ÿþ<html> <title>Nutter's Bulk & Natural Foods - Article on Skin, Hair and Nails</title> <meta name="description" content="Frequently asked questions about skin, hair and nails, dry skin, oily skin, brittle nails, peeling, splitting, dry hair and the effect of aging on skin, hair and nails."> <meta name="keywords" content="skin, hair, nails, dry skin, dry hair, splitting nails, flaking nails, basic overview, wrinkles, age spots, collagen, elastin, sagging skin, premature aging, follicle, gray hair, grey hair, thinning of the hair, nail growth, brittle, yellowed, ingrown toenails, healthy skin, healthy, nutrition, nutritional choices, best nutrition for your hair, best nutrition for your nails, best nutrition for your skin, dry or oily hair, oily hair, oily skin, dandruff, natural, natural remedies, natural remedies for dry hair, vinegar, eggs, olive oil, shampoo, conditioner, rinse, grease, baking soda, vitamin E, sea salts, moisturizer, humidity, hangnails, white spots, ridges, vertical ridges, horizontal ridges, peeling, splitting"> <STYLE> A:visited {text-decoration:none} A:active {text-decoration:none} </head> <center> <table width=800 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0> <td width=800 valign=top> </td></tr> <tr> <font face="Arial" size=4 color="#E0E0E0"> <a href="index.php"><font color=white>Home</a> | <a href="stores.html"><font color=white>Locate A Store</a> | <a href="wellbeing.html"><font color=white>Wellbeing Information</a> | <a href="recipes.html"><font color=white>Recipes</a> </table> <table width=800 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0> <td width=800 valign=top> <a href="artsindex.html"><font face="Times New Roman" size=4" color=red> <br> <br> Our skin contains thousands of cells, glands, blood vessels, and nerve endings in every square inch that control functions such as sweat, oil production, touch, and temperature control. If you cut yourself, and are in good health, the cut should heal quickly as your skin completely replaces itself every 28 days. Tiny muscles in your skin respond to environmental and emotional situations by standing the hairs on your skin up straight. This can happen when you're cold or frightened, or to make you look scary to potential predators! <br><br> Two important types of fibers in our skin are collagen and elastin. These fibers allow us to bend and stretch our skin without tearing it. As we age, collagen and elastin decrease. <br><br> The innermost layer of our skin, the subcutaneous tissue, is where our sweat glands, blood vessels and cells that store fat are found. This is the layer that is responsible for protecting your internal components from blows and other injuries and helps your body hold in the heat. <br><br> <b>Hair</b><br><br> The fashion industry seems to have taken over one of the original reasons for our hair; to keep us warm. Now it's more about how you look than how you're coping with the cold. Tiny hairs in our nose, ears, eyebrows and eyes guard against intrusion by dust, dirt and bacteria and also act as a filter for our eyes to shield them from overexposure to light. <br><br> New hair cells are nourished by blood vessels running through your skin. As they grow, the new cells move further away from this source of nutrition and begin forming a hard protein called<i> keratin.</i> This process is actually the death of the hair cell. The dead cells and keratin are what form your hair. <br><br> <img src="longhairdog.jpg" align=left hspace=12 vspace=12 border=0> If you never cut your hair, it would grow approximately ¼" per month for up to six years. Then it falls out and another begins to grow in its place. Your hair follicles go through a growing cycle whereby they are active for two to six years and then become dormant for up to three months. Balding occurs when the hair follicles fail to reactivate after the dormant cycle. <br><br> Ever wonder why some people have a lovely mane of thick hair and others have straight, shiny thin hair? This could largely have to do with genetics because thick hair grows from large follicles and thin hair grows from narrow follicles. <br><br> Melanin is the substance responsible for the color of your hair. Your hair begins to turn gray when this pigment no longer forms. <br><br> <b>Nails</b><br><br> Your nails grow much more quickly in summer than in winter, and your fingernails grow more quickly than your toenails. If you lose a nail, and the skin below the nail (the matrix) remains intact, your nail should grow back. <br><br> <b>HOW DO OUR SKIN, HAIR AND NAILS CHANGE AS WE AGE?</b><br><br> <b>Skin</b><br><br> Our skin actually begins aging in our twenties and goes through a natural progression throughout our lifetime. <br><br> <img src="sharpei.jpg" align=right hspace=12 vspace=12 border=1> WRINKLES: Our skin contains two proteins which are central to the appearance of our skin; collagen and elastin. Collagen is strong and hard to stretch and elastin, as its name suggests, is elastic. Both are abundant in our younger years. In older people, elastin-containing fibers break down, which is one reason why the skin looks wrinkled. Sagging skin is also attributed to a decline in collagen and elastin. Deep wrinkles, age spots and leathery skin indicate premature aging of over-exposed and under-protected skin to the sun. <br><br> DRY SKIN: During our teenage years, hormones stimulate our sebaceous glands to make more sebum. Later in life, these glands produce less sebum, which contributes to dry skin in older people. <br><br> AGE SPOTS: Older skin is more prone to age spots because pigment cells, called melanocytes, begin to grow irregularly. <br><br> <b>Hair</b><br><br> The