Can you really improve your hair, skin and nails naturally?
You know we are all about living life to the fullest at Maximum Living. Quality of life is hugely important and while most of that is based on our internal health, we know it's super important for you to feel confident in your appearance. We aren’t shallow by any means and we know that you value natural, God given beauty. That’s why we want to teach you about what makes up the health of our hair, skin and nails so that you can do your best to naturally improve your health and beauty on the outside and within. Read on to find more about the processes and nutrients needed to grow healthy, strong hair and nails and supple yet firm skin. We can’t stop the aging process, but we can educate you on how to slow it down.
Hair
Did you know you have all the hair follicles you'll ever have while you're still a baby growing in your mom’s tummy? All 5 million follicles are formed in utero but as we age our hair density lowers as our head grows. As we know and witness daily, it's common to lose hair, about 50-100 strands is normal. What we all want to know is how to grow our hair faster, thicker, longer and to lose less! To understand how we can achieve this naturally, we need to know a little bit more about how hair grows.
Blood in your scalp is what oxygenates hair follicles and gives them nutrients to grow. If your body has plenty of nutrients, it will get delivered to keep your hair flowing. The hair shaft itself is made up of a protein called keratin. Unfortunately, in the big picture of all the processes our body needs to do daily, hair growth is of low priority. You may not have enough nutrients to go around, and if there are more important processes that need to happen, hair growth will take a backseat. If you’ve ever been on a restricted diet you may have noticed this. It can last a while even once you reintroduce sufficient nutrients because our bodies are conservative in that way. At the same time, if you just happen to not get enough nutrients in your normal diet on a consistent basis, your hair growth may be taking a hit. Mainly, if your protein intake is too low, coupled with a deficiency in certain vitamins and minerals, your body is going to use what it has to grow and maintain other essential parts of the body. Plus, if you use heat on your hair, color your hair, have hormonal imbalances or would consider your stress level to be high, you may need even more nutrients to affect your hair growth. The really unfair part is that once our follicles turn into what we know as early balding, it's pretty hard to reverse which is why so many turn to medications that have mixed results and side effects. So, let’s prevent that from happening by fueling your body with the correct building blocks now!Skin
While you may not always have an injury or wound that needs skin repair, our skin is always growing and repairing itself. When we’re young, this process is smooth and keeps our skin dewy, taught and bright. When we are short on nutrients and as we age this is less so. Everyone wants to know how to keep their skin looking young. You aren't going to have the same skin as a 2 year old, but you can raise your nutrients to help slow down aging. Oxygenation is the biggest problem with skin looking older. Think of when you cut into an apple and it turns brown, that’s oxygenation. So the more free radicals we can stop, the better our skin will age.
Nails
Your nails only grow about 1/10 of an inch per month. The growth process is similar to our hair and the way to keep them growing, reduce chips and build them strong is also similar to what we discussed for our hair. Cells at the root of your nail push your nail to grow as they are formed. Keratin is what pushes the nail out and flattens it to slide along the nail bed. Under the nail bed are blood vessels that give nutrients to the nails to continue the cycle. According to Kids Health, your nail health can give a lot of clues about overall health. For instance, when the doctor presses your nails, he or she is checking your blood circulation. By looking at your nails, a doctor may find changes that may be associated with skin problems, lung disease, anemia, and other medical conditions. Your nails are in the know!
There are specific vitamins and minerals that play a vital role in the growth and maintenance of your hair, skin and nails. Including:
- biotin
- vitamin C
- vitamin D
- vitamin E
- zinc
- iron
- Silica
If you already know you need more of these in your daily diet and are ready to act, we have you covered! Between MineralRich, Vita-Sprout and Solu-C you will be sufficient in all of these nutrients. Or, if you want to learn more about these nutrients and how they work within your body keep reading!
Biotin:While the research demonstrating the efficacy of biotin is limited, a review of the literature
found 18 reported cases that showed clinical improvement in both hair and nail health after biotin supplementation. As a vitamin, biotin’s role is to help manage metabolic reactions and assist the human body when it processes fats, proteins, and carbohydrates in food into energy by shifting carbon dioxide between molecules.
Vitamin C: This vitamin is necessary for your body to make collagen.
As we age, our body naturally produces less collagen which results in signs of aging. Skin that has lost its elasticity shows in wrinkles and saginess. When collagen production is high in the body, the skin glows and is soft but firm.
Collagen is a fibrous, supportive protein that makes up bones, tendons, cartilage, ligaments, and skin. Its strong and flexible structures support and anchor cells to each other. Collagen is what cushions joints and makes skin plump. We make collagen naturally, but like so many things, it comes from a healthy diet and if our diet is lacking in key nutrients, we won’t be able to make and send collagen to make the all important keratin for our hair, arginine for our nails and peptides for our skin.
You can naturally increase your collagen production through increased nutrients. This way, you know that the collagen being made in your body will be able to be used to its fullest. Collagen made by your body will get broken down into amino acids which we know as the building blocks for strong hair, thick nails and glowing skin. Aloe vera is another property that increases your natural production of collagen, which is why MineralRich + Aloe is a must have if your goal is to improve skin, hair and nails.
Vitamin D: What makes plants grow tall and lucious? The sun and its rich source of Vitamin D! Getting your daily dose of sun (with proper protection) is the first step, then supplementing with a high quality source. Vitamin D not only triggers cellular growth of the hair and nails, it also reduces stress which can cause hair loss if not treated.
Vitamin E: E has antioxidant properties that limit oxidative damage done to hair, skin and nail. Solu-C has additional antioxidants like green tea, to further boost the oxidation battle!
Zinc:Data from a study, suggested that lower zinc levels may play a key role in hair loss. According to the National Institute of Health, zinc is involved in numerous aspects of cellular metabolism. It is required for the catalytic activity of approximately 100 enzymes, and it plays a role in immune function, protein synthesis, wound healing, DNA synthesis, and cell division. A daily intake of zinc is required to maintain a steady state because the body has no specialized zinc storage system.
Iron:Remember at the beginning of this article we talked about oxygenation of the hair follicles to bring them nutrients to grow? Iron is what builds our blood and keeps it oxygenated to be able to move efficiently throughout the body and deliver key nutrients. Without proper iron, these processes don’t work as well and it takes a toll on the whole body. Makes sense why people who are low in iron battle fatigue.
Silica: Another antioxidant here. This one is known as a powerful fighter against cell damage from free radicals. Healthline also states that, Additional research suggests that horsetail may help reduce hair shedding and increase hair density when combined with other effective ingredients, such as biotin and vitamins A and D
We hope this article has educated you on the many amazing processes our bodies do every day. Further, maybe this gives you some insight into why you may be struggling with your hair, skin and nails. Adding supplements to your diet can boost the nutrients needed to supply the processes to grow and glow!
References
https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/hair-loss/science-hair
https://www.healthline.com/health/what-makes-hair-grow#bottom-line
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24371385/
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Zinc-HealthProfessional/
