My sisters fenugreek and sea kelp experiment

[ChloeDharma]

My sister has been infected with the hair growing bug, so she's been taking some supplements. 2 that i suggested were fenugreek (methi) and sea kelp. When she started taking them her hair started growing an inch per month. She gets her hair coloured and measured her regrowth each month. Then, to experiment she stopped taking it for a month and only got half an inch regrowth.
She's started taking them again and started noticing faster growth again within about a week.
I thought that i'd post her results here as i know many people are interested in which supplemnts help hair grow faster. She does also take evening primrose oil but i think she kept taking that when she stopped the sea kelp and fenugreek.

[lillylonghair]

Hhhhmm that is interesting. I have been taking Fenugreek for a few months becasue I am breastfeeding. I have noticed since my daughter was born was hair seems to be growing faster and thicker but I did not even think about the supplements I was taking.

Maybe I will be adding sea kelp to my vitamins!

[MissBellydance]

That is very interesting! Thanks for sharing, I might try it :)

[pinchbeck]

I have a bag of fenugreek seeds and wonder if I should crush 'em up! I haven't heard that both fenugreek and sea kelp aid in hair growth. There is one member who takes MSM, biotin, and evening primrose oil. I think she has good results. I will be following this post to see where it goes!

[utdesertrunner]

That is great growth! I have some Evening Primrose Oil already. I am also breastfeeding so the fenugreek would be good.

How much do you take? And where do you get sea kelp?

[jera]

That is great growth! I have some Evening Primrose Oil already. I am also breastfeeding so the fenugreek would be good.

How much do you take? And where do you get sea kelp?

That's my question too. Proportions please. Health food stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's would have these things but how much should we take? I'm willing to try it. :D

[NurseMama]

For the breastfeeding moms, fenugreek does help increase milk production, but it mainly helps with foremilk production, not the fatty rich hindmilk. If you notice your baby having green stools than s/he may be getting too much foremilk.

Fenugreek also made me smell (sweat, urine, you name it) like maple syrup. I was a walking IHOP.

[ChloeDharma]

I'll check with my sister when i speak to her later, but she is taking the fenugreek seed sold by holland and barrett and the same place for sea kelp. I think 3 sea kelp tablets per day but not sure about the fenugreek.
Sorry, i should have asked for specific amounts before posting.
Pinchbeck you can probably just take the seeds whole....i tried grinding some by hand and that really was far too much like hard work for me!

[MissBellydance]

I've only ever had fenugreek as a tea, I wonder if that helps much still.

[BlackfootHair]

Fenugreek also made me smell (sweat, urine, you name it) like maple syrup. I was a walking IHOP.

LOL Is that a bad thing?? :D

ETA: I have some methi spice (actually two bags, by accident. I thought I didn't have any and bought some to make a recipe. lol) I also bought it in capsule form after talking to Aisha some while ago. She told me that methi is very good for the hair. Apparently, according to google results, it has a lot of different minerals. I need to start taking all my supplements again. Fenugreek is one pill I love to take. It smells SO good when I open the bottle. Now if only my b complex vitamin smelled that nice. lol :)

[lillylonghair]

For the breastfeeding moms, fenugreek does help increase milk production, but it mainly helps with foremilk production, not the fatty rich hindmilk. If you notice your baby having green stools than s/he may be getting too much foremilk.

Fenugreek also made me smell (sweat, urine, you name it) like maple syrup. I was a walking IHOP.

I have heead that from some moms but I don't smell it. I do know about the foremilk increase but I usually block feed her anyway so she gets all of the hind milk.

I tried looking for sea kelp but didn't find it! I may just order some.

[EmpressRi]

LOL Is that a bad thing?? :D

ETA: I have some methi spice (actually two bags, by accident. I thought I didn't have any and bought some to make a recipe. lol) I also bought it in capsule form after talking to Aisha some while ago. She told me that methi is very good for the hair. Apparently, according to google results, it has a lot of different minerals. I need to start taking all my supplements again. Fenugreek is one pill I love to take. It smells SO good when I open the bottle. Now if only my b complex vitamin smelled that nice. lol :)

When I first started on my journey I'd use fenugreek on my hair. How shiny it was!!! Beware if you mulch them you WILL have clumps that are wicked hard to get out. I combed out what I could but it made me wish I had a shower in the backyard because I could have left the seeds in the lawn and no one would have noticed.

But between the fenugreek and hair butter I used to twist I smelled like pancakes and made everyone in the office hungry for days.

[ljkforu]

It should nursemama because it is what fake maple is made out of. I personally would smell the milk to make sure your milk isn't like curry
:p


For the breastfeeding moms, fenugreek does help increase milk production, but it mainly helps with foremilk production, not the fatty rich hindmilk. If you notice your baby having green stools than s/he may be getting too much foremilk.

Fenugreek also made me smell (sweat, urine, you name it) like maple syrup. I was a walking IHOP.

[Diamondbell]

ChloeDharma - thanks for posting the results of fenugreek and sea kelp - very interesting! So far I haven't heard about what actually happens if you take fenugreek. :)

[hmmm]

This is very interesting. It could be why people think Indian hair grows faster, most of them eat methi regularly with their food. Haven't heard of sea kelp before though. Thanks for sharing!

[ChloeDharma]

Right, i just got off the phone to her.....
She takes 2 of each 3 times a day, so 6 fenugreek and 6 sea kelp per day.
Here are links to the brands she is taking which will give the exact doses
http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/pages/categories.asp?cid=169
http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/pages/categories.asp?cid=160 the 30mg ones on the sea kelp page.
Diamondbell methi is a traditional remedy for diabetes in India, in fact in one shop i brought some from an old man started telling me all about how great it was for that. Research is supporting it's use for type 2 diabetes now.
Also there is an account of a man....a German painter i think, who took it for a chest problem, bronchitis i think, then found after a few months his hair started growing back.
The more reading i do on the internal use of methi/fenugreek the more exciting it seems!
For those wanting to apply fenugreek to their hair it makes a good conditioner and produces mucilage so gives good slip. There is also mentioned an Indian hairloss remedy where you oil at night with coconut oil then wash with fenugreek in the morning for about 6 weeks, i've not tried this myself but it's on my "to do" list. There are quite a few threads discussing it's topical use over on the henna and natural haircare board.
Oh yes, when i asked my sister about dosages she also mentioned that her new growth is coming in thicker and that her hairdresser has been commenting on her results, both the speed of growth and also increased thickness.

[NurseMama]

LOL Is that a bad thing?? :D



Nope, not bad at all! Just.... disconcerting when it wasn't expected.