Apple cider vinegar (ACV) has been in use for hundreds of years, both as a medicine and in food. Hippocrates started the trend when he mixed vinegar with honey for a healing and energizing elixir. Today, many authors tout benefits such as helping acne, premature aging, weight loss, acid reflux, chronic fatigue, high cholesterol and more. ACV really can do it all – even cleaning your house!
It goes without saying that it would be impossible for me to research absolutely everything that apple cider vinegar can do (that’s a future project!), but this article is going to focus on using ACV for hair. It can make your hair look better and, even more impressively, it’s been claimed that it can stop your hair loss!
There are a number of ideas about what can cause hair loss and unhealthy hair. A number of the experts believe that a poor metabolism can cause it, other think it’s an unhealthy scalp and related conditions such as psoriasis, dandruff and seborrhea. Others think it could be hormones. I don’t know of a way that ACV will work on the hormones, but there are ways it can help with the other suspected causes.
If you believe that your hair loss might be the result of a poor metabolism, there have been several instances in which a few teaspoonfuls of ACV a day over the course of several months have stopped hair loss. The remaining and new hair was also thicker and healthier.
Another way to take ACV, instead of having it “neat”, is to start each day with a glass of water after adding 4 teaspoons each of ACV, honey and black strap molasses.
Maybe you have an unhealthy scalp. Modern diet and the chemically derived ingredients in commercial shampoos can contribute to this. Your scalp can harbor bacteria, fungus, and yeast, all of which can play a part in scalp irritation and hair loss. If you think this might be your case, vinegar can possibly help in a number of ways. For one, vinegar has a tonic action and encourages blood circulation in the capillaries. To get this benefit, rinse your hair with an ACV and sage tea mixture.
Here are the step by step directions on how to perform the vinegar rinse:
Start by mixing four ounces of apple cider vinegar with the same amount of water – try to get organic and not over-processed vinegar. Now add 10 drops of sage essential oil, and put the solution onto your hair. Make sure that it comes into contact with your scalp, and wrap in a towel. Leave this on for at least 30 minutes before rinsing and shampooing as usual. This should be done at least once a week, but can be done every day if needed. If your hair has been colored or chemically treated then you should avoid the rinse. You should also note that the acidity of vinegar can dry out the hair, in which case you can use a conditioner to help moisturize it again.
As someone who already takes more prescription drugs than she would like, Natalie MacBride is looking into alternatives to using drugs as a remedy. If you’re interested in finding out more about how you can become healthy more naturally, take a look at her blog Natural Healing with Food.
categories: health,vinegar,hair loss,fitness,beauty,recipes