Help! My Hair is Falling Out!

The third child in and I am no longer afraid that I am going to go bald postpartum.  I can't say the same for my postpartum with the older two.  We hear that hormones play a part in obtaining thick and long hair during pregnancy, but that it will all fall out come postpartum.  Hair (and nails) are considered fast-generating cells, but hair is not exactly fast-growing/fast-generating in pregnancy if you consider that its growth and generation is through cycles.  If you want to read of these cycles, you can do so by clicking here.  The hair is thicker because it is not being shed.  So, in fact, its growth cycle is not generating fast because parts of the cycle are missing.  This is not to confuse each individual's rate of strand growth -- some people have hair that grows faster than others, which is controlled by certain hormones not exclusive to maintaining pregnancy.  The hormones that are needed in pregnancy also have a job in the fast-generating cycle of hair.  Hair doesn't normally grow through a follicle that is already taken up.  If hair doesn't leave the follicle (like in pregnancy) it won't cycle new hair growth.  The fast-turning for fast-growing cycle is missing parts for other temporary, and more important, reasons controlled by hormones.  In pregnancy, the body naturally and charitably trades the balance of hormones needed for self's fast-generating cells into a balance to fast-grow a baby.  When that process is complete, as true to the laws of weights and balance tuning with homeostasis, the body requires all that was borrowed to be repayed.  Hence, the postpartum shedding of your hair is the extremity of the fast-growing cycle of these cells, as the body's hormones teeter to the other end and finally balance.  What you see is hair that goes through the cycle faster than normal, to make up for the lack of cycle it had in pregnancy.  Of course this means fast shedding, as shedding is part of the cycle.

With the first two, I tried many things to slow the cycle down a bit.  This time around I've kept it simple.  I take solace in the fact that for every strand that falls out of the follicle, there should be a new hair in its place.  You are not going to go bald.  It's just that more hair strands than normal are going through the cycle faster than normal because scarcely any strands went through the cycle in the months prior.  A couple of things to remember:

Don't get a perm.  I thought it would make my hair look thicker.  However, common sense tells anyone that chemicals only aid in killing.  

No need for Nioxin.  I tried this with the first two.  It does aim to manipulate the growth a bit, but it is still filled with chemicals.  You can use other topicals that are cheaper.  

Do keep the follicles clean.  This means actually cleaning your hair.  I know, I know -- handling it in water makes you nervous because of all the strands that fall out.  Raw apple cider vinegar scalp rubs also will do the trick to clean clogged follicles.  

Do brush your hair.  This alone needs a balance.  You don't want to tug unnecessarily, which will agitate hair loss.  At the same time, you don't want dreadlocks.  I brush once a day with a bristle brush.  The bristles will help transfer the natural oil that sits on the scalp down to the strands for protection against the elements.  These brushses will also help remove points of breakage and split ends.  

Do promote scalp circulation.  One method of Nioxin's formula is to promote circulation, which promotes fast growth.  Without the cost and chemicals, you can achieve this effect through some essential oils.  Good ones are peppermint and rosemary.  Lavendar is great for relaxation -- it has had reports of being a good hair oil, possibly urging the fast cycle's shedding to relax a bit.  I also use coconut oil once a week for general hair health.

Don't strip the hair.  I did this with getting highlights soon after Amira -- bleach will strip, as we know.  This is more often accomplished in our daily shampooing, and also with the type of shampoo we use. Though you want to keep the follicles clean of build-up, you do need the oils for protection of the strands.  Again, there must be a balance.  I let water touch my hair every other day, sometimes a day extra.  I also don't use a sulfate shampoo, unless it is a coconut sulfate.  Simply put, sulfate is a degreaser.  It's that stuff that makes Dawn dishsoap a miracle worker on your pots and pans; but Dawn also makes your hands need lotion.  Sulfates strip...a little too well.

As with all things we aim to fix, the best fights are internal.  The B-vitamins in your prenatals are almost all of the help your body is going to allow.  This is because this isn't a fight.  Postpartum isn't chemo.  It is simply just the body's way of balance and cycles.  

Winter Meals: Cutting the Cost

It feels like our family is continuously in a process of change -- the most recent was the step-parent adoption of my husband to my elder 2 children.  This, on top of a new baby, on top of the winter months that result in a heating expense, meant I had to cut the cost of some things.  Last month I was so shocked at how much we were able to cut our food bill down, without cutting down our standards.  Our family was fed for $500 in groceries.  The month prior we were pushing $700.  The savings came by simple switches and willingness to labor over meals -- no more Trader Joe's frozen meals.  I didn't use coupons.  Though as much as I would like to coupon-cut, I don't see myself having the time or memory over what coupons I have vs. what to buy.  I also found that when I did briefly attempt to use coupons, I would purchase things that I wouldn't otherwise buy just because of the deal that came with the coupon.  It didn't work in my favor.  Here are some of the simple ways you can save on your grocery bill without coupons, while still purchasing real food.

