Iodine is vital to your hair growth. Sheep farmers long ago found that vegetation-lacking iodine due to iodine-depleted soil would adversely affect the growth of wool in their sheep. Likewise, to avoid hair loss, you need iodine. Iodine is synthetically added to table salt, however in this form it is not assimilated well into your body and can therefore cause iodine overload.
An excess of iodine in the body can adversely affect the thyroid. The lack of iodine can cause hypothyroidism. In hypothyroidism, your cell metabolism slows down and body cells and hair cells don’t receive the energy they need to function properly. When you lack iodine, you will lose more hair than normal and may even lose eyebrow hair.
You can check your thyroid with a basal thermometer, not a digital thermometer, by placing it in your underarm first thing when you wake up. Then, don’t move for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, look at the temperature. The normal body temperature for good thyroid function is 97.8 to 98.2 degrees C. Take this measurement for 5-10 day. If your temperature is below 97.6 and lower, for the 5-10 days, you will want to consult your doctor or for more direction and information. You definitely have low thyroid function.
Menstruating women should start this 5-10 day check on the 3rd day of their cycle.
It is best to use non-iodized salt and get your iodine from natural foods. These include seaweed, salmon, seafood, lima beans, molasses, eggs, potatoes with the skin on, watercress and garlic.
Silica
One of the most difficult nutrients vital to your hair growth to get in your diet is trace mineral silica. Silica is a form of silicon and is the second most abundant element in the earth’s crust, second only to oxygen. The Earth provides everything we need for health, and with silicon being so abundant, it would seem that there would never be a problem with silica deficiency.
Unfortunately, trace minerals are rare in our diets because our food is processed and our soil depleted by chemical treatments. Silica provides strength to your hair, and although it will not necessarily stop your hair from falling out from the follicle, it will stop hair breakage.
Silica works by stimulating your cell metabolism and formation, which slows the aging process. Foods that are rich in silica are rice, oats, lettuce, parsnips, asparagus, onion, strawberry, cabbage, cucumber, leek, sunflower seeds, celery, rhubarb, cauliflower, and swiss chard. Try to buy these vegetables from organic sources. Note that many of these foods, particularly rice, are a large part of Asian diets and Asians tend to have the strongest and healthiest hair.
For best results eat all your fruits and vegetables raw. For certain vegetables that need to be cooked, steam them for only a few minutes.
Be sure to test your thyroid even though doctor’s tests show you do not have a thyroid problem. The basal temperature test is sometimes more sensitive than blood tests taken by doctors. If you have hyperthyroidism, you will definitely have hair loss.