...it is not the only one.
Hair care is also important.
Yes, stimulating your scalp with a natural bristle brush is excellent, but it's also important what you wash and condition your hair with.
The primary purpose of shampooing is to clean the scalp and hair. The hair collects dust particles, natural oils from the sebaceous glands, perspiration, and dead skin cells which collect on the scalp. This accumulation creates a breeding place for bacteria which with a poor diet can lead to scalp disorders.
The hair and scalp should be thoroughly cleaned and nourished frequently using acid-balanced (4.5-5.5 Ph) shampoos and conditioners. Of course, if you are the type that perms and/or colors your hair, you probably need other kinds of hair care products.
Shampoos like Prell, Head and Shoulders, etc., are alkaline and harsh to both hair and scalp.
There are many brands of acid-balanced shampoos and conditioners found in natural food stores, catalogs, supermarkets, hair product stores and salons (and barbershops), and on the Internet: (
http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Ec...s/Brand_Names/ )
I was introduced to the acid-balanced shampoo (and conditioner) concept by a single chair hair salon owner and RedKen (
http://redken.com/products/ ) distributor in San Francisco in the early 1970s. By 1974, as I was being introduced to macrobiotics, working in a restaurant in Maine, and at the same time I was introduced to Tom's (
http://208.5.178.253/products/poo.htm ) Apple Shampoo. Soon after Tom introduced Rosemary Shampoo and Rosemary Conditioner (whch was providant because of my then dark, coarse, and oily hair). I used Tom's Rosemary products until they were phased out sometime in the early 80s.
Until I was introduced to Weleda's (
http://usa.weleda.com/products/hair.asp ) Rosemary Shampoo and Rosemary Conditioner in the mid 80s, I tried a variety of different shampoos and conditioners, and did not find satisfactory products.
There are people who believe that thinning hair and hair loss is genetically derived, and that may be a factor as well.
But macrobiotics is the philosophy of the big picture, so all factors, diet, products, genetics, environent, state of mind, and so on contribute to the health of scalp and hair.
Thank you, very much.
Bruce Paine