Why You Should Stop Washing Your Hair

For glossy, shiny hair

If you want

clean, glossy hair,

to strengthen the hair root,

to prevent dandruff,

to prevent baldness,

and to have a grand old time smelling like a field of flowers,

all you need to do is put chemicals on your head every single day.

Our whole lives we're exposed to commercials pumping the message that if we just do what they say, we'll have better hair than we've ever had.

Because shampoo is fun.

And then you'll have fun.

And you'll be a chiseled man in the shower.

And you'll truly be beautiful after the wash.

And suddenly you'll be clean and sexy.

And then you'll really be clean.

And your fine hair needs this kind of shampoo, and your curly hair this kind, and your oily hair this kind, and your dry hair this kind, and your straight hair this kind, and your damaged-root hair this kind, and if it's shedding this kind, and for dandruff this kind.

And if you wash, you'll look exactly like the model in the ad, the one who never tried the product herself.

What a load of nonsense. It's embarrassing to think I fell for it.

Shampoo, or hair washing, is an invention created by the giant corporation Procter & Gamble, who understood, like a lot of other corporations, that it's pretty easy to get people to consume their products daily by creating insecurity, a sense of filth and a fear of it.

And it worked.

An entire industry raking in billions thanks to the insecurity they planted in every single one of us.

Most people in the world wash their hair every day, and if they paused for a moment on the idea of skipping it, or told someone they hadn't washed, the immediate association would be filth or greasiness.

So first of all, we are not filthy.

Most of us think of bacteria as filthy and dangerous things.

But as you already know, we live with bacteria, and these bacteria are vital for our digestive system, our mood, our skin health, and our immune system.

The entire bacterial environment in our body belongs to our gut bacteria (the microbiome).

And to protect it, we know it's best to avoid antibiotics, to eat fermented foods and organic fruits and vegetables to help these bacteria thrive. But our "clean" lifestyle still harms them.

Contrary to conventional thinking, regular contact with dirt matters, because it teaches our microbiome to distinguish friendly bacteria from unfriendly bacteria.

I'm not saying there's no place for using soap now and then when you need to, but even then I'm talking about a gentle soap made from organic and natural ingredients, not antibacterial soaps that in most cases are full of harsh chemicals.

When we clean ourselves with chemicals in the shower every day, or with any use of antibacterial soap, we strip our skin of the bacteria that keep us free of acne and eczema.

So unless you just got back from a week in the field crawling through mud, the only spots that need daily soaping are the armpits and the groin.

The rest of the body does just fine with a rinse of water, even after a sweaty workout.

By the way, women are actually advised not to wash the vulva with soap. We address this in the women's course if you want to learn more about it.

Contrary to what we were taught, dirt doesn't cause illness, but killing the good bacteria on our skin over and over can actually harm our immune system.

That's why it was so absurd during the pandemic to see people constantly using antibacterial gel to clean their hands.

Cheap chemicals

Soap (originally made from fat and ash) turned over time into a mix of cheap chemicals, and while it helps us maintain hygiene, our main need for hygiene is actually for our hands, which truly do need it.

Our head, on the other hand, not only doesn't need it but is harmed by overuse. The scalp secretes a natural oil meant to protect it, and daily washing completely strips that oil from our head and creates an extreme reaction that causes our scalp to secrete even more oil. So a person who washes every day won't survive a single day without washing, because their hair will turn very greasy. That's part of the genius and the problem with these products: they didn't just create demand, they created a strong dependence in us.

Brilliant.

Of course, after a wash, when there's no oil at all on the scalp, the hair looks lifeless, so you have to add conditioner, and after that put products on the hair to restore the shape that was taken from it by all the chemicals, and there's no end to it.

Everyone knows hair looks its best after a full day at the beach, when we go in and out of the water and all the salt and the body's fluids mix together and we look our best.

So they pulled a marketing trick on us, and along the way our system got wrecked.

Most hair products (even the expensive ones making big promises) are saturated with chemicals that dry out the scalp, and get absorbed into the skin and bloodstream. Some of these substances are called sulfates.

Sulfate, SLS, is a cheap cleaning agent found in very high quantities in household cleaning products and hygiene products. The role of these salts in various hair products like shampoo is to create the foaming effect and to "clean" the oil that's built up on the hair.

The main problem with sulfate is that it causes skin irritation and is known to potentially worsen existing skin conditions. Studies show that prolonged use of shampoo and masks containing these salts can lead to a decline in the sebaceous glands' ability to produce the natural oils important for lubricating the hair and scalp. Other studies have shown that these salts can contribute to long-term hair loss in men and women. The salts in shampoo can cause scalp dryness and dandruff (flaking of the scalp). Worse still, there are studies pointing to traces of SLS in the brain, lungs, liver, and heart. There are also findings linking SLS to hormonal imbalance. Shocking.

The foam in shampoo is a toxic substance, and the act of massaging and driving that substance into the scalp is dangerous. All the water-soluble soaps that produce a lot of foam work on the same principle, but the foam creates the feeling that something is happening, whereas natural substances don't produce foam, and then we think no cleaning process is taking place. They wired us to believe foam equals good cleaning.

