Use of Sesame Oil for Hair Loss

Did you know sesame oil can be found in soaps, shampoos, skin moisturizers, cosmetics, and medicines? Many people use sesame oil itself directly on their hair and scalp.

We look at the different hair-related uses people pull out the sesame oil for, what benefits it has, and how to use it.

Sesame oil is rich in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. These are considered essential fats that your body needs to get from your diet.

A 2017 study noted that being deficient in these fatty acids could impact hair loss, and that while more and rigorous research needed to be done, getting more of these essential fats could improve hair growth for some people.

Sesame seeds might be good, too

In addition, whole sesame seeds have many nutrients, some of which have been connected with improving hair growth.

Some types of hair loss and hair thinning can happen if you don’t get the right nutrition. This happens because without the right building blocks, hair may fall out, become thinner or grow more slowly.

Adding nutrients can help prevent or reduce hair loss and hair thinning. Types of nutrients found in sesame seeds include:

·  vitamin B-1

·  calcium

·  copper

·  phosphorus

·  iron

·  magnesium

·  manganese

·  zinc

Sesame oil is an emollient, meaning it can help to soften your skin and make the strands of your hair look smoother. Those same fatty acids in sesame oil that make it good with foods, also make it good for topically combating dry hair and scalp.

Sesame oil contains the same kinds of healthy fatty acids that are added to shampoos, skin creams, and makeup. These include:

·  palmitic acid

·  linoleic acid

·  linolenic acid

·  oleic acid

·  stearic acid

The fatty acids in sesame oil help it to get deep into the skin. Inflammation and irritation on the scalp and around the hair roots can cause hair to fall out or thin in patches. Fatty acids help to soothe and heal the scalp and roots. Sesame oil may improve small, bald patches, or areas of thinning hair.

Sesame oil may also help carry other nutrients into the skin. A 2010 study on mice found that sesame oil helped to carry ozone (oxygen) into the skin. If it has a similar effect with people, this may help speed up healing in cuts or scratches in the skin.

Sesame seeds and sesame oil have antibacterial and antifungal properties. This may help prevent or reduce common skin infections on the scalp. Using sesame oil on your scalp and hair may help reduce dandruff, which is often caused by a fungus or bacteria.

Sesame oil has some occlusive properties, so if applied to a clean scalp, might help the skin stay moisturized. This can help to prevent and treat scalp dryness, flaking, and itching.

Using sesame oil as a hair mask may help make your hair stronger. It may help to prevent hair breakage and split ends. Those emollient and occlusive properties mean sesame oil fills in gaps and forms a protective seal on the hair.

A sesame oil treatment can help reduce how much water each hair strand absorbs when you shower. Too much water inside a strand of hair makes it swell. This weakens and damages it. Sesame oil can help to make your hair longer, stronger, and look shinier.

Use sesame oil as a hair mask before showering. This helps to moisturize and treat your hair and scalp, without leaving an oily residue and sesame scent.

Treat your hair and scalp with a pure sesame oil mask:

·  Pour a small amount of sesame oil into a glass bowl — about 2 to 3 tablespoons.

·  Use cold or warm the oil very slightly in the microwave — for about 10 to 15 seconds.

·  Use your fingers to gently massage the oil into your scalp — begin at your hairline and continue to the back of your scalp.

·  Cover your hair with the remainder of the oil — especially the ends of the hair that may be drier.

·  Cover your hair with a towel or shower cap.

·  Let the sesame oil mask stay in your hair for at least 1 hour.

·  Wash your hair with shampoo and conditioner as normal.

Add sesame oil to your usual hair masks:

Buy pure sesame oil from a specialty hair and cosmetics store. Or look for this oil at your local Middle Eastern or Indian grocer. You can also shop for sesame oil online.

Look for pure raw sesame oil and cold-pressed sesame oil.

Toasted sesame oil has a different flavor and smell. Nutritional benefits may differ between raw and toasted sesame seed oils.

Types of sesame seeds

There are two main kinds of sesame seeds: black and white. Oil is made from either of these. According to a 2010 study, white sesame seeds had higher protein, fat, and moisture content than black seeds. Yet in a 2016 study, black seeds had higher antioxidant activity.

Some commercial hair products contain added sesame oil. Sesame oil may be listed by other names on shampoos, conditioners, and hair treatments. Look for:

·  sesamum indicum

·  hydrogentated sesame seed oil

·  sodium sesameseedate

·  sesame oil unsaponifiables

Like any kind of oil, sesame oil can block pores. This can irritate your scalp and skin. Clogged pores can also cause hair follicles to fall out. Avoid this by leaving pure sesame oil on your scalp and hair for only a short period of time.