Organic produce -- Does it matter?  Yes!  Then again I weighed out what could be purchased conventional or even frozen organic rather than fresh organic before just going all organic.  If it grows within the ground, is porous, is leafy, or the outside gets consumed, I purchase it organic.  If it has a peel that is not eaten, I will go non-organic only if the price is a major difference.  In some cases, I switched to frozen organic fruits and vegetables to save on costs on the items out of season -- this beats paying $6 a pint of blueberries.  I also switched what we were buying.  For instance, bell peppers are expensive, carrots are cheap.  I go with recipes that use carrots more than bell peppers.  

Bread.  Between challah, bowls, and rolls, I did a lot of making my own breads.  Unfortunately, the cost and handling of gluten-free meant that I had to switch to an all-purpose flour; however, you can choose an unbromated/non-brominated all-purpose flour, which is still lower in cost and better for you.  I still must purchase loaves of bread to make Brant's sandwiches for work.  You can get plenty of day (or so) old loaves from the local grocer's bakery at a huge discount.  I check the ingredients, because bakery fresh does not equal higher quality most of the time.  I actually go for the Country Oven loaves from Fred Meyer when they are 3 or so days away from expiration.  They sell for $.79/loaf near expiration, and are really decent ingredients. I'll get multiple loaves and freeze them.

Protein.  It's a must, but know that a proper balanced diet is not a high-protein diet.  That being said, I'll add a protein to each meal, but greatly saved on grocery costs by having that predominately be a plant protein.  I don't mean soy neither -- I can't have soy because of my daughter's allergies to it.  For instance, we used to purchase Greek yogurt for our morning smoothies, but have now taken out the yogurt ($5 a large container that serves 4) and replaced it with hemp protein ($11 a tub with significantly more servings).  Beans were a major part of our diet already, and average $1 a can of organic stuff.  I went a step further in savings by buying dry beans from the bulk section (quite a bit are organic) and throwing them into the crock pot instead.  Canned salmon (as opposed to canned tuna) is also budget-friendly, without the added unnecessary ingredients nor higher mercury.  You'd be surprised at how many canned fish recipes you can find.

Snacks.  I have kids, a laboring husband, and I'm a nursing mother.  Our family needs snacks.  I already knew it is more cost efficient to mix your own trail mix -- trail mix being a healthy balanced snack of carbs, fats, and proteins.  Yet, I don't mix my own anymore, because Trader Joe's has trail mixes for as low as $3.99 a bag that will generously give Brant a snack for 4 days.  Other snack switches we made:  baking our own cookies (and other baked goods) from scratch, Costco's organic animal crackers, sunflower seeds, frozen fruit smoothies, tortilla chips with homemade hummus (garbanzo beans were bought dry and home cooked for cost, of course), old fashioned popcorn popped in a pot.

Carbs.  I switched from yellow and red potatoes to russet and sweet -- still organic, since they are ground vegetables.  They are cheaper for the amount you get.  These winter months mean that I can make plenty of soups and chowders with the potatoes.  Then you have mashed potatoes, scalloped potatoes, roasted potatoes, baked potatoes, etc.  It doesn't have to be boring.  Rice remained the same at a brown organic rice.  I get mine from Costco, or even the grocer's bulk section would have better prices with the option for organic.  Rice is not bad for you.  You just have to know what you are getting.  White calrose rice, or glutinous rice (the bulk bags in Asian writing) are bad for you.  Risottos make a budget-friendly lunch and/or dinner.

Dairy.  You should already know that the block is cheaper than a bag.  Most of your popular block cheeses are the same cost, but the softer cheeses spread more when melted (like in quesadillas or grilled cheese).  This means you can use less.  So we go with a softer cheese, like mozarella or monterey jack.  

Pastas.  Most people throw extra spices into their spaghetti sauce anyway, so you might as well try to save on the sauce cost by watering down tomato paste instead, and season from there.  For other non-spaghetti pastas, vinegar and oil go a long way. 

The biggest savings came when we switched the type of meals we ate.  If you make separate courses in one meal it will be more expensive.  If you look for ways to combine the courses into one dish, you will save.  Our dinners were in the form of a baked casserole, a stovetop risotto or pasta, or a crockpot soup or chowder.  Try it!  It's the perfect time of the year for these types of meals and the massive savings.    

