Natural Rx for Dandruff

Snowdrifts belong on ski hills, not on your shoulders. But what to do when you have dandruff? Look at your diet first, says Nicola Dexter, a clinical herbal medicine practitioner in North Vancouver, BC. She suggests the following remedies to soothe and heal the scalp.

• Examine your diet for allergens and excess tea, alcohol, coffee, junk food and hot spices. Avoid them if they cause irritation.


• Take an essential fatty acid (EFA) blend. Hemp seed oil is particularly effective because it contains a complete balance of EFAs. Take three to six tablespoons daily, or four capsules of the oil three times a day.


• Make a daily herbal hair rinse by simmering one tablespoon of marshmallow root in one litre of water for an hour. Remove from heat and add one tablespoon each of the dried herbs plantain, chickweed and horsetail. Let steep overnight, then strain and bottle for use.


• You can make a homemade shampoo using the same infusion as above. Grate one small bar of Castile soap into one litre of the strained, hot tea so that the gratings melt. Put in squeeze-top bottle and shampoo as usual.