Dear all, for those in middle age, have you ever experienced gray hair? If not due to genetics, then according to traditional medicine. It is a health warning, traditional medicine believes that "kidneys store essence, hair reflects essence", "liver stores blood, hair is excess blood". Therefore, the condition of the hair can reflect the kidney and liver health of our body.
That's why hair also has its own language and looking at the hair can reveal the health status. Today's article will help us understand more about issues related to gray hair. So let's find out together.
7 reasons for premature gray hair.
Normally for us humans, after the age of 40 to 50, the essence of the kidneys will gradually decline, and the hair will gradually turn white. If gray hair appears before the age of 40, we need to pay attention to whether there are any health or lifestyle issues. Common reasons that cause modern people to have premature gray hair include lack of sleep or staying up late, stress, unbalanced diet, overwork, obesity, smoking, and alcohol consumption.
Mental stress, lack of sleep, and imbalanced diet can affect the production of melanin and melanocytes, as well as reduce the ability to repair DNA. When excessive pressure reduces the quality of sleep, as well as the digestion and absorption process. In the long run, it will lead to poor blood circulation. The blood circulation of the human body includes transporting blood to the skin, head, and necessary nutrients for hair follicles.
When blood circulation is poor, natural hair follicles are affected and age prematurely. According to traditional medicine, stress can cause stagnation of liver qi, obstructing the smooth flow of blood to the head. Staying up late, malnutrition, and overwork can also accelerate the depletion of kidney essence, and aging of the liver and kidneys will affect each other. These conditions can lead to premature gray hair.
Doctor Duong Ton Han at the Chinese Traditional Medicine Clinic Minh Nguyet said that before the age of 35, kidney essence is sufficient for white hair, mainly due to studying and work pressure, poor sleep and irregular diet. Food entering the body needs the digestion of the stomach and the distribution of the spleen to provide nutrients to all cells of the body. When the function of the spleen decreases, it will also cause a deficiency of nutrients.
In addition, obesity, smoking, and alcohol consumption are harmful to hair. Obesity and smoking will generate a large amount of free radicals in the body attacking cells in the body. The cold nature of alcohol will also damage the liver and affect the liver's blood production function. Drinking alcohol excessively will affect sleep.
1. Nourish black hair with black foods.
Traditional medicine treats gray hair mainly by targeting blood, kidneys, and using medicine and acupuncture to nourish the kidneys and regulate qi. We can use dietary therapy to enhance kidney essence, when supplementing enough kidney essence, the hair can be shiny and healthy. Traditional medicine says "use black to nourish the kidneys", foods with black color to nourish kidney essence, thereby, nourishing black hair. And dark foods also contain anthocyanins that hair needs. In addition, for hair to grow healthy, it also needs high-quality protein and essential trace elements.
Black foods include black sesame, black beans, black rice, black fungus, black grapes, and black tea. High-quality protein is mainly animal protein such as eggs, chicken, duck, pork, lamb, and fish. Zinc is found in crustaceans such as oysters and shrimp. In addition, there are animal liver, red meat, pumpkin seeds, almonds, and other seeds, eggplant,... Seeds should be taken in an amount equal to the palm of the hand, and black sesame seeds should be bought unprocessed to avoid heat.
Obese smokers also need to supplement antioxidant foods, such as green vegetables like broccoli, or fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin C such as guava, papaya, pear. In addition to using the above ingredients, we can also prepare simple and easy-to-make medicinal dishes.
Recipe 1. Black sesame strawberry porridge.
Ingredients: 50g black sesame seeds, 50g strawberries, 35g sticky rice, white rice, and a little brown sugar.
Preparation and cooking: After washing, black sesame seeds and white rice are put into a pot with 3 bowls of water to cook until done. Finally, add brown sugar to taste and add strawberries.
This black sesame strawberry porridge has a sweet and sour taste, Doctor Duong Ton Han said that black sesame and strawberries nourish the kidneys, white rice nourishes the stomach, improves the natural nutrient absorption function of the stomach. Brown sugar can be replaced with other types of sugar, but brown sugar is recommended because it promotes blood circulation.
Recipe 2: Braised chicken soup.
Ingredients: 1 black silkie chicken, 25g red astragalus root, 25g codonopsis root, 25g dang shen, 12 red dates, 3 to 5 slices of ginger.
How to cook: Rinse the black chicken and the prepared herbs, then put all into a pot to simmer. First, bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat for an hour. Simmer until the chicken is tender, then season and enjoy.
The ingredients of red astragalus root and black chicken have the effect of nourishing the kidneys, black chicken can also provide high-quality protein necessary for hair.
2. Brush hair and soak feet regularly.
In addition to diet, we can also improve gray hair issues by regulating the blood circulation of the head. Doctor Duong said that blood circulation becomes better and hair follicles can receive enough nutrients to nourish the hair. Normally, we can massage the head by brushing or using a comb to stimulate acupoints.
How to do: Brush from front to back 5 to 10 times, then from back to front also 5 to 10 times is once in the morning and once in the evening, and increase the number of massages with a comb when we feel tired. Sleep greatly affects hair development. The doctor advises us to brush our heads before going to bed, and soak our feet up to the ankles in warm salt water to relax and improve sleep quality. The last thing we want to convey to you is to reduce stress.
For gray hair caused by factors such as stress and smoking, doctors point out that if you quit smoking and learn to reduce stress early. We will have the opportunity to grow back black hair, Columbia University announced a study in June 2021 showing that gray hair due to stress can still be reversed and restored. A total of 14 subjects with an average age of 35 plus or minus 13 were selected, and their hair was analyzed. The results were compared with the stress diary of each volunteer.
To assess the relationship between stress levels and hair changes. The researchers found that in some people, their white hair disappeared after eliminating stress, and the hair returned to its original color. However, the method of reversing gray hair by relaxation does not apply to elderly people, researchers believe that reducing stress in 70-year-olds will not turn their hair black.
If you want to keep your hair healthy and avoid premature graying. We should avoid smoking and alcohol consumption, maintain a healthy body, exercise moderately, sleep early and wake up early, and eat moderately. And most importantly, relax yourself and the Healthy Living section will end here. Thank you for your attention.