most noticeable sign of aging is gray hair. This happens because pigment cells in our hair follicles gradually die and with fewer pigment cells, a strand of hair will no longer contain as much melanin and becomes a more transparent color like gray, silver, or white. <br><br> Other than the onset of gray hair and thinning of the hair, aging doesn't overly affect your hair. A person you knew with thick, dark hair in younger years may appear with thinner, lighter hair in their later years. Conditions such as balding in men are determined by genetics and testosterone levels. You can still have a gorgeous head of hair in your eighties if you've made the effort to take care of it over the decades. <br><br> <b>Nails</b><br><br> In later years, nail growth begins to slow. Nails may become dull and brittle and appear yellowed and opaque. When nails become thicker and harder, you could begin to see problems, especially with ingrown toenails. <br><br> <b>WHICH VITAMINS PROMOTE HEALTHY SKIN, HAIR AND NAILS?</b><br><br> Nutter's offers a <a href="saquiz.html"><font color=blue><b>Self-Assessment Deficiencies Quiz</font></b></a> which allows you to determine which vitamins you may be lacking depending on the condition and symptoms present. This quiz is only meant as a starting point and general overview and is not meant to diagnose. Always consult with your primary health care provider before adding any new products to your current regimen. <br><br> <b>HOW CERTAIN NUTRITIONAL CHOICES HELP KEEP SKIN, HAIR AND NAILS HEALTHY</b><br><br> <b>Best Nutrition for Your Skin</b><br><br> Vitamins A, B2, B3, B6, and Biotin are the nutrients of choice for issues with acne, dry/oily/flaky skin, eczema, psoriasis and dry skin in general. For a full explanation of the benefits of these nutrients and where they can be found in our diet, <a href="vmaasindex.html"><font color=blue><b>CLICK HERE</font></b></a>.<br><br> <b>Best Nutrition for Your Hair</b><br><br> For dealing with issues such as dry hair, hair loss, baldness, premature graying, and unhealthy hair, look to vitamins A, B3, B6, E, and Biotin. For a full explanation of the benefits of these nutrients and where they can be found in our diet, <a href="vmaasindex.html"><font color=blue><b>CLICK HERE</font></b></a>.<br><br> <b>Best Nutrition for Your Nails</b> <img src="vitaminb2.jpg" align=right hspace=12 vspace=12 border=0><br> If you're living with split nails, vitamin B2 is your best bet. You can get more vitamin B2 into your diet either through supplementing from a quality source, or from foods such as cheese, eggs, fish, legumes, asparagus, avocados, broccoli, currants, mushrooms, and nuts. For issues with dry and brittle nails, choose to supplement with vitamin A. B vitamins in general, and iron, can help with ridges in your nails, but most likely this is a hereditary issue. Additional vitamin C in your diet can help with hangnails. For a full explanation of the benefits of these nutrients and where they can be found in our diet, <a href="vmaasindex.html"><font color=blue><b>CLICK HERE</font></b></a>.<br><br> <b>Dry or Oily Hair</b><br><br> Dry hair can lack luster and, often, a dry scalp with dandruff accompanies it. Dandruff is simply a layer of skin shedding from your scalp. When the skin cells get trapped on your scalp by your hair and clump together, you have dandruff. And dandruff can make your hair look dull. <br><br> <img src="frizzyhair.jpg" align=left hspace=12 vspace=18 border=0> All types of things can cause dry hair, including environmental factors, harsh chemicals and shampoos, chlorine, hot blow dryers and curling irons, or high mineral content in your local water supply. Physical conditions brought about by cancer treatment, medications, nutritional deficiencies, and chronic illnesses can lead to dry hair as well. <br><br> There are some simple things you can do to relieve dry hair, starting with your shampoo. A good rule of thumb is to never use a shampoo on your hair that you wouldn't use on your face. In other words, it should have a pH between 4.5 and 6.7. Finding this information may take a little research on your part, but it's well worth it. <br><br> Dry hair can be very fragile so, when lathering, be as gentle as you can. Scrubbing with fingernails can break the hair and irritate your scalp. A gentle massage stimulates the oil glands. Decrease the number of times per week that you wash your hair; once every couple of days should be sufficient. <br><br> Chemical treatments should be spaced out so your hair has time to recover between treatments. Perms, dyes, and straighteners can still be used; just try to use them less often and get into the heavy conditioning products between treatments. <br><br> Turning to conditioners, dry hair needs all the help it can get. Look for a product that you can use once a week for 20-30 minutes or so to give your hair some deep conditioning. Also ensure that your conditioner doesn't contain any alcohol which means looking for conditioners that have little to no scent. Hot oil treatments are really a treat for dry, damaged hair. <br><br> <img src="hairdryer.jpg" align=right hspace=12 vspace=12 border=1> Brushing dry hair can lead to further damage so easy does it with the brush. Vented brushes are a good choice since their rubberized tips don't pull on your hair or aggravate your scalp. <br><br> Back away from the hot stuff! Using very hot blow dryers to save time, or curling irons on high settings, is so hard on your hair that it's not really worth it. Hot rollers are the worst because they stretch the hair as the heat shrinks it. So keep that dryer on a lower setting and take