You want great hair, hair that bounces just the right way, hair that shines and is radiant. Hair that is healthy. Your hairdresser at CASAELLIE is your biggest ally, but outside of the salon you can’t help but feel a little overwhelmed. You experience an onslaught of information about how to keep your hair looking and feeling healthy. 

Everywhere you look there’s a 100% money back guarantee that this supplement or that supplement will solve all your hair problems. Take this collagen, this B-vitamin does wonders, the mineral you’ve been missing, and I swear by this powder! The list goes on. 

I’m all for giving a supplement a try! But if you’re experiencing problems with your hair, being specific is a must.

I’m Nathaniel, a local Osteopath with further study in nutrition and functional movement. You might think, what does an Osteopath have anything to do with hair? Well, this blog might explain it a little: hair is a part of the body, another system. Just like your wrist, your back, your ankle. Your hair is connected to the way your body works, and importantly the nutrients in it. 

When I work with clients, sometimes the hair is the biggest clue in what’s happening with their health. Whether it’s dry or oily, strong or brittle, the state of the hair tells us something about the person in front of us. What seem like complex changes in the hair could be the result of a single mineral deficiency. 

In fact, the most common nutrient deficiency in the world is iron deficiency. It can cause:

  • Brittle hair
  • Thin hair
  • Dry hair
  • Hair loss

Despite having access to a wide range of foods in Australia, iron deficiency continues to affect us here. So much so, that an estimated 1 in 4 Aussie women have it – young, middle aged, old. 

Iron is a mineral that we get from food. When there’s an imbalance between how much we consume and how much we lose or use, a deficiency can develop. Once it develops, symptoms start to appear. The changes in hair can be distressing and unsettling because it is a visible change – even if you’re the only one to notice. 

Rest assured, that in the case of iron deficiency, your hair and structure will return over a period of months once the deficiency is fixed. In the person with an iron deficiency, they may have spent hundreds or thousands of dollars in attempts to fix their hair. However, once the cause is found, the guesswork is taken out of it. And it could be a simple fix. 

IRON

Simply, there are three main groups at risk for iron deficiency: 

1) If you have blood loss.

2) If you have inadequate intake of iron-containing foods. 

3) If you have decrease absorption of iron from the gut

Blood loss: 

  • Heavy periods can mean that the body is losing a lot of iron via blood loss. It’s hard for your body to maintain its iron if a lot is being lost. There are many reasons for heavy bleeding but it’s common in conditions like endometriosis or polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). You could be noticing this if you’re having to change sanitary pads or tampons hourly, having to wake up during the night to change sanitary pads, or having to wear double layers of sanitary pads to control flow. 
  • Gut problems. Anything that causes bleeding to occur in the stomach, small intestine, or bowel. This could be certain medications like NSAIDs, ulcers, or certain conditions like inflammatory bowel disease. If you notice redness in your stool or your stool is dark and tarry it might be time to see your doctor. 

Inadequate intake of Iron-containing foods: 

It can be easier than you think to not have enough iron in your diet, particularly if you’re vegetarian or vegan. The body has a harder time absorbing the type of iron that is found in plants compared to the type found in animal foods. Therefore, being plant based means that you have to mindful about small hacks to increase iron like:

  • Not consuming tea or coffee with meals which reduces iron absorption
  • Cooking on cast-iron cookware
  • Eating foods high in vitamin C which increase iron absorption

Sometimes, if that still isn’t meeting your iron needs, you may need to take a supplement. 

Decreased absorption of iron from the gut:

Your digestive tract is a long tube that breaks down food until the point that it can absorb nutrients from it. Iron absorption requires an acidic stomach and a well-functioning intestine. 

If you’re experiencing reflux, you may be taking a medication to reduce the acidity of the stomach. Although this helps with the reflux symptoms, it may be affecting the amount of iron that’s getting into your body. 

Untreated celiac disease or Crohn’s disease affect the intestine’s ability to absorb nutrients (iron included). 

Putting it all together

Other symptoms that you might be experiencing if you have iron deficiency is having low energy, inability to think, dizziness or lightheadedness, exercise becomes even more difficult, shortness of breath, rapid heart rate, and paleness. 

If we suspect iron deficiency, blood tests are essential. Without blood tests, it may be easy to over-supplement or give your body too much – and can cause problems similar to a deficiency. 

If you think that you might have an iron deficiency, see one of our Osteopaths to guide you through the world of health, diet, and supplementation. The great part about the body is that once it’s given the right nutrients, it can do what it does best: grow healthy luscious hair. 

Nathaniel Van Maanen (Osteopath)