Chinese Wisdom for Beautiful Hair

Lin McKenzie is passionate about all things organic, and has a keen interest and knowledge in Chinese Herbal Medicines; in this piece she shares some of her wisdom to help us have naturally healthy hair

Chinese herbs and massage are used to help your body’s self-healing capacity to correct the conditions that cause the damage. That’s one reason I always consult a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioner or herbalist, who can select the right herbal blends to boost my overall beauty from within. Your TCM consultant will need to consider your whole complex of individual symptoms to select the best balance of herbal blends. Beauty-enhancing herbs come in capsules, tinctures, teas, and topical products – and you need an expert to advise you on the best product types, dosages, and interactions.

Hair problems in women can also result from changes in birth control medication and diet, as well as conditions such as Anemia, Anorexia or bulimia, Hepatic failure, Hypothyroidism, Thyroid disease, Liver disease, Renal failure, Viral fungal, or protozoan infections. These conditions have many effects on the physical body, including on the hair, often changing full healthy locks to frizzy, white, discoloured, lifeless, thin, or greasy hair. This usually means that the signal to the energy supply for the hair is affected.

Since hair is “dead,” typically applied products such as conditioners or hair frizzy oil do not actually “nourish” the hair.  Beautiful hair starts on the inside.

The daily care is also very important. I often see people walk in the rain or walk out of the house with damp and wet hair just after the shower. That will bring the “Cold” to the body, which would affect the circulation in the blood and “QI” (energy circulation).

When I was young, my mum had a lot of remedies for face and hair. Here are some simple delicious recipes, and daily care tips I’d like to share, which will bring your beautiful hair back:

1. Rinse black sesame seeds, slow fry them in the frying pan, on a low heat until dry and they smell good. Do Not Burn! Grounding them into powder with a high-speed blender. Eat each morning before breakfast or after a glass of warm lemon water. You could use as a porridge topping, mixing them with nuts and fresh fruit. I often put it in the nut milk – Yum!
2. Black bean, goji, soybean, mulberry, and seaweed are all good food for the hair; you can cook these in any way.
3. High stress levels, eating processed foods, and smoking cigarettes all contribute to hair loss. That’s why getting a good night sleep, managing your stress levels, and exercising will go a long way toward keeping your hair healthy.
4. A diet rich in essential fatty acids (fish/flaxseed oils), proteins (lecithin, wheat germ oil), and minerals and trace elements (like silica and zinc) that contain the basic building blocks of hair, will produce significant results.
5. Using natural remedy shampoo, even make your own one… After washing hair, drip a few drops of vinegar (apple cider, white, dark) into the water and rinse your hair again. This brings your hair back to a balanced Ph level.
6. Massage your head every evening before going to bed… Use fingertips to scrap the scalp from the forehead to the base of the scalp for at least ten minutes. If you feel lumpy or sore, these are the place usually been blocked, so gently massage that place for a bit longer. After one to two weeks, you will usually notice the difference. This massaging would not stop having white hair in overnight, but if you keep doing it every night, you will be surprised at the effectiveness.

I hope this encourages you to help your hair gain health in a natural way!