Category Archives: Nutrition

Scalp Analysis

Sam Macdonald Hair | Scalp Analysis | Hairdresser Scarborough Trigg North Beach Sorrento Trigg Karinyup Carine Duncraig

You may or may not know that I not only do hair in the salon. I can also help you with any scalp conditions you may have.

I do this a few ways.

Firstly, I can look up close with my trichoscope, (microscope for the hair and scalp). With the use of the Trichoscope, can see what’s really go on at scalp level. A lot of the detail is lost when only looking with the naked eye. We often assume we simply have dandruff when it could be a number of things.

Secondly, I can talk to you about what’s happening in your life that is contributing so you have the power to do something yourself. Things like stress, diet and exercise all play a part here.

Thirdly, I can show you products that are not medical but rather using natural ingredients to try and allow your body to heal itself. I’m not personally a great believer in medications for scalp conditions, at least not at the beginning of the journey of healing your scalp. Sure, if we can’t fix it naturally then that’s the next step but often it’s something we can handle without the medications.

Things I can show you are alternatives to use on your hair to help alleviate the problems. I also have a range of supplements especially for scalp conditions if we think your diet may be lacking.

In a nut shell I’m your first port of call.

9 times out of 10 we can fix these issues or at least get them under control as not all scalp issues can be fixed for good sadly.

A scalp consultation is presently only $30 so what do you have to lose?

If you’d like to book an appointment to give your hair or scalp some love. I’d be happy to talk through it’s current condition as part of your initial consultation. All the details to make a booking can be found here.

Which Vitamins Are Important For Hair Health?

Which Vitamins Are Important For Hair Health?

What are the important vitamins and supplements for hair and scalp heath particularly?

This is something that comes up in the salon regularly because I always advise that I can help the hair on your head however you have to do most of the work by eating the right thing for great hair health.

I personally look at it like another of the 80-20 rules. I can’t help you if you don’t first help yourself.

So what do we need and here do we get it from?

Zinc – Zinc is important for strength and also helps the body absorb vitamin B.

Potassium – An electrolyte which helps the cells absorb and retain liquid.

Magnesium – Very important with the proteins in our bodies and as hair is a protein called Keratin, you can see the importance.

Magnesium and potassium together are very important as they allow the cells to hold and retain fluid. Imagine the difference between a grape and a sultana for a good visual.

Vitamin C – I have covered this in a previous blog, here’s the link for more info.

Vitamin C And Your Hair

Now I have some fabulous news for you here, well that’s if your not into the Keto or Paleo diet…

All these beautiful hair heath ingredients are contained in legumes. Lentils, chickpeas and beans etc.

Even if you think you don’t like legumes you can add them into things like bolognase and you won’t even know they’re there…

I personally love them but not too many days in a row!

Vitamin C And Your Hair

Vitamin C And Your Hair

We all know that vitamin C is good for us but did you ever consider its impact on your hair?

I think most of has heard at some point of the role vitamin C can play in skin health and guess what there’s skin on your head under all that hair!

We’ve all heard me say this a million times by now, healthy scalp leads to healthy hair…

Did I hear someone say something about a broken record?

As well as helping your skin/scalp vitamin C does also helps the hair itself. This is due to the fabulous antioxidants that the vitamin C contains.

In a super simplified version, (there is so much more to antioxidants than this but that’s for another time and perhaps a Naturopath to explain), antioxidants help to counteract free radicals which are the ones we don’t want because they can dehydrate the hair.

Taking a supplement is one option but also vitamin C is in so many foods and drinks that you probably already love and enjoy. For example Gin & tonic, (don’t forget the lemon), mojitos or strawberry daiquiris, just to name a few!

I guess like with most things in life the fresher and more varied your diet, the more vitamins and minerals you’ll get.

Vitamin C is in so many foods, citrus of course but did you know that cauliflower and brussel sprouts have plenty too?

I personally put a whole lemon from my local framers markets in my green smoothie every day, pips and all. I have heard that pips from fruit can help with menopause hot flushes and even though I’m not quite there yet, there’s no harm dosing up for a possible future right?

Pips are full of polyphenols which are fabulous for gut health anyway so get munching people!

Whats Your Hair Made From?

