake. Silica really helps hair, nails, bone and teeth to grow and remain strong.
Rosemary is also high in silica, and is a good herb for the hair, however, use rosemary in small amounts in food, as large amounts are toxic. Rosemary is good as a hair tonic, to add to other herbs for the hair:
You can make a herbal infusion out of any of the herbs listed above. This infusion can be applied to the scalp as a final rinse, in much the same way as you would use apple cider vinegar. The silica and other nutrients in these herbs will continue to be absorbed through the pores of the skin on your scalp, and these will reach the hair roots which feed your hair.
To Make an Infusion for a Hair Rinse:
- Take a cup of fresh herbs, using any combination of either comfrey, borage, or nettles, or rosemary.
- Add three cups of water to the herbs, and bring to the boil on the stove. Simmer gently for five minutes, then leave to stand until cold.
- Use the liquid as your final rinse. Massage well into the scalp. Keep the remainder in the fridge, to use later on in the week as a hair rinse.
Cayenne and Ginger Improve Circulation:
Both cayenne pepper and ginger should be included in the daily diet, as these improve blood circulation. Better circulation of the blood means that all those nutrients in your fabulous diet will have a better chance of getting to feed your hair roots.
Iodine Hair Treatment
For more information on Iodine and other nutrients for the hair, take a look at Merrilyn’s other posts entitled
Iodine Scalp/Hair Remedy;
Vitamins for Hair Growth;
Best Vitamins for Hair Growth.
The Iodine Treatment is the last, but not least, of my favourite external applications for hair regrowth. Iodine is ESSENTIAL for hair growth. It is important for good general health all round. If you are deficient in Iodine, then your hair suffers. Ideally, if we ate enough fish and sea weed, then we would not need to supplement our diets with iodine. However, this is not the case for most people.
So applications of iodine can help to prevent iodine deficiency. Iodine can be applied to any part of the body, but here we favor the application straight to the scalp, as this will help you to regrow your hair.
Note – do not use this on the same day as you use apple cider vinegar on the hair, as the two do not combine well. Use this at least one or two days after you have washed your hair. You only need to apply the iodine once or twice a week. Use only a couple of dabs or three, dabbing each spot on a different part of the scalp. Massage the scalp, and leave. Try not to wash the iodine off on the day you apply it. Iodine is absorbed through the pores of the scalp, and down to the hair roots, so your hair will benefit by leaving the iodine on your scalp.
If you continue to apply small amounts of iodine to the scalp on a regular basis, then after several months you should notice an improvement in hair growth. This needs to be done, of course, with a highly nutritious diet.
Nutritional Supplements to Regrow Hair
Vitamin A/Beta Carotene Eat plenty of carrots and parsnips for vitamin A. You might consider a supplement of vitamin A which could be taken for a few weeks until you notice an improvement in your hair growth: 50,000 IU of beta carotene daily is recommended for baldness by Dr Wagner/Goldfarb, who wrote the book ‘How to Stay Out of the Doctor’s Office’. Ask your own medical practitioner to see whether this dose is OK for you, and for advice on how long you should take this amount.
These doctors also recommend Biotin – 5 mg daily- since hair follicles are made up mostly of biotin and cysteine. If you include two raw egg yolks in the diet as part of your programme to regrow your hair, then you will get adequate amounts of these nutrients.
Take a tablespoon of avocado oil, or grapeseed oil, or wheatgerm oil, or olive oil daily. This will provide you with vitamin E and essential fats which are needed for hair growth. An extra 400 IU of vitamin E could be taken until you note improvement. Again – ask your doctor or health practitioner about this.
Take extra vitamin C daily – Between 1000mg and 2000mg of a non-acidic form of vitamin C, such as ester C, or calcium ascorbate powder.
Manganese is advised by Dr Wagner/Goldfarb – 50mg taken twice a day is their recommendation.
For the added benefit of restoring hair color, these doctors suggest taking a daily B complex supplement. Added to this B complex, you add extra PABA – 300 mg twice daily, Pantothenic Acid – 300 mg twice daily, and Folic acid – 5 mg a day. I would take these amounts for several weeks, or up to three months: Again – best get some advice on this, especially if you are already taking any medication.