Hair loss is usually associated with aging however we are seeing an increasing number of millennials and younger generations experiencing hair loss sooner than the generation before them. This is because hair loss is not actually an age related problem but a symptom of a much deeper issue that needs to be address in order to avoid future issues including dementia and alzheimers.
Unfortunately there is a lot of misleading information about the causes and remedies to hair loss that can sometimes actually make the problem worse. The reason most remedies don’t really work long-term is because they are focused on ‘treating’ the symptoms while not addressing the underlying cause. The good news is that your hair will grow back naturally once the underlying cause is addressed.
So what is the real cause of hair loss?
To understand the true cause one must have a basic understanding of the human body and the two sides of chemistry, acid and base. The body consists of cells and fluids. In every tissue you will find blood, nerve and lymph. Blood feeds the cells, lymph cleans them and nerves move them. Except for genetic memories, a cell becomes weakened through two major fluids that control their health, blood and lymph. The blood is the body's kitchen and deals with the base side of chemistry, the healing side. The lymphatic system on the other hand is the body's sewer system and deals with the corrosive side of chemistry, acids.
The key to health is understanding the lymphatic system and its role in eliminating acidic, toxic waste through the kidneys. Everything from cancer and arthritis to acne and hair loss are all different names for the same problem, lymphatic stagnation.
Your lymph or ‘sewer’ systems job is to collect acidic waste from all the processes in the body including by-products from metabolism, respiration, digestion, activity etc. This waste is then brought to the lymph nodes where macrophages break the acids down ready to be eliminated through the kidneys. Since the bacteria in your lymph nodes is responsible for helping break down these acids, you never want to take antibiotics and kill off that bacteria.
If your body is not able to get rid of this acidic lymph through the kidneys, it will begin to back up in the body and start to deteriorate cells and tissue weakening glands and organs. When lymph is backed up in the head it will cause various symptoms including memory loss, brain fog, hair loss, glaucoma, acne, cancer, etc. In the case of hair loss, the acidic lymph is simply breaking down the hair follicles. Stagnant lymph could also have weakened the thyroid gland adding to the problem of hair loss.
Regenerative Detoxification
In order to address this one must get away from the allopathic ‘treatment’ based thinking of suppressing the symptoms and instead address the underlying cause directly, which involves getting rid of toxic lymph and moving the body from an acidic, deteriorating state to an alkaline, healing state. Also known as regenerative detoxification.
Regenerative detoxification is a simple and natural process that will change the chemistry of your body from an acid, deteriorating environment to an alkaline, healing environment, allowing your body to naturally cleanse and rebuild itself.
The first step in detoxification is to eliminate all acid and mucus forming foods. This includes protein, dairy and grains (read more about the effects protein has on the body here). These foods have an acid ash when consumed creating a cationic, or acidic environment of coagulation and agglomeration. Acids are not only corrosive to tissues in the body but can also be deadly if blood becomes too acidic.
These foods also cause excessive mucus production in the body's tissues, especially dairy and refined sugars. Once the body becomes overburdened with this mucus from the lymph system, the mucus itself then becomes the problem. It can block proper cellular function, causing hypoactivity of the respective organ or gland. In addition to being acidic, meats are also putrefactive and will invite parasites in the body.
It’s also important to move away from cooked foods. Cooking food will change the chemistry of the food to a more acidic pH and that is why you want to move to a raw diet of mainly fruits and vegetables, see diet recommendations here.
Energising your cells with energy from raw, living foods is vital. Without the power of live foods, which are full of nutrition, hydration and electricity, you cannot accomplish alkalisation and detoxification.
Astringent fruits are especially powerful (grapes, citrus fruits) as they pull toxins out of the body faster and open your kidneys. Kidney filtration is the key to moving lymph. You can easily tell if you are filtering by looking at your urine - you always want to see sediment in your urine. If it is clear then your kidneys are not filtering, see kidney filtration guide here.
Hair loss is a sign of a deeper issue
You may not be successful growing back your hair if you are only focusing on your head area as the lymph system is systemic, it runs through the entire body and touches every tissue, organ and gland. If you are experiencing hair loss, you can be sure that you also have weaknesses in other parts of your body.