Sam Macdonald Hair | Trigg North Beach Sprrento Scarborough Wembley Downs Karinyup CArine Duncraig | Whats You Hair Made Of | Hairdresser

Whats your hair made from?

A protein called Keratin.

Keratin is the same protein that we find in our outer layer of skin, AKA the epidermis, and our fingernails.

The difference is that your hair and nails is a hard version and you skin a soft one.

Keratin in your body is there to help protect you. In your skin it protects you from UV, infection and keeps you water proof.

The hard version of Keratin is your hair, its for added protection on the top of your body which cops a lot more direct sun and UV.

Keratin is extremely insoluble in water and organic solvents which makes sense. You don’t want to melt when you have a shower!

Maybe surprisingly to you that its also what constitutes animal’s hooves, claws, scales and feathers.

Just some examples of this are tortoise and turtle shells, bird beaks and horse hooves.

Who knew that we have so much in common with our animal friends?

Your Hair Can Reveal A Lot About You

Did you know that your hair can reveal a lot about you?

It can be tested to reveal a lot about what you have been getting up to. Things like the nutrients in your body, and even drug taking.

Hair contains information about everything that has ever been in your bloodstream, including drugs. It’s one of the most commonly used types of forensic evidence.

The kinds of drugs they can test for are, cocaine, marijuana, opiates (heroin, codeine, Oxycontin plus more), methamphetamine, ecstasy as well as a few more not listed here.

It also contains evidence of nutrients in your body, as well as toxic metals and trace elements.

This can be really helpful in regards to your health. It can help with finding out if you have too much of something in your body, or perhaps not enough.

Blood and urine testing can be done to find out some of these things. The thing is though, that most of this evidence leaves your body within 3 days. Testing your hair can hold this information for up to 90 days. Have you ever noticed how some criminals shave their heads all the time? Now you know why, well one possible reason anyway!

Hair Mineral Analysis, HMA, is something you can do for yourself if you want to know how your body is going.

It tests 16 nutrient levels, 8 toxic metals (you want none of those by the way), and 14 trace elements.

Nutritional elements are minerals our bodies need to be healthy and strong. We want to have just the right amount of these. Too much or too little, could lead to health issues.

Nutritional elements include: Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium, Phosphorous, Iron, Manganese, Chromium, Selenium, Boron, Cobalt, Molybdenum, Sulphur, Lithium, Zinc and Copper.

Toxic elements are the things we want as little as possible and include: Antimony, Uranium, Arsenic, Beryllium, Mercury, Cadmium, Lead and Aluminium.

Trace elements are things we require but only need small amounts of. Germanium, Barium, Bismuth, Rubidium, Lithium, Nickel, Platinum, Thallium, Vanadium, Strontium, Tin, Titanium, Tungsten and Zirconium.

HMA is something I can organise for you if you’re ever interested though can also be done through your health care professional.

My Year Off Part Two Alcohol

Sam Macdonald Hair - Wembley Downs City Beach Scarboroguh Trigg North Beach Sorrento Karinyup Carine Duncraig

My Year Off – Part Two Alcohol

Hey there you unbelievers, I did it!⁣⁣

Well almost, I did cheat twice, with a total of three glasses of red wine (450ml).⁣⁣

The month started three days before the 1st of February though so perhaps it evens out somehow? What do you think?⁣⁣

First week was easy, It was only when I got home on Saturday afternoon that I had a pang for a glass but it dissipated after 10minutes and I was fine. Saw a show at fringe and I drove home, (can totally get used to the driving thing).⁣⁣

Second week is where I fell down. We went to Elizabeth Quay before going to Boorna Waanginy at Kings Park. It was so beautiful at night that I had one glass of Sangiovese with my hubby whilst sitting at The Reveley. Honestly, I didn’t even enjoy it or finish the glass.⁣⁣

The next night I had 2 glasses at home which I thoroughly enjoyed. That is until the after taste kicked in and I just felt exhausted and wanted to sleep.⁣⁣

Third weekend I simply didn’t miss it at all. We went to Dali At Night for Fringe and out to dinner with friends. They were all drinking and I had a fab time on my soda water.⁣⁣

Fourth weekend was same as the third, happy with my soda water and lime juice.⁣⁣

Conclusion is that my relationship with alcohol has changed forever.

