CAUSES OF DANDRUFF (5)

Diet & Dandruff

The year is nearing is full cycle. It is the season for feasting whether to bid Old Year goodbye or welcome to a fresh New Year; marking the longest night of the year or celebrating the rebirth of the new Sun, people will offer a spread of mouth-watering rich foods, tempting desserts and sweets accompanied by toasting. Gaily decorated shops enticed shoppers with an enormous variety of gift that included hampers filled with boxes of chocolates, sweets, fruits preserved in honey or sugar, crispy potato chips, buttery baked goods, fine wine or liquor… a sweet end leading to a sweet beginning.

The contents of the hampers that I’d just described actually increases the risk of dandruff. Consume them sparingly and binge on ‘anti-dandruff’ food instead.

Nowadays, some dieticians and dermatologist are advocating diet therapy as an adjunct treatment because they believe   certain food increases the risk of getting dandruff and skin problems such as acne and psoriasis while other food reduces the chances. Dandruff-causing culprits are high glycemic index food (sugar and refined carbohydrates), yeast, saturated fats, fried food and alcohol. Ayurveda added food that can create ama (digestive impurities) such as icy cold food and drink as well as food that is not fresh (leftovers) to the list. TCM believe diet that impairs your liver and kidney function is harmful to hair.

Sugar (High glycemic index food)

The glycemic index (GI) indicates how fast and how high blood sugar rises after eating a food. Food that can increase our blood sugar rapidly has a high GI.

Why is sudden, rapid increase in blood sugar bad? The sudden increase lead to insulin spikes, which in turn lead to stimulation of hormone surges that can trigger the output of fatty acids (sebum). Your body deals with the excess sebum by expelling it through the pores of the skin and scalp. Studies have found that when there is excessive sebum, the oil-loving malassezia grow rapidly, irritates your scalp leading to excessive shedding of skin or dandruff.

Moreover, high sugar level in the blood depletes Vitamin B6 and Zinc which are known to fight dandruff. It also has a negative impact on the antioxidants, vitamins C and E, both of which are necessary for healthy, lustrous hair.

Sugar and saturated fats triggers inflammation. Blood sugar spurs the pancreas to produce high levels of insulin thus causing inflammation. Inflammation triggers the immune system to ramp up and the body produces more free radicals that attack collagen (a type of connective tissue). Collagen binds all tissues together and provides structure and strength to organs, skin, bones, walls of blood vessels etc.

Limit the following foods in your diet:

Chocolates, processed potatoes, soft drinks, candies and food made from refined flour such as white bread, pasta, and cakes etc. processed food may contain high amounts of hidden sugar and refined carbohydrate. The GI also increases in carbohydrate food that had been cooked for a long time and became gelatinized.

Yeast

If you are susceptible to yeast infection, avoid fermented products and products containing yeast during yeast infection episodes. According to a holistic dermatologist, dandruff is due to a reaction to Malassezia. The condition can be aggravated by an overgrowth of yeast in the gastrointestinal tract.

Wine and beer use yeast in its fermentation process. Alcohol in wine and beer is a toxin that puts a strain on your liver and releases hormones that causes acne and worsens your dandruff problem.

Some food scientists found dairy products such as cheese and whole milk can acerbate dandruff problem perhaps due to a combination of fats and other elements. Therefore, some people suggested drinking skim milk to reduce fat intake. However, a Harvard study on the effect of drinking skim milk on the skin and acne found that skim milk caused the worse breakouts with an increased 44% likelihood of developing blemishes. They suggested hormones in skim milk may be higher perhaps due to concentration during processing (and caused hormonal imbalance in the body).

Foods to avoid during yeast attack:

Limit sugar because it fuel yeast growth. I notice whenever I take marmite /vegemite, I get yeast infection. So I avoided it now.

Some experts also suggested minimizing fermented foods and drink such as beer, wine, cheese, mushrooms, soy sauce, vinegar and certain types of bread using yeast as rising agent. Some experts suggested taking probiotics (found in yogurt, miso, and sauerkraut) to crowd out yeast in the intestine; others said such food should be avoided. Diet therapy is still in its infancy in the West. We need more evidence backed by research and long term human studies to validate expert advice on specific food to eat or avoid.

What current studies have established is that diet does have an impact on dandruff although there is disagreement on specific foods.