From the Desk of Carolyn Dean MD ND
One of our new international distributors of The Completement Formulas® wrote me and told me that the beauty salons in their city are raving about the new hair growth and skin health of women who are taking ReMag® and ReMyte®. He also asked me to explain how that could be happening and so I wrote up this information for him and then I realized my regular readers would probably want to know what I wrote. So, here goes:
HAIR
Hair has two components – the hair shaft or filament and the hair follicle.
The hair shaft is mostly (95%) made of a protein called Keratin – the amino acid cystine is the most common. The hair nutrients are copper biotin and Vitamin A.
Completement Formulas: Methionine in ReAline® is a precursor to cysteine. Copper is in ReMyte®. Biotin is in ReAline®. Vit A is in Omega-3 Algae A+E®.
The hair shaft has three layers. The cuticle consists of several layers of flat, thin cells laid out overlapping one another. The cortex contains the keratin bundles in cell structures that remain roughly rod-like. The medulla is a disorganized and open area at the fiber’s center.
The Living Part of the Hair
However, I think the hair follicle holds the key to how the Completement Formulas are helping to make healthy hair. The root of the hair shaft is the bulb or follicle, which is located in the skin/dermis with its own stem cells that re-grow hair after it falls out but which can also become skin cells to help heal a wound in the vicinity. The follicle is the only living part of the hair. There are also the oil-producing sebaceous glands that lubricate the hair. The living hair follicle consists of fibrous connective tissue, glassy membrane, external root sheath, internal root sheath composed of epithelium stratum (Henle’s layer) and granular stratum (Huxley’s layer), cuticle, cortex, and medulla.
In this “alive” state and including the sebaceous glands, the hair follicle is going to require all the nutrients of any cell or tissue in the body, which means all the Completement Formulas® (including Omega-3, A+E, D3K2) are necessary for growing healthy follicles and therefore healthy hair.
Surprisingly, hair follicles contain nerve cells that release histamines and serotonin when touched, which signal nerve cells to send signals to the brain. (http://tinyurl.com/3u29fnwv)
Hair follicles also have muscles called arrector pili, which are composed of a bundle of smooth muscle fibers that attach to several follicles (a follicular unit). The sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system innervates each. The muscle attaches to the follicular stem cell niche in the follicular bulge, splitting at its deep end to encircle the follicle. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrector_pili_muscle)
Magnesium’s Role
What’s important about the nerve and muscle cells in hair follicles is that magnesium controls nerve and muscle cell function. So, if there is magnesium deficiency, these cells will not function properly and thus will affect the health of the hair follicle.
In general, magnesium is responsible for 80% of known metabolic functions and 600-800 enzyme systems. I say it’s likely closer to 1,000. When one mineral is that universal, it will affect every body function. I would also look at the effect of magnesium on the circulation that surrounds the hair follicles. The smooth muscles lining all blood vessels are regulated by magnesium. If magnesium is deficient, smooth muscles will be tight and can go into spasm, which will reduce the blood flow, (in this case) to the scalp and reduce nutrient absorption.
Magnesium also helps detoxify chemicals and remove heavy metals that block magnesium receptor sites. Chemicals and heavy metals can have a negative effect on hair follicles and hair growth.
There are also stem cells surrounding hair follicles, which means Pico Silver® (a stem cell promotor), orally and applied transdermally, can assist stem cell production of new hair follicles.
Many customers commented that once they were on our formulas, their gray hair turned back to its original color. We do know that deficiencies of B12, folic acid, and biotin can be factors in graying hair. All three of these B vitamins are in ReAline®. B12 and folate are in their methylated forms.
Hypothyroidism is associated with thinning hair, which can be remedied by taking ReMyte®, which has nine minerals that are required for thyroid hormone production.
Chronic stress can affect hair growth by diminishing various nutrients like magnesium, B vitamins, and Vitamin C, which are necessary to support adrenal function. When the adrenals are overworked, these nutrients become depleted.
The diet can negatively affect the hair by causing inflammation and producing toxins and inflammatory byproducts of yeast overgrowth. Most processed and ultra-processed foods contain linoleic acid from omega-6 fatty acids found in seed oils (sunflower, safflower, canola, soy). These inflammatory fatty acids can displace omega-3 fatty acids, the preferred fats that make up cell membranes, and help manufacture sebaceous oil in hair follicles.
The second food to avoid is sugar, which is pro-inflammatory and also can feed yeast, which can overgrow and produce toxins that can block thyroid hormones, cause skin rashes and scalp dandruff, and even encourage fungal scalp infections.
As you can see, there is much more to hair than meets the eye, which is why the Completement Formulas® are so important.
Carolyn Dean MD ND
The Doctor of the Future