The bonus’s are:⁣⁣

⁣⁣- more energy⁣⁣

– less headaches⁣⁣

⁣⁣- sleep is soooo much better⁣⁣

⁣⁣- the bags under my eyes are smaller⁣⁣

⁣⁣- there is more money than usual in my spending account

⁣⁣- my Carpal Tunnel syndrome is no where near as bad because of reduced inflammation.⁣⁣

⁣⁣- The amount of energy I have at the end of the week feels amazing, instead of dying in a heap on a Saturday night.⁣⁣

– With all this extra energy, I’ve been exercising and can actually see a hint of a muscle ⁣⁣

⁣The negatives:⁣⁣

Hmmm, crickets…⁣ ⁣

⁣I also read a fabulous book called The Naked Mind, Control Alcohol, written by Annie Grace.⁣⁣

⁣This is a book I highly recommend, even if you don’t think you have an issue with alcohol. ⁣⁣

⁣It shines the light from a different angle.⁣⁣

Am I giving up grog forever?⁣⁣

⁣⁣No, not for now anyway but I have to say that this month has had a huge impact on almost every area of my life and I’m super proud of myself.⁣⁣

⁣⁣

My Year Off

My Year Off – Part One Sugar

Sam Macdonald Hair | Hairdresser Trigg Scarborough North Beach Sorrento Karinyup Carine Duncraig

Part One, Refined Sugar…

This year is going to be, my year off. My year off what you ask?

Well every month this year, I will be giving something different up and this month it has been refined sugar…

Very early this month, I was extremely inspired by one of my guests deciding to give up alcohol for an entire year…

Now whilst I’m in awe of this, I myself don’t want to do it, but it did get me thinking…

What if every month this year, I give up something that’s probably not the best for good physical and mental health and see what changes it brings…

So I started on January 5th with refined sugar because I didn’t think it would be a hard one to start with.

Frankly after having a couple of weeks off, eating and drinking too much and perhaps not being as active as I should be, I didn’t want to challenge myself too much.

In the first 5 days of my challenge, I ended up cheating a little. Deciding this wasn’t a good start, I reset myself at the 10th of January. This means I have to go refined sugar free till February 10th, even though I am starting with mt next thing off on February 1st.

So I’m writing this and I haven’t quite finished but I know I’ll be fine because you know what, refined sugar is not a big habit of mine.

So what did I get out of this if it wasn’t that hard?

Awareness of many of the place that sugar hides.

At the beginning of the month, I was having one soy coffee every morning with half a sugar.

The half a sugar went immediately but it took me longer to register that the soy milk itself has a bit of sugar in it, so I have now gone to black coffee.

This works with the small daily fasting I now do which is only eating between 10am and 6pm everyday. I absolutely cannot wait ill 10am for my coffee so black it is!

Did you know that not all sugar is bad for you? I didn’t know this until this month.

Apparently the bacteria that lives in our guts actually needs sugar to do its thing, though it has to be sugar that is balanced with polyphenols. A great source of this is things like blueberries, pomegranate, strawberries and many other berry type fruits.

If this sort of information is something you’d like to know more about, this podcast from the ATP project is the bomb. I’m completely addicted to it!

https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/the-atp-projects-podcast/id978635940?mt=2&i=1000401814252

I also discovered that kecap manis is basically sugar. I guess its obvious now I think about it, but that’s the point right, you have to think about it…

The big thing I got out of this refined sugar free month is awareness. I have a feeling I will be saying the same thing at the end of every month.

I’m happy to keep most of this month changes I have made in place permanently.

I will be keeping my coffee black, which has health benefits with the polyphenols in it when you don’t add milk. (Listen to the podcast) Also if a recipe calls for kecap manis, I will be coming up with an alternative.

I’m not going to give up chocolate as I don’t really eat it a lot. However I am going to think twice with what I put in my mouth when it comes to sugar…

So what am I giving up for February? Well I looked at the calendar and only 2 months this year have only 4 weekends. February and September and since its my birthday in September, it has to be February.

Yep you guessed it, I’m giving up alcohol!

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