Also ensure that all sesame oil is washed out from your scalp and hair. Use shampoo and warm water after a sesame oil hair treatment. Massage your scalp gently in the shower to ensure it is cleansed of all oil.

Warming sesame oil slightly might make it more comfortable to apply. Make sure the oil is not heated too much. Test the temperature with a tiny drop on the inside of your wrist before applying. Hot oil can cause scalp burns and damage your hair.

Sesame oil, also called sesame seed oil and gingelly oil, is pressed from sesame seeds, which come from plants grown in warmer areas of the world. The seeds are composed of about 50 percent oil.

Sesame oil is rich in a number of the nutrients your body and hair needs. So adding sesame oil or seeds to meals can benefit your hair health.

Using this oil on your hair and scalp may help your hair to grow, be stronger, and look shinier.

Hair loss and hair changes can happen for a range of reasons. Several medical and genetic conditions can cause balding, patchy hair loss, or dry, brittle hair. Hair loss is also connected to hormone changes and some medications. See your doctor if you are experiencing any kind of hair loss. You may need medical treatment.

A Healthy Life, the 4 Basics of a Healthy Life and the 3 Important Habits that Create Good Health

 by: Drs. Ralph & Lahni DeAmicis

Good health is easy but being sick is hard. The truth is, maintaining good health is pretty simple although reclaiming it takes patience, consistent actions and smart choices. Your body heals at its own pace. Your job is to help that process along. There are four important components that determine a person's level of health.

Component One: Is their body being fed what it needs to be healthy? From the point of view of the body, many meals today barely qualify as food. That's why disease care is a trillion dollar business and over 60% of Americans are overweight. An amazing amount of the American diet is packed with calories carrying no real nutrition. Like good health, eating vital, real food is easy, but that is a decision you have to make.

Component Two: Does the person have a cork stuck up their butt? Are they constipated? Can the body eliminate toxins effectively? Other organs get constipated besides the bowels. Most diseases involve the starvation or constriction of a group of organs. Often food is clogging the machinery. Some foods clog and others clean. Some foods support the health of the organs and others destroy them.

Component Three: Do they feel loved? There's nothing like loving when it comes to good health. People in loving relationships eat together. The quality of the food is an expression of their affection. Most of good health is attitude and self-image and they're linked to how you love. Continuously work on improving your ability to love and good health is easy.

Component Four: Do they enjoy their work and feel they make a contribution, even if it seems frivolous to someone else? This attitude is often more important to good health than what it is you actually do, or how much you earn. It's being connected, valued and on a mission. It keeps the inner flame alive and like love, offers that most valuable asset to healing, a sense of hope. Patiently improve these four components and good health is easy.

Now, cut yourself some slack. Health challenges make people feel guilty, stupid or victimized. Whether you believe you create your own health or that problems simply fall out of the sky, realize that these days, good health barely seems like an option for many people. Health education has fallen down on the job and the result is a trillion dollar plus medical bill. Part of the problem is that the conscious mind wasn't designed to be responsible for your health. Read that again.

Your conscious mind doesn't have the job skills, although it can be a good helper. Finding healthy foods and detoxification are managed by the autonomic (read automatic) nervous system. For example: When you're low in a certain nutrient, this is what the body does. All blood flows through the liver, the largest internal organ, which notes that the blood is low in that nutrient, so it sends a message to the tongue, forming a crystalline pattern in the saliva, that mimics the food that contains that nutrient.

Now the nose, who is in the same neighborhood, sniffs out that food and then it's lunch. This messaging process bypasses the conscious mind. But modern foods don't offer the choices that the autonomic system requires to maintain good health. It's that simple. A major portion of the American diet is glue; hybridized wheat and cow dairy, cheap, plentiful, with a great profit margin. Wheat is high in gluten (GLUtEn) and cow dairy is high in casein, like the white craft glue from Elmer's. That's why their logo is Elsie the Cow.

Now manufacturers have found an even cheaper food; soy, high in the estrogens that promote obesity and hormonal challenges, which is one of the reasons why today's generation possesses half of the fertility of their grandparent's generation. Choosing to eat these glues causes many people's poor level of health. The body's design requires graceful, gradual change. As you move forward in your healing, realize the pace at which the body restores itself has to do with the design of the cell.

When the body makes a new cell, it will design it for the quantity of nutrition present at the time the cell is created. The body doesn't like to waste resources so it won't create a cell capable of processing huge amounts of nutrition if there's only a fraction of that floating around. When you improve your diet and add supplements, the current cells have very real limits as to what they can use. However, when you maintain high levels of nutrition, the next generation of cells will be created with an increased capability. Even they won't be running at their full potential, because in order to fit in with the previous matrix, their lower capabilities have to overlap the higher capabilities of their weaker predecessors.

