Loose Women star Shobna Gulati was devastated by her hair loss, and is successfully fighting back with... seaweed!
The stresses and strains of life, fame and personal circumstance have seen Shobna's hair thin over the years, and which causes further stress and strain.
Now, having resisted medical treatment, Shobna has turned to natural remedies containing seaweeds and seen great results in her hair re-growth and thickness.
The use of seaweed for hair, and skin health is well known. Indeed the Japanese are said to put their thick lustrous hair down to the mineral rich brown seaweeds eaten as part of the traditional daily Japanese diet.
Healthy hair requires many nutrients, particularly protein, vitamins A, B, C, D and E, essential fatty acids (EFAs) particularly Omega 6, and a range of micronutrients particularly zinc, all of which are present in seaweeds. Seaweeds contain all the mineral and micronutrients, as well as trace elements, vitamin groups, amino acids, antioxidants and phenols.
Seagreens, the leading European seaweed brand comments "We beat pretty much any food gram to gram, and in terms of minerals our products have as much iron as a sirloin steak, 12 times as much calcium as whole milk and 5 times as much potassium as a banana".
Incredibly, just 1 gram of seaweed contains as much iodine as 3 whole mackerel, and which is essential for normal thyroid function, metabolism and healthy skin, and many case studies that show iodine deficiency leads to hair loss, and dry, brittle hair.
The British Thyroid Foundation notes that severe and prolonged hypothyroidism (under active thyroid) and hyperthyroidism (over active thyroid) can cause loss of hair. Since it is well established now that the majority of women in the UK are iodine deficient and perhaps, more worryingly, 76% of school-aged girls are deficient BBC article , then there is the chance that this deficiency, along with a lack of other essential minerals and nutrients can contribute to thinning hair and other health conditions.
A recent study published in the British Journal of Nutrition has shown that Seagreens seaweed is a safe natural source of iodine, as compared to artificial sources that are more likely to cause issue through their very high absorbance into the body, yet quick excretion, meaning you can possibly receive too much iodine, and then anyway excrete it from your system Cambridge University article
This is important as the only significant sources in most diets of naturally occurring iodine are fish, milk and eggs (and of course seaweed!) which are often not sufficiently eaten in the daily diet, with an over reliance on artificial sources of vitamins and minerals from supplements.
As a foundation food, seaweed is an ideal addition to the daily diet potentially to provide a natural balance of your daily requirements and also potentially assist against hair loss at the same time.
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