Hair is a perfect barometer of your general health. When you’re fit and happy, your hair will swoosh, bounce and shine just like in the ads; if you’re ill, tired, stressed out or eating poorly, it will show up in your hair.

Each hair is made up of overlapping layers of the same substance, keratin, that makes up dead protein cells. When the layers lie flat and smooth, each strand reflects the light, making it shine. When the layers are damaged, no light is reflected and your hair is left looking dull and lifeless. The apparently strange but common combination of greasy scalp with dry hair may also be the result of damage - hair’s natural oil (sebum) is prevented from travelling down the hair shaft.

So the first step to shiny hair is to get yourself healthy, physically and emotionally: eat well, take plenty of exercise and fresh air (your hair needs oxygen too), and make sure you get enough sleep. Reduce stress levels wherever possible and, in addition, learn and practise relaxation techniques. Remember, healthy hair depends on a healthy scalp, which is of course another part of your skin, so all the suggestions we make for healthy skin in Skin apply to your hair and scalp as well. Overprocessing of all sorts or overheating your hair (with a hairdryer, etc.) can also do considerable damage.

The good news is that, unless you have a medical condition, tender loving care from you, in tandem with today’s technologically advanced formulae, can give you great hair in a relatively short time.

Hair Villains

Any and all of these are likely to damage the condition of your hair and scalp:

• Over-exposure to sun, salt air, wind and chlorinated water
  
• Pollution
  
• Central heating
  
• Chemotherapy/radiotherapy
  
• Some pharmaceutical drugs including the Pill, thyroid drugs, cortisone, sedatives, tranquillisers and barbiturates, amphetamines, antibiotics
  
• Poor diet/nutrient deficiency (particularly iron)
  
• Crash dieting
  
• Stress, anxiety, depression
  
• Head and neck tension, which disrupt supply of blood and vital nutrients
  
• Illness, shock or trauma
  
• Thyroid problems
  
• Not enough rest and sleep
  
• Shallow breathing
  
• Perming, bleaching, tinting
  
• Curling tongs/heated rollers
  
• Blowdrying at too high a temperature
  
• Too much brushing with a sharp bristled brush

Feed Your Hair

No miracle shampoo and condition regime can compensate for the wrong diet. Not only do healthy hair cells need the right nutrients and plenty of fresh water, good digestion is also vital, according to nutritionist Kathryn Marsden. ‘Dull, oily hair may be the result of poor elimination of wastes and toxins, poor circulation, inadequate fluid intake, a sluggish bowel - or of simply being below par.’ In these circumstances, she suggests a regular cleansing diet with herbal and vitamin supplements.

Foods to help your hair are live yoghurt, plenty of fresh vegetables, salads and fruits, cold-pressed oils (e.g. olive, safflower, sesame - but don’t cook with them as it alters the chemical composition), linseeds, pulses, sunflower/pumpkin/sesame seeds, sea vegetables (seaweed/samphire), wholegrains (brown rice/oats), buckwheat, millet, almonds, figs and dates. If you’re not vegetarian, fresh oily fish (e.g. mackerel, herring, tuna, salmon, sardines). Plus plenty of pure water.

Try to cut down on cow’s milk products, caffeine, cola, chocolate, sugar, salt, saturated and hydrogenated fats, processed foods.

Try to give up smoking. (This, of course, goes for every single facet of health and beauty.)

Supplements: All the B vitamins, gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), fish oil, linseed oil, antioxidants including vitamins beta-carotene, C and E, and minerals, selenium and zinc.

TIP After much research, hair colourist Jo Hansford recommends a supplement called Nourkrin. One bonus: as hair and nails are made of the same protein (keratin), eating for healthy hair also improves your nails.