your time. <br><br> You can always turn to natural remedies for dry hair. The answer may be sitting in your kitchen cupboard as we speak. Good old vinegar can help your dry hair as it's a great conditioner. There are several options for using vinegar: <LI>After shampooing, rinse your hair in the sink, adding vinegar to the water as you rinse. <LI>Rinse your hair with vinegar and water, but don't wring it out; wrap it in a towel instead for 5-10 minutes. This helps control dandruff and removes buildup from styling products. Alternately, add ½ cup of apple cider vinegar to 2 cups water in a spray bottle and spray on your hair after rinsing out the shampoo; wrap in a towel for 5-10 minutes. For serious dandruff, this mixture can be left on your hair for up to 1 hour. A great way to control the frizzies as well! Not into vinegar? Try your fridge instead! Become an egghead instead by using eggs to give your hair back it's shine. Whip an egg into warm water and lather it into your hair; rinse with warm water. Or, try this pre-shampooing treatment; for very long hair: mix together 3 eggs, 2 tablespoons olive oil or safflower oil and 1 teaspoon vinegar. For long to medium length hair use 2 eggs, and for short hair use one egg. Apply to your hair, cover with a plastic cap and leave it on for 30 minutes. Then shampoo as usual. <br><br> Oily hair has issues all its own. <br><br> Heredity can play a large part in why your oil glands become overzealous. Hormonal fluctuations have a part to play in controlling the amount of oil in your hair; when the hormones settle down the problem usually does too. Fine hair often suffers a double misfortune; fine and oily. There are generally more fine hairs on a scalp than if the hair is thick, and where there's more hair, there's more oil because each hair follicle has 2-3 oil glands. <br><br> Eating greasy foods is not to blame for oily hair or skin, contrary to what many believe, unless you rub your burgers directly on your scalp. <br><br> <img src="washhair.jpg" align=left hspace=12 vspace=12 border=1> Relieving oily hair is easier than most people think. You can shampoo oily hair often. In fact, shampooing every day is a good idea. Unlike dry hair, oily hair requires a shampoo to be more alkaline with a pH of 6.7 and higher. Even easier is just to look for shampoos formulated specifically for oily hair. The more generic the shampoo, the better; you want to leave out all the fancy ingredients, additives, and the two-in-ones, shampoos that are mixed with conditioners. <br><br> Rinse your hair as thoroughly as you can and don't bother with conditioner every time you shampoo. If you must, just add conditioner to the ends of your hair. Adding lemon juice to your rinse water helps cut through any grease in your hair and will give it a healthy looking shine. If you want to get really inventive with your rinse, adding any type of alcohol, such as vodka, gin, or beer (but not the sweet, sticky stuff like sherry), to your rinse water has a drying effect. For those tea-totallers, using diluted tea, which contains tannic acid (an astringent), can cut the oil as well. <br><br> Be gentle with the brush and try not to drag the oils from your scalp down through your hair. <br><br> <b>Dry or Oily Skin</b><br><br> There are many reasons why you might have dry skin and knowing what they are can help you take care of it. <br><br> Heredity does certainly play a part in the type of skin you have. The oil glands in your skin may not be producing as much oil as they could and this is exacerbated by age; the older we get, the less oil our oil glands produce. <br><br> Do you live in a windy, dry, cold climate? Does it seem that your lips and feet dry out as soon as you've put on your moisturizer? Your environment plays a major part in the health of your skin. Constant exposure to wind, dust, indoor furnace heat, and outdoor cold wreaks havoc on our skin. Even air conditioning has an adverse affect on our skin. <br><br> Hot showers and baths can suck the moisture from your skin. Harsh soaps and household cleansers can leave your hands looking 40 years older than they are. But all is not lost and the answer is, again, in your kitchen cupboards. <br><br> <i>Baking Soda</i> is a good alternative to dishwashing liquids and is very skin-friendly. To avoid one or two hot showers or baths per week, take a sponge bath using 4 tablespoons baking soda in 1 quart of water. This can relieve the itch of dry skin. If you really miss your bath, add 1 cup of baking soda to the water and soak for 30 minutes. <br><br> <img src="oatmeal.jpg" align=right hspace=12 vspace=12 border=1><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <font face="Times New Roman" size=3><i><b>Carol Roy is a Natural Health Practitioner, registered with Natural Health Practitioners Canada, who received her diploma from the Alternative Medicine College of Canada in Montreal, Quebec. With 9 years experience in her area of expertise, naturopathic medicine, Carol has also trained to become a fully qualified Reiki Master, Quantum Touch ® Practitioner and Reflexologist.</b></font></i> <center>The suggestions by Nutters Bulk & Natural Foods and the contents of this article<br>are recommendations only and not a substitute for any medical advice or a <br>replacement for any prescriptions. Seek medical advice for any health concerns.<br>Consult your health care provider before using any recommendations herein.</center><br> </table> <table width=800> <td width=800> </td></tr> <tr> <center><font face="Arial" size=2 color="#E0E0E0"> <a href="stores.html"><b><font color="#E0E0E0">Locate A Store</b></a><font size=2> </table> </body>