Vegan Sweet Potato Latkes

This season is the first time I tried vegan latkes since adopting a vegan diet in 2006.  I have just heard too many failed recipes with the egg substitutes in latkes, and have learned myself that substituting egg on a stovetop dish mostly results in a flop.  You can manipulate the binding and rising really well in the oven, but that immediate bond is needed for the stovetop.  I looked at 2 different recipes to see how they were coming up with this bond and mixed what worked well for me, and realized the flour used helps a great deal in the bonding.  In mine, I used oat flour -- I think of mushy and sticky oatmeal -- because it is what I had in the house.  However, I am sure that brown rice flour would work equally well.  I would be leery on all-purpose or any other flour from a non-sticky grain, unless you want to use the recipe with eggs instead.  Here is what I came up with:

• 3 small to medium sweet potatoes
• 1 lengthy carrot
• 3 bundles green onions
• 1/2 cup oat flour (or brown rice)
• 2 flax egg substitute (2 tbsps flax, 1 tsp baking soda, 6 tbsps water)
• Grated ginger to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste

Mix the flax egg substitute first, then set aside.  Shred sweet potatoes and carrots.  Remove water by taking handfuls of shreds with a good hand squeezing before tossing into a mixing bowl.  Chop green onions and add into mixing bowl.  Add flour and egg substitute.  Grate ginger to taste.  If you want these ingredients to stick together you have be willing to get your hands dirty.  I don't even own a mixer -- I always mix by hand, but this recipe especially needs the flour to imprint into the shreds.  A simple mechanical mixing will not do.  You will have to do a hand tossing and squeezing to ensure the flour and egg has bonded tightly to the potato and carrot shreds.  

Heat vegetable oil in a skillet over medium to medium-high heat.  I used coconut oil instead, which really complimented the flavors.  Potatoes need time to cook, hence a typical fry (quick high heat) won't be sufficient.  I turn it on medium to cook the potatoes properly, and at the final minutes put the heat higher for the crispiness of a fried food.  Cook until browned on each side.  Dash salt and pepper to taste in serving.  These latkes are very flavorful and can be eaten without a topping.  Happy Chanukah!

Eggless (Water) Chamorro Challah

I have eaten predominately vegan for over 8 years now.  More recently the only time I will venture outside of veganism is for the occasional fatty fish.  I started as a temporary fix for health concerns, but then loved it and stuck with it ever since.  I truly do not enjoy the feel of flesh between my teeth, not to mention how much it weighs me down.  I already have sensitives to lactose, never did like milk even in my youth, and now my nursing daughter cannot have any dairy, so dairy-free dieting is not a challenge neither.  I cannot stand the smell of eggs, and can even smell and taste it in baked goods.  Oh but I love a good bread, and so after tweeking other recipes I have tried, I've come up with a good water challah recipe that meets the sweet Hawaiian bread of my culture.  I call it my Chamorro Challah.

• 1 packet dry yeast
• 1 cup sink-hot water
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 4 cups flour (I like to mix all-purpose and oat flour, oat flour will do more of a 'sweet' bread)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3 tablespoons flax meal
• 3 additional tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons softened or melted coconut oil
• pinch of salt

Mix first three ingredients into a bowl and set aside.  Mix remainder dry ingredients (flours, baking powder, flax meal, salt) into a large bowl.  Add additional water and oil to mix.  Add yeast mix last.  The yeast mixture should be fizzy by the time you add it.  FYI, the flax meal and additional water cannot be cheated out of this recipe, these and the baking powder are an egg replacer.  If you omit, you must use another egg replacer (like oil/water mix)

I mix and roll the dough with my own hands until the bowl is clean of flour and residues.  Rub coconut oil throughout the mixing bowl, and roll the ball of dough around the bowl (to spread and transfer the coconut oil).  This is to prevent excessive sticking to the bowl and excessively stickly dough.

Let rise for up to 3 hours, depending on where you let it sit.  The dough should expand to the perimeter of your mixing bowl and raise at least double its size before you form it.

When dough has risen, divide into at least 3 parts, depending on how you want to braid the challah.  Roll each part to lengthen and braid, pinching the ends.  I make 2 braided challah loaves with the recipe above.  Let rise for another 30-60 minutes.

Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenhet, and then remove to brush a layer of coconut oil on top of loaves for the nice golden gloss of Hawaiian bread.  Bake for another 2-5 minutes.  Enjoy and Shabbat Shalom!

All-Purpose Coconut Oil

Elisha's dairy and soy allergies make me very mindful of what I put into and on my body, and I'm too thrifty to replace soy-based body and meal oils with multiple products.  I scoped out the price of Earth Balance's coconut (soy and dairy free) oil buttery spread and figured I'd better get used to just plain coconut oil as my butter alternative.  This only adds to other ways I've replaced many other items of my care for coconut oil.  My tested uses are as follows:

1.  Make up remover.  I cannot justify spending money on makeup remover itself, and so I have just been using soap and water.  This makes my oil-based eye primer look more like it has smeared rather than came off of my face.  Gone are the raccoon eyes when you use oil to remove makeup.