As you maintain that high level of nutrition, the following generations will push those limits up another step and another step and so on. That's why it takes a while to reach optimal health. For example, a red blood cell has a life span of 120 days, so how many cellular generations will it take to reach your fullest potential? Then to maintain good health you need to keep providing high levels of nutrition through making smart food choices and active supplementation.

In other words, once you start dancing, keep dancing! The three habits that lead to good health are: Be consistent, be patient and always aim to improve all four components; good nutrition, effective detoxification, good loving and good work.

6 Ways to Eat More Healthfully

6 Ways to Eat More Healthfully
 by: Kim Beardsmore

With so much 'diet advice' around today it is little wonder if you feel somewhat confused. Whether you are wanting to lose weight, maintain your weight or help your family eat more healthfully....these six, simple ideas will help you to eat more heathfully.

1. Stay away from the inside aisles

When you grocery shop, fill up your trolley from the aisles around the outside the perimeter of the store. This is where the fresh fruit, vegetables and fresh foods are kept.

2. Eat small amounts frequently

Don't allow yourself to get hungry. Keep your appetite in control with smaller meals and healthy snacks in between.

3. Keep close to nature

Fresh is best and generally much better for you than pre-packaged. For example, a fresh potato baked in its jacket is more healthy than pre-packaged "potato au gratin".

4. Experiment and use spices

Get used to cooking with a wide variety of spices. It's possible to get fabulous flavor with spices without adding high-calorie fats and oils.

5. Read "fat-free" labels carefully

Many "fat-free" items contain additional carbohydrates in the form of sugar or fructose to compensate for reduced flavor and can do more to add to your weight than the "full strength" product.

6. Use low-fat dairy products

For adults, much healthier as low-fat dairy products have the nutrients without the extra fat.

5 Keys to Better Sleep

5 Keys to Better Sleep
 by: Patricia Wagner

Do you have trouble getting a good night's sleep?

What you are about to read may make a huge difference to your future health! Being well rested is essential to our wellbeing and is a major key in living an energetic lifestyle.

Here are some of the benefits of a good night's sleep:

- You will look and feel your best.

- Relating to others will come easier with enough rest.

- You'll be a safer driver and be less likely to fall asleep at the wheel.

- More alertness and creativity on the job will be a major benefit.

- You'll feel less stressed.

- There'll be an increased ability to fight off illness.

- You'll enjoy life more.

Here are some keys to getting a better night's sleep:

1. Set your body clock.

Choose a bedtime schedule by deciding how many hours of shut-eye you need and try to stick with it. That's because we are all creatures of habit.

Try not to oversleep too often because this tends to throw your body clock off. If you are tired, try taking a short nap. However, it should not be longer than about one half an hour because more time than that and you will wind up not being able to fall asleep that night.

2. Be wise about eating and drinking.

Drinking too much fluid in the late afternoon and evening can cause you to wake up in the middle of the night to trot off to the bathroom. Also consuming food and beverages that contain caffeine before bedtime can cause you to toss and turn for hours. So it would be wise to avoid coffee, tea, soft drinks and chocolate before going to bed. However, a hot non-caffeinated drink can relax you.

3. Prepare your sleeping environment.

You have control over a number of factors in your sleeping environment that will make or break a good night's sleep.

One of them is the temperature of your bedroom. Adjust the temperature of your bedroom so it's conducive to sleeping. It's usually best to have your room a little on the cool side, but be sure you have enough blankets on your bed.

Another environmental issue is the darkness of our bedrooms. Many people prefer sleeping when it's totally dark, so turn off the lights except for night lights.

A key bedroom environment factor is your bed. Purchase the best mattress you can afford since you'll spend a large proportion of your life on it.

Quietness is very important to our rest. Try to keep the noise down. If that's impossible, consider using ear plugs. Play calming music and avoid watching television just before bedtime. Violent scenes can lead to sleeplessness and violent dreams!

Design your bedroom to be a peaceful sanctuary in your home. Separate your work from the bedroom area so your body knows the bedroom is a place to rest - not work.

4. Prepare yourself physically, emotionally and spiritually for bedtime.

There are a number of steps you can take before going to bed to prepare yourself physically. Slowly stretching before hitting the sack can help you relax. Regular exercise during the day will enhance your ability to fall asleep. Taking a warm bath - not a shower - can be helpful too. If you are still tense, a back massage can help you relax. Wear comfortable nonbinding clothing.

