Hair And Healthy Aging

Our hair is important to us.  As we begin to lose it as we age, it may even seem more important to us.  It is “the frosting on the cake” for the human body, making one feel and look beautiful.

The hair industry certainly helps the economy as well. Think of all the hair products for sale and the advertisements that you see everywhere.  The hairdressing profession also engages many people

Yet, there is an even more important role that hair plays. – That of telling us how many toxic metals we have in our body.  Toxic metals are minerals that are not useful for human health and are poisonous to the body.  They can promote such conditions as fatigue, memory loss, depressive humor and lack of concentration.

Lead, arsenic, nickel and mercury, which is often found in fish, are some of these toxic minerals.  Necessary elements for the body are iron, zinc, magnesium and calcium.

A few strands of hair can be analyzed to show which substances are in your body.  Some pharmacies will perform this analysis.  In today’s world it is easy to accumulate these toxins.  The body absorbs them even through the jewelry that you wear.  Maybe it would be wise to remove your jewelry when at home, except for wedding rings, of course, where no one sees you!

How to get rid of toxic metals?  Drink a lot of water, exercise to transpire a lot and go to saunas.  Dandelion greens and garlic also help to eliminate toxic metals.

The hair, therefore, is a wonderful gift of nature which stores information that can improve health and heal the body.

Grandma Nature

Lynne Adams, 71, California,  USA

I think Age Esteem means holding in esteem – that it be a positive approach to thinking of aging.  That means aging could be very positive in your life, and I suppose also depending on what your age is.  To me Age Esteem means that you are esteeming age and getting older.

My own concerns with age would be not having good health.  Not having good health can affect a lot of the other things you like to do, like travel.  A real concern is also memory loss.  Sometimes something will come up and I’ll say, “How did I forget the name of that book, or that person?”   So memory loss is fearful and also living alone if I eventually have to.  Right now my husband is in reasonably good health and we are a fairly active couple, but thinking of living alone would be among my concerns.   I used to be very carefree about a lot of things in life, but now worry more than I would have about certain situations and wondering, “Will this person remember what they’re supposed to do?”, or if we’re planning something in an organization, “Will that person carry through?”  And in the family wondering, will my daughter remember to do this or that?  When she married I was concerned about all the plans we had to make.  I would be more concerned about things like that now that I’m older than I ever was when I was younger.  I’m more of a worrier than I used to be.

Lynne’s Tips:  Keeping a healthy body is important, so I am quite active.  I enjoy sports and I enjoy working out.   I try to keep my body whole.  I recently had a groin pull and it reminded me that I’m not exactly a kid any more.  I’m not discouraged.  I want to still stay active and I think that is very important.

Also keep your mind stimulated.  I do love to read.  I still seek more time to read because I am active in organizations and other things, but a real joy to me is to be informed.  I think it is important for a person of any age to know what is going on in the world.   It’s important to keep an active mind.  It is also important in your life to feel that you are doing something beyond yourself.  In place of just things you like to do, reach out to the world around you where there are needs.  I think that’s very important.  Now that I’m a retired teacher I have time to do more of that, especially through my church.

Take good care of yourself, eating healthy, having a healthy life style.  Friendships are extremely important. – To have close friends, but at the same time reaching out, knowing you can still make friends.  Remain active in life.   Seek new ideas.  Know other people and their lifestyles through friendships.

Lynne Adams is an active volunteer with First Book among other activities.

Bonnie Fatio