2.  Teeth-brushing.  Since I dont' have the patience for a 20 minute oil-pull swish, I wanted to test if a simple coconut-oil brushing before my baking soda brushing would do.  I have a pit in between 2 of my molars, one molar of which has a root canal.  Sometimes when food gets stuck in here, with no help from floss, the inflamation can lasts days.  Coconut oil brushing has not only helped pull the food, but has eased the inflammation, and protected from possible gum infection.

3.  Deep conditioner.  I only let water touch my hair every 2-3 days, and that is while using the baking soda and ACV cleansing method.  The only time I actually use shampoo (and a sulfate-free one at that) is to wash out the coconut oil from my hair after it's been sitting in it all day for a conditioning.  The difference between having the appearance of bald spots after the births of my older two and the healthy hair I still have after Elisha has been prayer over my coconut-oil anointed head!

4.  Moisturizer.  Washington is rainy, but despite this seeming moisture, it gets quite dry here in the Winter.  Cracked skin and cracked lips, meet coconut oil.

5.  Blister prevention, including salve for nursing mothers.  I came across this by pure logical thinking.  First, in my pregnancy my husband gave me daily massages.  I wore a pair of shoes in the summer that gave so much friction on the soles of my feet that it felt like they were blistering.  That night he massaged my feet, I felt the blister-feeling depart.  I have since used it when I feel a blister coming.  With that in mind, when Elisha came I knew lanolin would be needed to prevent nursing blisters or cracking -- or would it?  I tried the coconut oil and it worked like a charm.

6.  Deodorant.  When out of the shower, as I am already moisturizing with coconut-oil, I will rub a small amount of coconut oil into my hands with just enough baking soda to absorb it, and swipe it all on the armpits.  I have a very efficient system, having to put on deodorant (I don't use anti-perspirant) at least every hour, at $5-6 a bottle, and now my coconut-oil concoction is a twice a day application.

7.  Diaper rash and yeast rash cream.  Coconut oil is anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-microbial.  Enough said.

8.  Body cleanser.  I do not do this anymore, but did it for over a year.  I used to be soap-free, and used the oil-cleansing method on not just my face, but my whole body.  To do this properly you must completely cover yourself in coconut oil before any water touches you and then wipe it off in the shower with a washrag.  I can more than attest to it working.  I did this method for a full year during a time when I was a marathon runner in constant training.  No skin patches of fungus for me.

9.  Leather cleaner and protector.  This was another experiment when I didn't have shoe cleaner nor protector and was going to wear new leather boots in a down pour.  If coconut oil can moisturize my dry skin, why not a dead animal's dry skin?  I found coconut oil did the job way longer than the products I used to by for shoe care and protection.

10.  Butter alternative.  It is a different flavor, but I tell you what it makes my challah taste like Hawaiian rolls -- two of the best bread in one!

11.  Coffee flavoring.  This is especially great for those who take a morning dose of coconut oil medicinally.  It makes for a nice mock hazelnut flavor.

12.  Skin infection cream.  As said above, the oil is anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-microbial.  Whether it is ring worm or an infected scrape, I give coconut oil a try in my mixtures.

13.  Raw food setter.  What I like about raw food recipes is the amount of nutrients you can consume.  Heat will kill a good deal of nutrition out of meal.  We're talking the difference between a chocolate cake being healthy or not.  I like to try raw desserts, it makes me feel okay about having dessert.  I have seen the trick to keeping the proper consistency in desserts, from cake to icing, brownie to fudge, is coconut oil.  Can you imagine throwing some raw cocoa, cold-pressed coconut oil, and agave syrup into your blender (maybe also some raw nuts or beerries) and then spreading it out on wax paper in the refridgerator and having your very own natural and raw choocolate bar?  Do you know how much you would save?  I just looked at a natural chocolate bar yesterday for almost $5...

14.  Carrier oil.  Coconut oil works well to carry and spread your essential oils (which are dry).  The good news as well is that most of the ailments for which you would use essential oil coconut oil can also be used.  Talk about double whammy on those aillments.

The list goes on.  It seems like every time I am stumped on how to fix, remove, or enhance something, and I try coconut oil for it, it doesn't disappoint.  This is especially true medicinally  -- I've heard of people using it to help balance hormones and neurotransmission in mental disorders, assist in cancer-fighting, tremors.  You know how some people use NyQuil or Robitussin for their cure all?  Mine is coconut oil.  If you have any other uses, please do share.