So people wash their hair every day with toxic, promise-filled substances that get absorbed and damage the scalp, and they don't understand why they have dandruff, why their hair is shedding, dry, and afflicted with all sorts of other skin conditions.

To clean the hair, you don't need chemicals that get absorbed into the skin and bloodstream. You need things that will nourish the scalp or clean it (when necessary).

Or not to wash at all.

I haven't washed my hair in years

For most of my adult life I had dandruff, hair that shed (in large amounts), and a dependence on shampoo, because my hair would get so greasy if I didn't wash it. On my worst days, I even took anti-shedding pills for a few months, and then I got my life back on track.

At some point, when I started paying attention to all the toxins I was putting into my body, including perfume, "protective" sunscreen, deodorant, and so on, I switched my soap and shampoo to natural products, meaning chemical-free. Even there I saw improvement, but I still didn't like that my scalp got dry and my hair looked lifeless and shapeless.

Later on I heard about all sorts of movements of people who don't wash their hair (no poo)

So I took a break from washing during a surf trip I was on, and after a few weeks I noticed all the problems had resolved. All that money I'd spent on expensive anti-shedding or regrowth shampoo, and all it took was to stop washing?

Hair grows from the inside out. For the body to have the energy to grow a strong strand, we need to feed it energy. A diet rich in nourishing, strengthening foods from nature. Whether it's fruits and vegetables, whole grains and legumes, or eggs, fish, and meat (all organic), these will give our body the nourishment it needs to grow strong hair.

If our diet is based on ultra-processed food, cereal, pastries, sugary drinks, alcohol, empty carbs, and so on, all of these will lead to several things:

1. Nutritional deficiencies. 2. High inflammation. 3. Impaired thyroid function.

All of these will lead to impaired bodily functions, to imbalance and dysfunction of hormones like testosterone and progesterone, and also to our ability to grow hair.

What about stress? Most of us are under constant stress, and that's perfectly fine, but if we don't balance that stress with calming practices, the hair is the first thing to suffer, along with our mental health.

Hair, since it's the least essential "organ" in the body, is the first thing the body will give up under strain.

Stress creates illness, dullness, and sluggishness (it's no accident you lose your house keys once a week). And yet most people choose not to meditate, a practice that has existed for 6,000 years and is also one of the most scientifically studied fields. It has only positive effects, and yet most people don't sit down to meditate. "It's not for me," "I can't do it," "I'm not good at it."

How does a modern person have the privilege of not meditating? I don't know.

A course on how to create change, an online course for practicing meditation, journaling, and building a healthy, beneficial routine, will teach you (among other things) how to practice meditation on your own.

And to give your body and mind the best gift you'll ever give it.

Baldness and the body-mind connection

Have you ever noticed that most generals are bald?

And most musicians have hair?

What would you say is the fundamental difference between the two?

For a person to be healthy, they need to be balanced, not only at the level of routine, nutrition, and lifestyle, but also at the emotional level. A general, for example, a very task-driven person, constantly focused on objectives and giving no room to his emotions, will be very much in his masculine energy. Makes sense?

We all have feminine energy and masculine energy:

The masculine is goal-oriented, practical, logical. It knows what it needs to do and that's all that matters to it. Results. The feminine is the one that wants to pause for a moment and marvel at how beautiful nature is, to be moved by a song, to create, to express emotions, and to cry too.

The general suffers from an excess of masculine energy, and that's why there's no hair on his head.

And the musician, who gives room to all the emotion within him, all the passion and love for life, enjoys abundant hair.

Of course there are exceptions, because we're all different.

But we have an opportunity here to notice the expression and the way we move through life and through ourselves. The balance of feminine and masculine is an important thing and can improve life in a meaningful way, but that's for another newsletter. So there are quite a few causes and influences behind the phenomena happening at the crown of our bodies.

Let's get practical

But if I do want or need to clean my hair, what do I do?

Natural shampoo. For cleaning, I use baking soda mixed with water. It cleans the hair easily and costs next to nothing.

For natural conditioner, you can use apple cider vinegar mixed with water. It softens the hair easily.

I'm not against natural shampoo at all (there's no shortage of them in natural health stores), I personally just don't like how my hair looks afterward.

In the case of natural shampoo or the baking soda and vinegar, these are things I do once in a blue moon, when I really need to clean my hair. I can attest, from those close to me, that my head smells pleasant and my hair is clean. A rinse with clean water does the job, and the hair gets used to not being washed every day.

What about nourishing the hair? To nourish the hair and strengthen it from the root, you can apply egg (the yolk), nature's multivitamin, rich in minerals and vitamins, or apply avocado, fatty and mineral-rich, and let them sit for a few minutes. Sounds strange to you? Consider that it seems strange to us to use nature but not strange to use chemicals created from the waste byproducts of industry.

As for body soap,

I try to clean only the armpits and the groin (sometimes when I'm not paying attention I clean the whole body).

I do it with a solid, natural bar soap you can find in any natural health store.

Women, if you have long hair and this seems too challenging, I recommend looking at videos on YouTube of women who gave up shampoo and whose hair looks amazing.

To sum up,

our body is an amazing machine that has been evolving for millions of years, and no shampoo, dermatologist, or product of any kind will hold a candle to it even thousands of years from now. We need to keep consuming more knowledge and experiences.

Knowledge is power.