It was summer time and I was sitting outside eating my lunch at my part time job. My friend’s boyfriend sat down beside me and as we proceeded to have small talk, he paused for a moment, and told me to hold still.
Suddenly I felt a pluck and then there with a look of complete accomplishment, he held up a long strand of hair in front of me. “I got it!” he said.
Now maybe this hasn’t happened to you but instead you enjoy trying to pluck it while watching TV as your partner smacks your hand away at your obsessive hair plucking ways. Either way, do you really want chin hair?
How do we deal with this unsightly hair that sadly will one day turn grey? How have we missed this growth spurt that had it saying hello to people as it waved in the wind?
Ladies everywhere, if you have a chin (or neck) hair…you’re not alone.
So what causes it and what can be done?
Most women who suffer from hair in unwanted areas like the face or neck have increased amounts of insulin circulating through their body. Having an excess of it simply means our bodies have developed a resistance towards which means our bodies cannot use insulin effectively. As a result, our pancreas will pump out more of insulin as it attempts to get it converted into energy. Problem is as insulin levels rise further the excess insulin can stimulate our lady balls (our ovaries) to produce more testosterone equaling excess hair.
As someone who previously grappled with PCOS (poly cystic ovarian syndrome), I can tell you that women I now see in practice like my previous self grapple with increased levels of insulin. So we become sugar demons and will run over a squirrel to get it. We’re exhausted all the time, want to pull a Costanza under our desk at 3pm and feel tired again after eating. Plus the brain fog…what was I saying again?
So here are a couple tips that can help:
1) Cut out refined sugar & hidden sugar
Cutting out refined sugar is key to people who suffer from PCOS and are looking to get rid of their facial hair. But remember, sugar also hides in ketchups, juice, protein bars, salad dressings, yogurts and certain breakfast cereals that sometimes have more sugar than a donut (11g vs. 8.6g). So read the labels carefully! Plus dairy that contains lactose (a milk sugar) should be avoided at all costs and alcohol (which converts into sugar) should be minimized to less than four glasses a week.
2) Bitter or Sour
In Chinese Medicine the opposite of sweet on the taste scale is bitter, so it’s no wonder that bitters is the magical little tip I offer you. Not only will this help you with sugar cravings naturally, but it will support the liver (important for PCOS). Adding in sour like unpasteurized apple cider vinegar will help to astringe the body, which is needed to help remove “congealed dampness” otherwise known as cysts.
Now maybe you don’t grapple with cysts, but certainly the recommendations above would help anyway. And believe it or not, many women don’t even realize they have cysts until they struggle with issues of infertility and receive an ultrasound.
Aren’t you ready to say goodbye to that one-haired goatee?