Sometimes even the best hair conditioning and skin care products aren’t enough. Genes play a huge influence. The adventures of our daily lives also takes its toll—sun, fatigue, stress, laughter, dryness, hurried meals, polluted air. In addition, as we age our body’s recharge system becomes less and less effective.
In Rolf’s concept of 'Intelligent Beauty'—graceful aging, a peaceful heart, and appreciation of the world around you—requires more personal ‘character’ and spunk than getting upset over a few wrinkles, age spots, extra pounds, or thinning hair. Rolf’s main message is always to do and enjoy more—‘beauty is as beauty does.’
With that said, super-maxing your nutritional absorption is more than smart. While this article isn’t the place to have a detailed discussion, a large pile of scientific papers suggests that there are nutritional strategies that make an observable difference. But even for the willing, the nutritional field is complicated, expensive, and full of marketing hype.
A super-charged food plan for your hair and skin is also great for your brain. You’ll boost your body’s immune system and give yourself more energy in the process. So make an investment in yourself. If you take ‘super nutrition’ seriously (and give it time and effort) it will make a visible difference.
1. Iron Deficiency: Non-genetic hair loss often occurs in women who are deficient in iron and low levels of the vitamin B group. The majority of women aged 16-50 (and 30% of us over 50), are deficient in iron.
2. Phyto-nutrients: Few of us have the time or opportunity to eat well. Due to storage-time, processing, and growing conditions, just finding quality food that holds the promised nutrition is difficult. There’s a new category of foods called ‘functional foods’ or ‘phyto-nutrients’ which help you identify and concentrate on the top health properties of food—‘food as super-fuel’ rather than ‘food for emotion or habit’. Examples of extreme fuels include: dark colored berries and dark vegetables; South American wild foods such as raw Cacao and chia seeds; all the greens you can eat including the freeze-dried green and purple powder mixes; a variety of nuts, seeds, and grains; and significant amounts of essential fatty acids.
3. Antioxidants: The field of ‘anti-oxidants’ is critically important and is almost always misrepresented. The key here is to consume ‘bioavailable’ antioxidants at high and regular enough levels to make a difference. Unfortunately, most all of the bottled and processed antioxidants products have minimum value. The field, however, holds tremendous promise for hair, skin, brain, and health.
4. Anti-inflammatory oils including essential fatty acids, such as Omega-3 and Omega-6 are essential to a healthy diet. The right balance is incredibility important. Omega-3's are more difficult to find and are the more important of the two.
5. Supplements vs. Whole Foods: Ideally whole, organic, and ‘close-to-raw’ foods are generally best. Processing usually destroys bioavailability, and there’s as much deception in the natural food and ‘so-called’ healing industry as there is in allopathic medicine. You have to select carefully and keep it as natural as possible. One of our favorite consumer watchdog information sites is www.consumerlab.com/results. Although there’s lots of free information, they also charge a small fee to get the most recent product test updates. In spite of these limitations, a heavy dose of a quality multi-vitamin complex is definitely beneficial—in addition to extra amounts of Vitamins D, C, E, and B including folic acid.
6. Exercise: You just can’t avoid the subject of exercise when you talk about improving health. If exercise would fit inside a capsule it would be the most valuable pill you’d ever take. Nothing comes at all close. Use your body or loose your body, and, sweating is great for your skin and hair.
Super Foods
Dark berries: Eat all you can. Frozen and even freeze dried are also OK. To blow your mind about the bioavailable anti-oxidant value of berries for your skin, hair, and brain check out the site berrydoctor.com.
Fresh vegetables: High colored and green leafy.
Cold pressed oils like olive, flax seed, or sesame. Hemp oil is the best choice.
Soy protein in the form of tofu, soya milk or soya yogurts.
Legumes: Peas, beans and lentils.
Whole grains: Brown rice, oats and buckwheat.
Nuts and seeds: Sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, linseeds almonds, and walnuts.
Fresh oily fish like salmon, tuna, herring, pilchards and sardines.
Raw Cacao Nibs This is the raw seed they make chocolate from. Forget about the processed chocolate bars and go for the raw source. Chocolate bars (even the dark ones) have a lot of downside including bad fats and extra calories.
Nutrition for your hair
Essential fatty acids: Flaxseed oil, primrose oil, hemp oil, and salmon oil are good sources. They improve dry and brittle hair.
B vitamins are important for the health and growth of the hair. Foods rich in B vitamins include beans, peas, carrots, cauliflower, soy beans, nutritional yeast, bran, nuts and eggs. Take a vitamin B-complex and supplement it with additional B-vitamins, Niacin (B3), Pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) and Pyridoxine (vitamin B6) for best results.
Biotin is very important for hair health. It is needed for healthy hair and skin, and may even prevent hair loss in some men. Eat plenty of foods high in biotin and/ or take it in supplemental form. Good food sources of biotin include brewer’s yeast, brown rice, bulgur, green peas, lentils, oats, soybeans, sunflower seeds, and walnuts. You can also use hair care products containing biotin. Dosage: 50 mg 3 times daily.
Inositol is vital for hair growth. Dosage: 100 mg twice daily.
Vitamin C aids in improving scalp circulation. It is important to maintain capillaries that carry blood to the follicles. Dosage: 3,000-10,000 mg daily.
Vitamin E increases oxygen uptake, which improves circulation to the scalp. It improves health and growth of hair. Since hair health is tied to the immune health, vitamin E is believed to stimulate hair growth by enhancing the immune function. Dosage: Start with 400 IU daily and slowly increase to 800-1,000 IU daily.
Zinc stimulates hair growth by enhancing the immune function. Dosage: 50-100 mg daily. Do not exceed this amount.
Coenzyme Q10 improves scalp circulation and increases tissue oxygenation. It is also very important for heart health. Take 60 mg daily.
L-Cysteine and L-methionine: Two amino acids believed to improve quality, texture, and growth of hair. They help prevent hair from falling out. Dosage: 500 mg each twice daily, and on an empty stomach.
 
CAUTION: This information is not intended as medical advise. Some supplements can interfer with other medications or your body. Please check with your Physican. 