Here's the most important thing you can do once you've hit the sack - let go of the day's worries. Bedtime is a bad time to dwell on problems since worry can keep you tossing and turning for hours! I've found that reading the Bible and praying before going to bed is a wonderful way to end the day. Then I can truly relax and lay down my problems. My sleep is much sweeter and so are my dreams!

5. Seek specialized help if needed.

A medical condition could be preventing you from getting your full rest at night. See your doctor if you have continuing difficulty with falling asleep. Usually it's not wise to take sleeping pills since they can become addictive. They also interfere with the body's own inner sleeping rhythm.

Here are three organizations that offer specialized help:

-National Sleep Foundation

-The American Academy of Sleep Medicine

-National Center on Sleep Disorders Research

The suggestions in this article have been listed to help you get a better night's sleep. Now try putting them into practice and enjoy a more rested and energetic lifestyle.

Pleasant dreams!

by Patricia Wagner

Cure for the Middle Age Spread

Millions practice the same New Year’s ritual of making the infamous resolution to exercise. And most realize that New Year’s good intentions typically don’t last more than a couple of weeks.

Phil Campbell, M.S., M.A. 51, is a Senior Games and masters track & field athlete who is frequently quoted in fitness magazines. “This year we have new research that shows us the most effective form of exercise for adults, especially middle-age adults,” says Campbell, “and when people see results the probability goes up that they’ll stick with their resolution to exercise.”

What’s the most effective form of exercise Campbell is talking about? It’s not your grandmother’s walk around the block. It’s anaerobic exercise--a step-up from the steady-pace cardio you’ve been hearing about for years. It doesn’t take as long, but it’s more intense.

“Researchers show we can unleash exercise-induced growth hormone release with 10 to 30 seconds of higher intensities of exercise,” says Campbell. “The most powerful body-fat-cutting, muscle-toning, anti-aging substance known in science, growth hormone, is produced by the body with this type of exercise,” he explains.

Running, cycling, swimming, cross country skiing, and power walking can be made to be anaerobic if the intensity is raised to a level where it gets you “good-and-winded,” says Campbell. He recommends eight repetitions of some type of sprinting exercise lasting 10 to 30 seconds with a 1½ minute rest in-between.

If your favorite form of exercise is capable of getting you winded quickly, Campbell says that this is “anaerobic” and capable of reaching the growth hormone release benchmarks cited in the research.

CURE FOR THE MIDDLE AGE SPREAD?

The middle-age spread has an official name, “the somatopause.” And it’s directly related to the way the body produces growth hormone, explains Campbell. The middle-age somatopause is signified by energy decline, weight-gain (around the middle, and hips), loss of muscle, and wrinkled skin after age 30.

Campbell says that exercising to release growth hormone is the natural way to beat the middle-age spread. However, he cautions that physician clearance is a must and a progressive build-up of high-intensity exercise is necessary to prevent injury. “Anaerobic exercise is the most beneficial form of exercise, but also the most dangerous.”

Will the next fitness fad be the sprinting types of exercise Campbell describes? He says the trend is catching on fast, except “Ready Set Go Fitness Workout isn’t a fad because once people try it, they feel it, and know this program is the real deal!”

by: Phil Campbell, M.S., M.A., FACHE

Phil Campbell is the author of Ready Set Go Synergy Fitness for Time-Crunched Adults

3 Things you want to know about Cholesterol

You wouldn't judge a book by its cover, would you?

You would want to open the book and read part of it to get a better idea about what is going on, right?

Well, judging a book by its cover is what happens when you look at LDL (bad) cholesterol levels and decide that this is the only - or even the best indicator of heart disease.

Worse yet, you are told you MUST lower your LDL cholesterol level.

#1 Naturally produced by the body, cholesterol is needed for a variety of functions.-1

Your body uses cholesterol to make testosterone and other essential hormones and is one of the best health and youth enhancing strategies for aging men and women. -2

As you age your body naturally starts to lose its ability to produce as much testosterone and you start to lose energy, strength, sexual desire and sexual capacity.-2

#2 Because the fact is cholesterol alone is not THE indicator of heart disease. Cholesterol which has been oxidized is the problem. Oxidation of cholesterol is the more specific problem which would enable the cholesterol to become "sticky" and start to form plaque in the walls of the arteries.-3

We have all seen an apple cut open and watch as it turns brown - this is oxidation. Your body will oxidize on the inside unless steps are taken to help prevent this.

