You are what you eat

I know that it is a cliché, but from the day you were born, every centimeter that you have added to your frame has been put there as a direct result of the food you eat and the beverages you drink. It is therefore absolutely, 100% true that you are what you eat (and drink of course).

From this, it naturally follows that everything you eat and drink has a profound effect on your general well-being, health and overall life. Consequently, if you suffer from a problem like dandruff, whilst you might be genetically predisposed to it, it does not necessarily mean that you have to accept it without attempting to fight back.

Part of this fighting back process has got to be reassessing what you currently eat and drink every day to see whether there are improvements you can make which might help to control your dandruff.

As suggested previously, you should try to avoid eating a diet that is too rich in spicy foods, because not only is there a chance that spicy foods might increase your bodily secretions, it is also a fact that some spices irritate the average human metabolism. When your body is irritated, it naturally tries to counteract this irritation by fighting back which in turn can lead to internal imbalances.

Internal imbalances will often manifest themselves in sickness, susceptibility to infections and other external indications of imbalance, one of which could well be worsened dandruff.

There are other foodstuffs that you should reduce (or completely cut) your intake of that are believed to have a direct effect on the production of sebum which feeds the yeast that leads to dandruff. For example, cutting down on the saturated fats of the kind that are contained in red meat such as beef whilst also reducing your intake of trans-fatty acids that are often found in margarine could help to reduce your susceptibility to dandruff, because both of these forms of fat are believed to encourage increased sebum production.
Whether you are a dandruff sufferer or not, it is common knowledge that a diet rich in colorful fruit and vegetables is always good to you, but what might not be that well known is that it is a particularly good idea for someone with dandruff to eat a vegetable and fruit rich diet. Many of these foods are rich in minerals and B. vitamins and it is generally accepted that a deficiency of both of these nutrients can aggravate a dandruff problem.

Hence, you should include a good portion of leafy green vegetables, potatoes, bananas, red chili peppers and lentils in your diet as all of
these are a rich source of different minerals and vitamin B. variants. The B. vitamins help to counteract the inefficient metabolism of fatty acids and carbohydrates which is in turn believed to contribute to the incidence of dandruff, so increasing the level of these vitamins in your diet is a significant step towards freeing yourself of the misery of dandruff.

If you do not consume milk as part of your everyday diet, you should, because it contains every vitamin that mammals need for good health. The fat soluble vitamins such as vitamin A., K., D. and E. are all contained in the milk fat, so if you drink no-fat or reduced fat milk, you will not take much of any of these vitamins on board.

On the other hand, the B. group vitamins are found in the aqueous (water based) part of the milk, so even if you take reduced fat milk, you will still take on board a significant amount of B. vitamins. Incidentally, fluid milk in the USA is often supplemented with vitamin D., whilst in other countries, different vitamin supplements are added to fluid milk, such as vitamin A.
It is also believed that vitamin D-3 has many benefits, particularly for your skin. Unfortunately, the human body does not generate vitamin D. without some outside assistance although each and every one of us needs vitamin D. in order to maintain good health. However, it is generated primarily by the skin due to the effects of sunlight in combination with certain foodstuffs such as milk, cheese, butter, cereals and fatty fish.

Of course, many of us see very little of the sun, perhaps because we live in a part of the world where there is not a great deal of sunshine for a significant proportion of the year, or perhaps because the majority of people work in an indoor environment. It is for these reasons that vitamin D deficiency is most commonly seen in people who live in the northern regions at higher latitudes who see less of the sun than people that live close to the equator.

Furthermore, even for people who live in sunnier climes, their concern over the possibility of contracting skin cancer leads many to use sunscreen every time they venture outdoors. Whilst taking such precautions is obviously sensible in some ways, it does unfortunately mean that perhaps as much as 95% of the body’s ability to generate vitamin D. is cancelled out by the application of sunscreen.

Recent studies have indicated that many patients who are suffering from a wide variety of inflammatory conditions were vitamin D deficient. The connection between vitamin D. and inflammatory conditions (of which dandruff is one example) was further emphasized by the fact that the condition of many of these patients improved once additional vitamin D. was added to their diet.

There are various different forms in which vitamin D. can be taken, but it is generally agreed that vitamin D3, the form that is typically found in fish oil or other oily fish related products is the most beneficial because it appears to be the form from which vitamin D. can be absorbed most efficiently.
Some nutritionists suggest that increasing the amount of gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) in your diet can also assist anyone with a dandruff problem to minimize the size of that problem.

It is believed that increasing the amount of GLA in your diet will help to improve the general condition of your skin and hair, so it is probably worth adding a rich source of GLA such as blackcurrant or evening primrose oil to your diet to see what difference this makes.

At every meal, or when you find yourself  at the fast food drive through, just remember you are what you eat.