Worrying yourself to death seeing
those strands of hair that cling to the bath towel every time you emerge from
the shower? You are not alone. Hair loss is one biological phenomenon that
people share the world over. And worry about.

Hair loss affects men more than
women. About 60% of men have hair loss. Among women, only 40% suffer hair less.
But sadly, that is a huge setback for each one of them. Many products being
sold online claim certain ‘miracle cure’ for hair loss and re-growth but few
have proven efficacy when it comes to stopping hair fall.

Remember, hair fall is quite natural.
Normally, for 100,000 hair follicles, there will be a loss of 100 hair strands
a day for each one of us. Hair fall becomes a problem when the rate at which
that happens exceeds this limit.

This can cause thinning of the
hairline or appearance of ‘bald patches’ on the scalp. There are many reasons
for hair fall—lack of proper hair-care, deficiency of certain supplements in
food, hormonal imbalance, certain medical conditions or just heredity.

The following simple remedies can be
used to prevent hair fall and induce re-growth of hair:

Lemon juice and
Indian gooseberry

Get some fruits of Indian gooseberry
(Nellikka), wash them and cut them into small pieces and remove the seed.
Crush the pieces so that they become a paste. This paste can be pressed using a
cloth or plastic mesh to extract the juice. 
Keep this in a bottle and add 3 table spoon full of lemon (Cherunaranga)
juice. Mix thoroughly. This must be freshly applied to the scalp and left to
dry for 30 minutes. After that, wash the hair gently with water.

Lemon peel, curry
Leaf and green gram

Another home remedy for hair fall
which can be prepared easily at home can prepared with lemon peel (Cherunaranga:
one piece), curry leaves (Kariveppila:15-20 pieces), green gram-(Cherupayar:
2 tablespoons), fenugreek seeds (Uluva: 2 tablespoons). If available, 3
table spoons of Indian soap nut (Uruvanchi) powder also can be added.
Mix all these together and grind well by adding just enough water. Keep the
resulting mixture in a clean glass bottle. This can be used as a hair-shampoo.
Forget not to wash off the ‘shampoo’ with water.

Bhringaraj
(Kayyonni), fenugreek and coconut oil

This is the most efficient way to
cure hair fall and all other ailments related to hair like premature baldness,
greying, etc. To prepare this, first you have to collect some fresh leaves of
False Daisy (Kayyonni: Eclipta alba). Wash its leaves and mince.
Pour coconut oil in a frying pan and boil it for 5-6 minutes. Add one tea spoon
of fenugreek seeds to this and boil again for 5 minutes. Allow the potion to
cool and this can be stored in a glass bottle for future use. Sesame oil also
can be used instead of coconut oil. This can be applied on the scalp and left
for 15-30 minutes. It can be washed off after the specified time.

4. Shoe Flower (Chemparathi) and coconut
oil

Collect some fresh leaves and flowers
of Shoe Flower (Chemparathi). These are to be washed and ground to make a
paste. Parts of leaves or flower that remain ungrounded can be removed. Pour
one cup of coconut oil, boil it and mix it with this paste. This can be applied
on the scalp and washed off after 30 minutes. Freshly made Shoe Flower paste
mixed with fresh gooseberry juice can also be directly applied to scalp to ward
off dandruff. Mixing curry leaves and ginger juice also could yield good
results. Traditionally, this is used as a ‘hair conditioner’ known as ‘Chemparathi
Thaali’.

Aloe Vera (Kattarvazha)
and coconut oil

Aloe vera (Kattarazha) is used to make hair oil
which is a good remedy for hair loss and dandruff. For this, leaves of Aloe
vera are to be cut and ground in a mixer grinder without adding water. Take
equal amount of pure coconut oil and mix the two in a frying pan. This can be
boiled in low flame until the water content totally disappears and only the
residue is left. This can be sieved using cotton cloth or plastic mesh. The oil
can be kept in a clean and dry glass bottle for future use.

Henna leaf, onion,
curry leaves and coconut oil

Put two tablespoons of fenugreek
seeds in water to make them soft and soaked. Mix and grind this with one onion,
one leaf of Aloe vera, one handful of henna leaves and curry leaves. Transfer
the mixture to a frying pan and add coconut oil, just enough to cover the
mixture. Boil the mixture in low flame and stir well. Oil can again be added in
small quantities as the mixture is stirred. About 750ml of oil can be added in
this way. After cooling, the oil can be kept for future use in a clean and dry
glass bottle.

The nourishment part

According to Ayurveda, those food
items that aggravate Pitta can induce hair loss as they cause body-heat
to increase. So, it is better to avoid spicy foods, fried or greasy foods, sour
foods, pastries, bread, pasta and ‘junk foods’ like chips, candies, processed
foods etc.

Fast-food items with artificial
colours and preservatives are totally unhealthy. Tea, coffee, pickles and
alcohol are to be moderately used. Drink fresh juices made from alfalfa,
carrots, lettuce and spinach. Include high fibre fruits and vegetables to diet.
Add a spoonful of sesame seeds to your breakfast as they are good source of
calcium and magnesium. Consumption of yogurt on a daily basis also can prevent
hair fall. Make a concoction of 1 tablespoon Aloe vera gel and a pinch of cumin
seeds. This can be taken three times a day. Or drink 1/3 cup of Aloe vera
juice, once a day.