Dandruff is not life threatening or even a serious health concern, but it can cause damage to your self-esteem. Skin cells on the scalp generally die and fall off every month or so, which rejuvenates the scalp. But in cases of dandruff, the skin cells turn-over at an accelerated rate, resulting in the unsightly white flakes in your hair and on your shoulders. Certain types of dandruff itch and the scalp can be irritated.

What Causes Dandruff?

Dandruff is usually caused by a fungus or bacteria. But different types of dandruff have different causes:

• Fungus: The fungus known as Pityrosporum ovale is the principal cause of most cases of dandruff. This fungus is present in most people, and can grow out of control, causing dandruff. If you have dandruff but your scalp does not itch, it is most likely caused by this fungus.
• Seborrheic dermatitis: When your scalp is itchy, red, flaky, or when you have rashes or redness around your nose and eyebrows, you may have seborrheic dermatitis. This condition can be aggravated by cold air and stress.
• Dry scalp: Contrary to popular belief, dry scalp is not the cause of dandruff. In fact, most dandruff sufferers have oily scalps, along with topical fungal infections. Drying out the scalp can actually help reduce dandruff flakes by helping to kill the fungus, which thrives on moist environments.
• Psoriasis: Most likely a mild type of autoimmune disorder, psoriasis is difficult to diagnose and more difficult to cure, and it can be the cause of dandruff and other skin problems. See Autoimmune Disorders for more information.
• Anxiety: Stress and emotional anxiety have been linked to skin and scalp problems, and are known to make dandruff worse.

Treatments for Dandruff

A great herbal cure for dandruff: Mix equal amounts of the dried herbs, dandelion root, chamomile, burdock root, horsetail, chaparral, rosemary, coltsfoot, and lavender, and two parts nettle. Boil sufficient water for a hair rinse in a saucepan, then remove the pan from the heat. Sprinkle the mixture of herbs over the top and let cool. (Do not add the herbs while the water is boiling.) Strain the herbs and pour the decoction over your hair after shampooing. Many people don’t wash their hair with shampoo at all (it causes dryness) and exclusively use the hair tea daily. Bye, bye dandruff!

Here are some other things you can try:

• Nutrients: Zinc has been found to reduce dandruff in some people, bran, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds are good sources. Vitamin A and all of the B vitamins are also effective against dermatitis.  Dark green leafy vegetables, squash and sweet potatoes are good sources of vitamin A; beans, lentile, chilis, and yeasts are full of B vitamins.  Also, get enough selenium and vitamin E for better overall skin health. Whole grains  and nuts and seeds are rich in both.
• Herbs: You can combat fungal and bacterial infections that cause dermatitis and yeast infections with apple cider vinegar, oregano oil, and tea tree oil (all topical). St. Johns wort is also an antifungal and antibacterial. Some people claim to have cured their dandruff and dermatitis using apple cider vinegar baths and rinses.
• Reduce antihistamines: Antihistamines can exacerbate dandruff problems, especially in cases of seborrheic dermatitis.

Middle aged and elderly people with high levels of vitamin D could reduce their chances of developing heart disease or diabetes by 43%, according to researchers at the University of Warwick.

A team of researchers at Warwick Medical School carried out a systematic literature review of studies examining vitamin D and cardiometabolic disorders. Cardiometabolic disorders include cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome.

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is naturally present in some foods and is also produced when ultraviolet rays from sunlight strike the skin and trigger vitamin D synthesis. Fish such as salmon, tuna and mackerel are good sources of vitamin D, and it is also available as a dietary supplement.

Researchers looked at 28 studies including 99,745 participants across a variety of ethnic groups including men and women. The studies revealed a significant association between high levels of vitamin D and a decreased risk of developing cardiovascular disease (33% compared to low levels of vitamin D), type 2 diabetes (55% reduction) and metabolic syndrome (51% reduction).

The literature review, published in the journal Maturitas, was led by Johanna Parker and Dr Oscar Franco, Assistant Professor in Public Health at Warwick Medical School.

Dr Franco said: “We found that high levels of vitamin D among middle age and elderly populations are associated with a substantial decrease in cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

“Targeting vitamin D deficiency in adult populations could potentially slow the current epidemics of cardiometabolic disorders.”

All studies included were published between 1990 and 2009 with the majority published between 2004 and 2009. Half of the studies were conducted in the United States, eight were European, two studies were from Iran, three from Australasia and one from India.

Source: http://www.physorg.com/news185446287.html

The need for vitamin can clash with the need to protect your skin from sun damage. That is why Boku Super Food contains one of the few vegan diet sources of vitamin D. Boku’s Super Tàke Mushroom blend contains 14 kinds of medicinal mushrooms that have already absorbed plenty of vitamin D2 so your skin doesn’t have to! Each scoop of Boku contains 20% of the recommended daily allowance. Your body digests and internalizes the vitamin D from ingesting the powdered mushrooms in your Boku drink!

