Hair loss anyone?

Hi everyone!

There have been several people in my life that have requested information about their hair falling out. There can be MANY reasons for this occurrence but the first thing to remember is to NOT worry! Worry and stress are one of the primary causes of hair falling out! Once you start breathing normally again think about what in your life is stressing you out? Your job? Your relationship? Your home? Could be anything but take a moment to think about it and see if you can’t think of something relaxing to do to counter it. After that please read the below information to combat hair loss naturally.

Below is a list of nutrients that can affect hair:

Omega 3's: I get this from eating flax seeds and taking a vegetarian supplement (picture enclosed).
Protein: generally you have to be super deficient for this to happen which in America is pretty rare. I have a previous blog on protein to ensure that we get enough!
http://hotgreenlife.blogspot.com/2011/06/protein-sources-for-vegans.html
Iron: Broccoli and Bok Choy (also have calcium which causes this type of iron to be absorbed nicely), soybeans, lentils, spinach, quinoa, tofu (tofu and broccoli together is another winning combo in terms of calcium absorption), tempeh, lima beans, swiss chard, beans, turnip greens, potato, and chickpeas.
B vitamins: Most Vegans and Vegetarians take a B12 supplement or a B complex so in theory most of us that are doing that should be okay. However, the b vitamins that are mentioned are in regards to hair loss issues are:
B7 or Vitamin H (Biotin): daily dose is 300mcg
B5 Pantothenic acid

These are present, besides in a B complex supplement in the following:
B7 or Biotin: carrots, mushrooms, cauliflower, bananas, and yeast (nutritional yeast is the best! It's amazing on popcorn and as a ‘mac and cheese’ substitute as well as having a lot of b vitamins, including b12)
B5: potatoes, vegetables, and whole grains (quinoa, millet, rice, MAYBE pasta)

Other random ideas:
Apple cider vinegar and sage tea applied directly to the scalp (thought to stimulate hair growth)
Psoralea seeds (a chinese herb applied to the scalp)
Ginger (taken as a tea or applied to the scalp)

One of my Omega 3 sources

Eggs-what do to?

Good morning everyone!

I hope you all had a great weekend! Mine wasn’t too bad but involved some weird food issues. I think it was from eating too much since it happened after several things, such as this amazing brunch that I had (heavy {compared to my usual consumption} on the tofu and soy), my dinner which was some wheat pasta and green beans and my dinner last night which was white (I know the horrors) pasta with broccoli, olive oil and garlic. So I’m unsure of what it could be, wheat was in everything I ate this weekend, it’s possible my body was just annoyed at the larger than usual quantity of it? It’s also possible I just had too much food at once, a clear possibility on the weekend actually. I think I will try limiting further my consumption of wheat, whenever I have brown rice pasta this stuff never happens; I feel light and happy! I was tested for celiac a few years ago when my sister was diagnosed but that test result was a big fat negative. Basically my stomach got hugely bloated, I was feverish, achy stomach and couldn’t sleep, it was terrible. So I'm thinking, limit the huge weekend eating and watch what happens as it could have just been that and not the gluten issue (I think I'm trained to think of gluten as a serious culprit due to my sister's diagnosis!)

Second topic for today’s blog is eggs! (Hence the title) I have to say there are two things that I miss in regards to being a vegan; eggs and CHEESE. Like honestly cheese is incredible but I have just read too many things about what is really in it and how badly it can effect our bodies that I just couldn’t go back, there would be no way (I never say never but I'm thinking I won't, unless of course I'm raising my own cows and then we can discuss). Not to mention the horrible animal cruelty associated with it all! However, with eggs, I would never eat the conventional eggs, the ones I have no idea where they are coming from or what kind of torture the poor hens endure and what antibiotics/growth hormones the poor animals are fed but I would think about it if I knew where the eggs were coming from, for real, not just trusting the government because as we know they aren’t to be trusted when it comes to our food. So those are my thoughts this morning as I see people eating egg white sandwiches with spinach or an egg white omelet with broccoli, garlic, peppers, oh the list goes on!

As part of my thinking I began some research to see what I could find out about true organic eggs. The first link at the bottom is a great article regarding whether organic eggs are actually organic. The second is a study done by a non-profit that rates different organic eggs based on quite a bit of criteria! I found one brand I could get in Whole Foods that I MIGHT consider, or use when absolutely necessary; Vital Farms in Austin Texas. Take a look at the survey and the results and let me know what you think!

 FYI:

In a 2007 egg-testing project, Mother Earth News compared the official U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient data for commercial eggs with eggs from hens raised on pasture and found that the latter typically contains:

• 1/3 less cholesterol
• 1/4 less saturated fat
• 2/3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene

The dramatically superior nutrient levels are most likely the result of the differences in diet between free ranging, pastured hens and commercially farmed hens.”

http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/05/organic-eggs-created-equal-new-scorecard/
http://www.cornucopia.org/organic-egg-scorecard/

Green juice, depression, and love

These last few days have been rough. Not as rough as some people have it obviously but depressing nonetheless. I didn’t get something that I truly wanted and felt that I deserved; I have been working on picking myself back up and focusing on the good things in my life, of which there are many. My current situation can make that difficult but of course necessary. I’m lucky that I can pick myself up out of this, many people cannot. I’ve even been so depressed that I've even thought about the possibility of going back on my depression meds, which is crazy for me in the sense that I believe most things can be fixed by environment and food. My environment is not so hot but I am doing well on the food so that’s great. We’ll focus on that!

Yesterday and today I have purchased two green juices (see picture below) and I can’t tell you how amazing that feels. I need to have them everyday! They are so amazingly delicious. Obviously I will need to cut it to a few times a week as I cannot afford $5 a day! That’s $25 a week! I need to figure out a way to have enough time to make juice instead of buying it!

I also went to the gym this morning instead of sleeping in! I went out last night to celebrate my sister finishing the GRE and of course was feeling a bit hungover this morning but I beat it at the gym! Yay for working out instead of being lazy and I would probably have had a bagel too! I also tried Edamame hummus from Trader Joes, another fantastic purchase! So delicious!



Amazing dark chocolate from Trader Joes!



Green juice heaven!



The card I bought myself!



Edamame Hummus!

 

Oats, Vitamins and Soy Feta

Good afternoon everyone!

Although I'm of course tired this afternoon, I’m fairly upbeat. Had a great lunch with coworkers then bought some amazing new vitamins! I also have been having amazing breakfasts lately, something that excites me as breakfast is my favorite meal of the day! This week I had some of the oats pictured below, they are fantastic! They are hearty, flavorful and filling. Oddly enough I’m not hungry after eating these, which can sometimes happen with oats or even cereals. Just wanted to share the excitement of a new breakfast!

I also tried a soy feta cheese! Now I generally don’t eat a TON of imitation things but sometimes things like this pop up and I just have to try them. It was delicious! Decently like real feta and overall tasty! I enclosed pictures for what it looks like and the ingredients.

Vitamins! I had been meaning to go out and buy some vitamin D as the summer has sadly ended here in NYC as well as some new B12. I ended up buying something called Holy Basil. I laughed at first, “really, holy basil?!” lol but my coworker Terri has been taking it and she said it is doing wonders so we shall see! I bought my vitamin D, Omega 3's wth DHA and EPA, and of course the Holy Basil and B12. Yay for trying to be healthier!



Piece of Soy Feta!

 New amazing oats!

My Vitamin collection!