For example, if your kidneys are not filtering out acidic waste, you will likely also have weak adrenal glands which sit on top of the kidneys and play an important role in kidney filtration. Weak adrenals can manifest in a number of problems including anxiety, fatigue, inability to produce steroids and metabolize sugars, low blood pressure, low neurotransmitters, decay of myelin sheaths, mineral deficiencies etc. Therefore addressing the adrenals are vital.
Your blood pressure will give you a good indication of the state of your kidneys and adrenals. The systolic number at the top represents your adrenal glands while diastolic at the bottom, your kidneys. Since you have two kidneys and adrenals, blood pressure should be taken from both arms and should be 120/60. When these numbers are higher or lower, you will have adrenal weakness and your kidneys may not be filtering.
In addition to adrenal weakness, one should also look at the GI tract, which is the ‘hub’ of the body and will help drain mucus and lymph from the head. The GI tract is another part of the body that has been damaged from our diets, specifically from eating protein and mucus forming foods. The GI renew herbs are powerful herbs that will help clean and strengthen the GI tract without stimulating the bowels with harmful laxatives.
Another weakness that is usually associated with hair loss is a weak thyroid gland. When the thyroid is weak you lose your ability to utilize calcium. This can create a variety of effects, including: haemorrhoids, varicose/spider veins, prolapsed conditions of organs (bladder, uterus, skin, etc.), fingernail ridging and weaknesses, and hair loss. Check your basal temperature (it should be in the high 70s/low 80s ), see guide here. Remember you never want to take pharmaceuticals for any of these symptoms. If you take thyroid medication, your thyroid will become even weaker. You want to address the underlying cause of the thyroid weakness and not use pharmaceuticals to mask the symptoms.
The best way to see the state of your glands and organs is through iridology. Iridology is man's greatest tool for tissue analysis and gives you incredible insight into every cell and fluid in the body. Knowing which areas are weakest will help you target these areas with herbs. For an iridology analysis book here.
The Healing Crisis
It's important to mention that when your body begins its natural process of detoxification and moves into an alkaline state, you will experience detox symptoms or a 'healing crisis' which simply mean the body is trying to eliminate or purge something that doesn't belong there. You may experience mild symptoms such as cold and flu like symptoms, rashes, migraines to more severe symptoms like vomiting, loss of sign, loose teeth. Don’t panic! this is just your body's way of eliminating mucus and weakness from the body.
Always remember that you never want to stop a cold or flu-like symptom because this is the best way your body can get rid of waste and mucus.
For those who consume a high protein diet, it's important to transition to a raw diet slowly in order to avoid a difficult ‘healing crisis.’ See guide here for more information on what to expect during a healing crisis.
Helpful Detox Tools
While your diet is the number one area of focus, there are other tools that can be used to help the processes of detoxification for hair loss.
Hot and cold compresses
Applying hot and cold compresses to the back of the head will help stimulate lymphatic movement in this area.
Castor oil packs
If you have stubborn kidneys, applying castor oil packs to the kidneys can help open them up. See guide on how to use castor oil packs here.
Fasting
Fasting in one for or another has been practiced since the beginning of man and is an important part of detoxification. Our digestive and eliminative systems have become overworked, congested, weakened and damaged from our standard diets of meat, grains and dairy products. Fasting allows the pancreas, liver, stomach, intestines and kidneys to rest. This gives more energy to the glandular and lymphatic system. Fasting at one level or another can be vital to getting well. There are various levels of fasting with dry and water fasting being the highest levels, see guide here.
As you can see, hair loss is not just a superficial problem and as with all health issues, your entire body is involved even though you may see a symptom in one part and that is why it’s important to always take a holistic approach to health. The reason we are seeing younger generations experiencing hair loss earlier in life is because we are passing on our genetic weaknesses and stagnant lymph systems to our children. Therefore it is vital to detox for a few months before trying to conceive (read full article here).
Herbs
Some of us are at such deeply chronic and degenerative levels that a raw diet isn't enough for us to heal and herbs become essential. Herbs are a great tool to help with the detoxification as they are tissue specific and are designed to heal, clean and strengthen.
Herbs such as Gotu Kola, Butcher's Broom, and Hawthorn Berry are great herbs to help stimulating blood flow in the head area. Dr. Morse's Blood Circulation is an excellent formula to promote blood flow and is very powerful when combined with the Brain & Nerve Tincture.