Here’s to your health!

What are the benefits of taking a super food vs. a multi-vitamin?

My patients love that I help them reach optimal health using food and food concentrates (Super foods).  Typical multi-vitamin pills should be considered the last resort for a person unable or unwilling to change their diet.   If you want to gorge yourself on junk food, and then find salvation in a few vitamin pills, don’t come to me as a patient.  The body is not designed to absorb and use synthetic vitamin pills.  Many of these pills contain very low quality artificial ingredients and chemicals to hold the whole pill together!

The truth is that many potential beneficial nutrients have not even been discovered yet! That means you won’t find them in a vitamin pill, not even those expensive ones sold at high-end retail stores.

A “super food” is a truly nutrient dense food. It contains many of the already discovered nutrients, and since it is generally a whole food or juice, it contains potent nutritional factors that have yet to be discovered. Science is currently doing a tremendous amount of research on “phytonutrients.” These are powerful health promoting factors that are contained in a medicinal plant. Super foods generally contain significant quantities of phytonutrients, trace minerals, amino acids, enzymes, and other potent health factors that simply cannot be replicated in a man-made, synthetic pill or capsule from a factory.

How did you choose the ingredients for BoKU Superfood?

It took many months of research and testing the numerous “super foods” and then creating the most potent formulation to help the largest number of people possible.  Cost was never an issue.  We were on a quest to find the highest quality, most pristine ingredients on the planet.  We then tested these ingredients thoroughly both individually and in combination with the other chosen ingredients to arrive at the most synergistic and harmonious blend.  Our ingredients are grown by organic farmers from all over the world in areas that are helped economically by our purchases.

What is the number one benefit of taking BoKU Superfood?

Many people describe a feeling of well-being that comes upon them when taking Boku. Most people are not used to eating such high quality nutrition. It’s like giving cool, pure water to hikers after they have been walking in the hot desert for hours. They feel revived!

Thanks again Dr. BJ!

While multivitamins are a popular catch-all for nutritional deficiencies, the pills have proven to have little effect on health. 40 % of Americans take vitamin or mineral supplements, likely because only 3% of Americans follow the U.S. dietary guidelines.

Americans spend $23 billion per year on these supplements and there are some who believe that $1 out of every $3 spent is completely wasted. Why would anyone think this when we’ve been told to take our vitamins our whole lives?

The two major concerns about multivitamins especially, because they are the most popular supplement, is how their actual contents differ from their labels and their poor level of absorption into the bloodstream. Most name brand multivitamins have about a 10-20% absorption rate, which is quite poor. In fact, nurses often find them in patients’ bedpans fully in tact after passing through the entire digestive tract.

In one test, 7 Canadian and American biochemists compared the contents of 110 different multivitamins by separating and measuring each ingredient: vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and other components. They examined how absorbable the vitamins were, whether they were in the right amounts/form and the variety of vitamins and minerals in the right combinations for what the body needs. They gave each a score out of 100% and 50 of the multivitamins (including most major supermarket brands) did not reach 10%, while only the top 11 were above 25% of that the human body needs on a daily basis.

Vitamins and other supplements are not regulated by the FDA and are not required to prove that their supplements are safe or effective, as long as they do not claim that the supplements can “prevent, treat, or cure any specific disease.” Pretty scary stuff.

Some products may not contain the amount of the substance that is written on the label, and some include other substances, contaminants or toxic agents. Actual amounts per dose vary between brands or even between different batches of the same brand. Another test found that more than 30 percent contained significantly more or less of an ingredient than claimed, or were contaminated with lead. Additionally, they found that several multivitamin products tested, including three for children, exceeded tolerable upper limits established by the Institute of Medicine for ingredients such as vitamin A, folic acid, and niacin. Some men’s multivitamin products contained too much folic acid, which may increase the risk of prostate cancer. Among four women’s multivitamins tested, one provided only 66 percent of its claimed vitamin A and one of five seniors’ multivitamins tested contained only 44 percent of its vitamin A.

Current research has shown no evidence that vitamin pills help to prevent or cure cancer, heart disease or any other non-deficiency related disease. In a government-funded study of 161,808 women, conducted by the Women’s Health Initiative, data was collected from forty centers around the country on multivitamin use. The research has proven that people whose diets are nutrient-rich and filled with fruits and vegetables have lower rates of cancer and heart disease, but taking a daily supplement doesn’t appear to offer the same health benefits.

So it’s really best to save the money and skip the supplements. Just make sure that you are getting the proper nutrition in your daily diet. One excellent way to do that easily and inexpensively is to incorporate a nutrient rich super food, like Boku, into your diet everyday.