Meatless Monday Inspiration: Can Sea Vegetables Reverse Gray Hair??
Sea vegetables have come up a lot this last week and—to cut right to the beauty benefits—several people have told me that they can prevent, and even reverse, gray hair. In fact, during a panel discussion on health and natural beauty at the wonderful RakSa wellness center (if you live in LA, you must go) one woman in the audience seemed to have proof right there on her head. While her ends were white you could clearly see that her roots were growing in brown—yuh huh!—and she chalked it up to seven months of heavy dosing on kelp.
Now, I’m am by no means telling you that you can reverse your gray hair with some seaweed. While I’m excited to learn more about this supposed phenomenon—and we obviously both believe strongly in the powers of diet on appearance—I don’t have the slightest clue if it’s a reliable method. (PLEASE share in the comments if you know anything about this.) But it definitely got me thinking about sea veggies!
Seaweed, whether we’re talking dulse, kelp or good old nori, is an acquired taste. And even though I like it, I’m not always up for a full mouthful of the stuff—seaweed salads have been known to set off my gag reflex in the past. But these vegetables of the sea contain all kinds of wonderful nutrients, including A, C, E, B complex and B12 as well as calcium, potassium and iron. They even contain some omega-3 fatty acids. I got that straight from Dr. Weil, so. Of course, these nutrients are especially important if you lean more towards vegetarianism—but everyone can benefit!
That’s why I picked up the super convenient, organic and tasty Sea Seasonings pictured above. I’ve seen these at most health food stores and they are downright delicious. They are also a great low-sodium salt substitute if that’s important to you. I like them sprinkled on all kinds of things but here’s a simple salad recipe that works great…
Salad ingredients:
Cucumber, tomato, avocado, chopped green onion, lettuce of your choice.
Dressing (for one serving):
Combine about 1 tbps olive oil, 1 tsp bragg’s, and a splash of an acid you like (lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and rice vinegar all work well with these flavor profiles). Add some black pepper if you want but you won’t need salt.
Toss your salad and sprinkle it with the dulse, kelp (or both) and a teaspoon of nutritional yeast if you have it.
This salad will seriously up the nutrition value of any meal. And if you’re looking to turn it into a full on vegan lunch or dinner, you can toss in some brown rice and a protein of your choice. I know tofu and seitan are controversial but I still have them on occasion.
Are sea vegetables a part of your diet? And more importantly: Do you know anyone who’s reversed gray hair with them?
I do eat sea veggies occasionally, but if I believed they could reverse grey hair I’d happily add more to my diet. This sounds way crazy to me, but if I knew how much you are supposed to eat for how long in order for that to work I’d give it a try!
I love sea veggies. Really. Especially Annie Chun’s Seaweed Snacks. I also use a lot of Kombu, mostly in soups and when I cook dried beans.
Ditto Rebecca. If I knew how much/how long, I’d try it too! I’m 25 and greying (considerably), although I believe it’s genetic – my aunt was full salt and pepper by 26.
We eat sheets of nori just for the fun of it around here. Probably about 3/week for me, personally. I’m 43, and don’t dye my hair, and I don’t really know what the average amount of gray for my age is, since so many people dye their hair, but I’m seeing what I’d guess is an average amount for my age.
Rebecca W, I was quite grey at your age too – I’m about to turn 43 so it may be too late for me, but maybe with sea veggies there is still hope for you! ; ) In any case, I’ve had marvelous luck with henna/indigo, so if you don’t want to be grey there is a clean way to go if you are anywhere in the red-brown-black hair colors.
Googling, I’ve found some info about eating raw/vegan with lots of greens reversing grey hair, and miso/seaweed combos for the same. It’s just a couple individuals and their experiences. I’ve been vegan and mostly raw, with lots of greens and some sea veg, for a long while and have never noticed any reversal of greys. Interestingly, just a few days ago I bought some miso to try out (not a raw food). I’ll have to get on that!
As a side note, while the vegan/raw thing has not changed my grey, it has been fantastic for my overall health, especially skin and digestive system, and my hair does not fall out to the extent it did before.
I’d be all over a natural way to reverse gray—I’m 35 and at least 50% silver. I’ve read articles citing copper deficiency as a factor, but no idea if there’s any truth to it.
This is an interesting topic, I never thought of greys being related to diet. Maybe it is a curse with the Rebecca/Rebekah name, I’ve been greying since about 24!
This is sort of off topic, but, what is the controversy surrounding tofu and seitan?
@Jane, I think some of the controversy referred to is the whole soy thing – is it good for us or not. Personally, I would eat whole, organic soy beans, but avoid the more processed stuff (as is true with any food for me). Research shows soy protein isolates, like those in “nutrition bars,” are not healthy, but the whole food is fine in my opinion. Tofu and seitan are processed (from soy and wheat, respectively), so, maybe that’s the issue.
@Jane, the soy issue is related to hormones, and whether or not soy (a phytoestrogen, I believe) is a contributing factor or a preventative one in terms of certain types of cancer. Dr. Weil recommends soy for a healthy, anti-inflammatory diet, but I just don’t feel comfortable consuming such large amounts of it. Instead, I treat tofu as a treat–and find my protein in other sources like chickpeas, lentils and seeds.
It’s also been recommended to me to steer away from processed soy, but I’m not sure that includes tofu. I think that may have referred to soy lunch “meats,” hotdogs, etc.
They say to eat soy only if fermented, that the raw bean is the problem. It’s like boiling coffee beans raw; it’ll give you stomach cancer. It’s a matter of getting the food to where our bodies can process it.
I have these sea seasonings and I love them. I have to be careful how much I consume because I’m hypothyroid. I heard that these sea veggies can be contaminated due to the contamination in the ocean. Anyone have any opinions on that or have any research on it? I know Iodine is incredible important for our health.
Thank you so much for your replies. I had no idea. I come from an Asian family so tofu has been a staple in my diet my whole life; it’s so ubiquitous I never thought to really question its potential health risks. I will probably still continue to eat it in modest amounts, though I cannot say the same for other soy products like soy milk and soy meats anymore. I have tried on and off to incorporate them in my diet to substitute meat consumption, and strangely they have always given me discomfort and stomach cramps. The information you have all provided further convinces me I should abstain and that I should really research the things I eat no matter how healthy it’s touted to be. Thank you for all your educational comments!
if the cause of gray hair is nutrition, yes diet can reverse gray hair…however if its stress related like in my case – diet is not going to help
This sounds crazy to me but I would most definitely try to reverse my grey ,I am trying other products
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