One can keep oxidation of cholesterol in check by incorporating plenty of anti-oxidants in your consumption of food and supplements.-1, 3

A few of the most powerful anti-oxidants are:

CoenzymeQ10
Vitamin E
Vitamin A
Vitamin C
Low cost, safe and proven food sources high in omega 3's and the right fats to help keep your cholesterol levels in balance-1, 3

Garlic
Ginger
Olive oil
Olives
Almonds
Walnuts
Flaxseed
Eggplant
Okra
Eggs
Fresh fruit
These are better, safe, proven and natural ways to prevent cholesterol from becoming a problem.

A diet heavy in grains and processed foods will actually raise your blood cholesterol levels more than foods which contain cholesterol.

A diet low in cholesterol will do you little if anything health wise -4

Focusing on raising your HDL cholesterol levels because as you raise your good cholesterol it decreases the concern about your LDL levels of cholesterol and gives you a better total cholesterol profile. -5

Some of the best ways to improve your “Good” or HDL cholesterol is through:

Exercise.
Vitamin D
Niacin
Moderate alcohol consumption is associated with raising HDL cholesterol levels - 6
There is a big difference between the cholesterol your Body produces and dietary cholesterol from the food you eat.

#3 Two factors which are of greater concern and are better indicators of heart disease are -3

1. A measure of inflammation in the blood stream called C-reactive protein

2. An amino acid produced by the body called homocysteine.

High levels of C-reactive protein and high levels of homocysteine are better leading indicators and also contribute to the formation of plaque in the blood vessels leading to heart disease -3

As reported in the July, 2003 issue of JAMA, a study was conducted which showed that a diet high in plant sterols, fiber and almonds was clearly the better way to reduce cholesterol and heart disease over statin drugs.-8

And finally …

Policosanol – An organic plant alcohol from sugar cane is one of the best natural ways to reduce bad cholesterol levels-7

Naturally, as you realize the power of these proven ways to prevent cholesterol from becoming a problem, you will find yourself taking action.

References

1- Dr. Al Sears Health Confidential for Men – “The biggest drug and the biggest lie” august 4th, 2003.

2- Dr. Al Sears Health Confidential for Men – “Ignore the hype focus on cholesterol that matters” April 4, 2004

3- Hyman, Mark M.D., Liponis, Mark M.D., Ultra-Prevention, The 6-Week Plan that will Make you healthy for life, New York, Scribner, 2003

4- Dr. Al Sears Health Confidential for Men – “Teaching Nutrition?” March 15, 2004

5- Framingham Heart Study conducted on healthy people in the 1950s. cholesterol misleading as only one of 240 factors in heart disease. http://www.researchprotection.org/infomail/03/07/11.html

6- Castiglioni A and Neuman WR. "HDL Cholesterol: What Is Its True Clinical Significance?" Emergency Medicine, January 2003:pp 30-42.

7- Policosanol safe alternative just one of many. http://www.life-enhancement.com/article_template.asp?ID=663 New study finds that this sugar-cane extract safely lowers cholesterol levels. By Aaron W. Jensen, Ph.D. References PR Newswire, March 5, 2002. White Plains, NY. Omar MA, Wilson JP. FDA adverse event reports on statin -associated rhabdomyolysis. Ann Pharmacother 2002 Feb;36(2):288-95. Gouni-Berthold I, Berthold HK. Policosanol: clinical pharmacology and therapeutic significance of a new lipid-lowering agent. Am Heart J 2002;143:356-65. Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults. Executive summary of the third report of the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (Adult Treatment Panel III). J Am Med Assoc 2001;285:2486-97.

8- Jenkins D. et al., Effects of a dietary portfolio of cholesterol- lowering foods vs Lovastatin on serum lipids and c-reactive protein. JAMA 2003; 290: 502-510

9- – Health Sciences Institute - Jenny Thompson – Article “Broken Ground” 3/11/2004

About The Author

Lee Cummings has been helping people solve problems and feel better with proven nutrition for over 4 years.

Don't Sit So Much

Don't sit so much. It is said that sitting is considered the new smoking. Sitting too much ages us and can make plenty of health issues worse. Sitting less than 3 hours a day can boost your life expectancy by up to 2 years. Stand up. Take a walk. Stretch. Move. You'll not only live longer, but you'll also live better.

Studies of over 1 million people found that one hour or more of moderately intense physical activity a day could counter the effects of too much sitting.

That may seem like a lot of exercise for one day but you can also break up your sitting time. Stand regularly, walk a lot when you can. Have your meetings on the go. Take a walk with your co-workers and discuss the issues outside, or at least down the hall.

My doctor once told me "It's not all about exercise, but it's about 'move'. You have to move your body."

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