New Wisdom for old problems caused by diet, stress, toxins and free-floating anxiety!

THROUGHOUT HUMAN HISTORY, nuns and monks have discovered that human beings can get along quite well without hair on their heads. However, for the vast majority of the rest of us, our hair--even though it serves primarily a cosmetic function, as opposed to the protective coat it gives animals--often causes great anguish, because it's (take your pick): too thick, too thin, too light, too dark, too curly, too straight, too long or too short.
Whether we're born in New York, Los Angeles, Beijing or London, there are, initially, approximately 100,000 hairs on our head. Each grows independently of the others, in three stages: 90 percent in the 'growth' stage, lasting as long as four-to-five years; 10 percent in the 'resting' stage, lasting several months--until the hair falls out because of new growth underneath--and the 'new' stage, when increased cellular activity in the hair follicles produces new hairs.
Normally, we lose about 50 hairs each day, shampooing, brushing or meditating silently. Abnormal hair loss can result from common problems involving both hormone levels and mineral uptake; from metabolic disorders or problems in the scalp and hair shafts, as well as from psychological imbalances. Fortunately, women rarely suffer the equivalent of male-pattern baldness, and even then, it's usually mild and later in life.
In men, male-pattern baldness can begin as early as the mid-teens. Heredity, androgen hormones and aging are the known culprits, although it's not yet known precisely how androgenic hormones affect hair follicles in producing hair loss. Nevertheless, the majority of males will be partly or fully bald by age 60.
Although male baldness, as yet, has no cure we know of, there are both cosmetic and reconstructive procedures, including hair weaving and artificial pieces, as well as hair transplants, employing the person's own hair, from other scalp areas.
Temporary hair loss (telogen effluvium) or area baldness (alopecia areata) can result from stopping the use of birth-control pills, the hormonal changes of pregnancy and its aftermath, severe emotional stress, surgery or acute illness. However, by the time you notice it's happening--one-to-three months after the cause--it's already being corrected, precluding the necessity for treatment.
Diffuse thinning can also result from metabolic imbalances or disorders, such as large doses of vitamin A, certain medications (including chemotherapy for cancer), diabetes, anemia or iron deficiency through blood loss, rapid weight loss through unskillful diets, and from malnutrition or starvation. Likewise, pulling hair too tightly in braids or pony tails; constantly wearing very tight wigs or hats, or hair-straightening regimens and permanents, applied too often or improperly, can result in hair breaking easily, as well as diffuse thinning. Again, hair ususally grows back once the underlying problem is corrected.
In their bestselling Fit For Life, Marilyn and Harvey Diamond note that: "A toxic, acid system can be recognized by bloating, excess weight, cellulite, graying hair, balding, nervous outbursts, dark circles under the eyes, and premature lines in the face. Ulcers are a direct result of corrosive acid in the system."
Also, they point out that: "When you are cutting back on dairy consumption, you may notice peeling or brittle nails or minor hair loss. . . .Your body is making the adjustment from the absorption of the coarser calcium found in dairy products to the absorption of the finer calcium found in raw nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables. . . .The body will replace fingernails and hair in the same way that sloughed-off skin is replaced. It's difficult to notice, but your skin is regularly sloughing off and being replaced by new, healthier tissue. In the same way, the body will replace lost hair with more lustrous hair, and lost fingernails with stronger, sturdier nails."
Demonstrating the universality of these problems, Ven. Rechung Rinpoche, in his book, Tibetan Medicine, concludes: "Symptoms of a deficiency of the bones: one's teeth and hair fall out." Likewise, the former personal physician to the Dalai Lama, Dr. Yeshi Dondon, in The Secret Oral Teachings On the Eight Branches of the Science of Healing, states that: "Frequent bathing gives greater virility, bodily heat, strength, long life and lively complexion, and dispels itching due to perspiration, lassitude, thirst and overheating of the body." Nevertheless, he adds: "Washing the head with warm water causes a loss of hair and visual strength."


SO, NO MATTER which of the three basic hair (and skin) types you are--normal, oily or dry--what follows are 20 postmodern survival secrets for navigating our fast-paced, progressively-more-toxic, anxiety-ridden world with the finest head of healthy hair you're genetically capable of growing: