Could Copper Deficiency be the cause of Kinky Hair?

[Isis]

reyna, you may have a point here, there is a possiblility that straighter hair has higher sulphur content, hence the reason why some are experiencing looser curls with msm.
And am thinking as limited amout of sulphur can be absorbed at a time, this may explain the fact that even though one may get looser curls hair type cant be changed.
this is a good hypothesis to do a research on, will start searching tommorrow to see what i can find.

Can you also research about the differences between baby hair and hair as the child gets older? There seems to be a major difference and it's possible the sulphur content has changed.

 

[Isis]

I came across information about this disease when doing a search for chemical and molecular structures of hair. When I specifically searched for difference in SULFUR content, I came across many articles citing this disease. It's very interesting that you came across COPPER differences as well.

The reason I was even looking for this was because I searched a long time ago for structural (at the molecular/chemical level)differences in the hair itself among the different hair types, and I came across an article that actually cited the percentages of chemicals/materials of different hair types. I can NOT find the article again. I am hoping I saved it at work! I am currently on maternity leave.

As far as the old argument about a hot climate being the cause for kinky hair, I am not sure that argument still has value. Parts of Asia are also very hot, and well you know their hair is not kinky. Regarding the East Indians and other peoples of Mediterranean descent, remember that East Indian is not really a 'race', and that these people and other middle Easterners are the result of long term mixing. East Indians, I've read, originally descended from a group of Africans. I imagine that over time they mixed with Asians, and then eventually Europeans, creating the look we think of as Indian, but you can still see more black looking E. Indians, or Asian looking E.Indians, or more white looking E. Indians. Just like latinos are a mixture of many.

I don't think that kinky hair is the result of a disease, but I have wondered, that aside from follicle shape differences, how is the hair different at a microscopic level? I do not think that all kinky hair is merely super curly straight hair, so that has led me to wonder about differences in things such as sulfur content etc., esp. after people reported softer new growth with the MSM. What do you think?

I too do not feel that hot climate has anything to do with kinky hair. As I mentioned in another post, there are groups of Caucasians in parts of Russia, for example, with hair just as kinky as my 4b hair and their clilmate is pretty cold.

Also, this planet (including Africa) was once the same, tropical temperature everywhere before the Biblical flood, which science supports, and I'm sure people still had kinky hair (or hair like "wool"). It is interesting.

 

[Poohbear]

Please read my other posts, I am not going to explain this anymore (and I'm not offended by your post)!

Hey cocoberry, I read your other posts before making mine. My posts wasn't directed toward you personally at all... just making a comment about the description of this disease and what others have said.

 

[Poohbear]

Can you also research about the differences between baby hair and hair as the child gets older? There seems to be a major difference and it's possible the sulphur content has changed.

...and what about black babies that were born with no hair... like me?

 

[Reinventing21]

Can you also research about the differences between baby hair and hair as the child gets older? There seems to be a major difference and it's possible the sulphur content has changed.

Thank for bringing this up too! I've wondered about why so many babies' hair changes textures like that. I'll have to add that to my search as well.

 

[fluffylocks]

I think Baby hair just isnt developed all the way, just like skin & eye color changes......

 

[BeaLady]

Intersting theories.

I've always wondered if the level of melanin has any connection to hair types.

 

[locabouthair]

i dont think cocoberry meant any harm. i dont think kinky hair means u have this disease and i dont think thats what cocoberry meant either. it was just something to think about. i do think that what you put inside you body can affect the softness of your hair though.

 

[Reinventing21]

I think Baby hair just isnt developed all the way, just like skin & eye color changes......

True in a sense. I mean even the straight hair of babies who turn into older kids with straight hair is a little different. But what I want to know is how babies who are born with straight hair end up with kinky hair, or straight hair to curly hair, or curly hair to kinky hair or rather type 2 hair to type 3 or type 4 etc.

Also, I have seen a couple cases of the reverse, where the baby started with curly hair, and it became straight later ( in one case at age 7)

 

[Kalani]

True in a sense. I mean even the straight hair of babies who turn into older kids with straight hair is a little different. But what I want to know is how babies who are born with straight hair end up with kinky hair, or straight hair to curly hair, or curly hair to kinky hair or rather type 2 hair to type 3 or type 4 etc.

Also, I have seen a couple cases of the reverse, where the baby started with curly hair, and it became straight later ( in one case at age 7)

My little brother was born with straight hair. Infact he sported the gel spiky do (popular among white boys in the 90's ) throughout his childhood. When get to his teens his hair started to radically change. It is now curly and more on the coarse side. It is the funniest thing! I look back at his old pictures and can't get over the difference.

 

[aloof one]

Intersting theories.

I've always wondered if the level of melanin has any connection to hair types.

No. It doesnt:

Hair and skin are not as closely linked or as simple as people would like to think. Contrary to what the media portrays and what ignorant people assume (you know, the deal about only light skinned people can have natural curly hair or long hair, etc), the truth is, within every color a person can be, every hair type is represented somewhere in the world.

There are plenty of white-skinned people with little melanin and kinky hair, as well as plenty of dark-skinned people with a lot of melanin and straight hair. There are albino black people who lack pigment but have kinky hair, just as there are albino caucasian people who lack pigment and keep their hair type as well. I think that the fact that albinism changes nothing about hair type proves that hair and skin are independent of one another. (For every really light black person out there, there is a really dark white person. And for every really nappy-headed white-skinned person, there is a dark-skinned person out there who just happens to have straight hair.)<--- Not literally, but you get the point... Had to edit cause I know people usually get emotional or offended when I post on topics like these, lol

 

[aurora3140]

No. It doesnt:

Hair and skin are not as closely linked or as simple as people would like to think. Contrary to what the media portrays and what ignorant people assume (you know, the deal about only light skinned people can have natural curly hair or long hair, etc), the truth is, within every color a person can be, every hair type is represented somewhere in the world.

There are plenty of white-skinned people with little melanin and kinky hair, as well as plenty of dark-skinned people with a lot of melanin and straight hair. There are albino black people who lack pigment but have kinky hair, just as there are albino caucasian people who lack pigment and keep their hair type as well. I think that the fact that albinism changes nothing about hair type proves that hair and skin are independent of one another. (For every really light black person out there, there is a really dark white person. And for every really nappy-headed white-skinned person, there is a dark-skinned person out there who just happens to have straight hair.)<--- Not literally, but you get the point... Had to edit cause I know people usually get emotional or offended when I post on topics like these, lol

This is an excellent point. This thread is very interesting and I'm looking forward to reading the results of everyone's research .

 

[cocoberry10]

Can you also research about the differences between baby hair and hair as the child gets older? There seems to be a major difference and it's possible the sulphur content has changed.

I've heard this too! This happens to all people (of all races). Do you notice an elderly person's hair is a lot dryer and coarser than a young person, and a young person's hair is not as soft as a baby's! Good points Isis!

 

[lollyoo]

True in a sense. I mean even the straight hair of babies who turn into older kids with straight hair is a little different. But what I want to know is how babies who are born with straight hair end up with kinky hair, or straight hair to curly hair, or curly hair to kinky hair or rather type 2 hair to type 3 or type 4 etc.

Also, I have seen a couple cases of the reverse, where the baby started with curly hair, and it became straight later ( in one case at age 7)

.
my son was born with straight hair -like chinese straight- my husband and I are africans with 4a although i have sparse 3c at back, he now 11 months he is a type 3c.

 

[cocoberry10]

No. It doesnt:

Hair and skin are not as closely linked or as simple as people would like to think. Contrary to what the media portrays and what ignorant people assume (you know, the deal about only light skinned people can have natural curly hair or long hair, etc), the truth is, within every color a person can be, every hair type is represented somewhere in the world.

There are plenty of white-skinned people with little melanin and kinky hair, as well as plenty of dark-skinned people with a lot of melanin and straight hair. There are albino black people who lack pigment but have kinky hair, just as there are albino caucasian people who lack pigment and keep their hair type as well. I think that the fact that albinism changes nothing about hair type proves that hair and skin are independent of one another. (For every really light black person out there, there is a really dark white person. And for every really nappy-headed white-skinned person, there is a dark-skinned person out there who just happens to have straight hair.)<--- Not literally, but you get the point... Had to edit cause I know people usually get emotional or offended when I post on topics like these, lol

Great posting!!!!!!!!

 

[larry3344]

bummmmmmmmmmmmmppppppppppp

 

[Gin&Tonic]

This is very a very interesting topic!

 

[Evolving78]

I believe it has something to do with grey hair as well.

 

[BillsBackerz67]

I believe it has something to do with grey hair as well.

I started taking a prenatal from Trader Joe’s 3 years ago for mild anemia and the rate of the greys popping up has dramatically decreased. Wasn’t expecting that. I actually like the greys tho lol.

 

[intellectualuva]

Everyone raves about Trader Joe's prenatals. I should take them and see what's popping.

Interesting thread.

I definitely can attest to texture changes taking MSM and other stuff and now that I'm not, ive had the most difficult time maintaining moisture...balancing protein/moisture, etc.

 

[gn1g]

Top 10 Copper Rich Foods List

• 1) Beef liver. 3 oz: 14 mg (over 100% DV)
• 2) Sunflower seeds. ¼ cup: 0.63 mg (31% DV)
• 3) Lentils. 1 cup: 0.5mg (25% DV)
• 4) Almonds. ¼ cup: 0.4 mg (20% DV)
• 5) Dried apricots. 1 cup: 0.69mg (34% DV)
• 6) Dark chocolate. 1 square: 0.9 mg (45% DV)
• 7) Blackstrap molasses. ...
• 8) Asparagus.

 

[Theresamonet]

Everyone raves about Trader Joe's prenatals. I should take them and see what's popping.

What do they say about them?

 

[Evolving78]

Everyone raves about Trader Joe's prenatals. I should take them and see what's popping.

Interesting thread.

I definitely can attest to texture changes taking MSM and other stuff and now that I'm not, ive had the most difficult time maintaining moisture...balancing protein/moisture, etc.

I think I’m too old to take those now. Like I believe I maybe going into the premenopausal stage.

 

[Theresamonet]

This thread is old, but I didn't like what is implied in the op, nor some of the comments. Our hair is not the way it is because of any deficiency--not copper, not sulfur, not anything. Having less of something compared to other races doesn't mean we're deficient. That automatically implies that we don't have something that we're supposed to have; and the way we are is the wrong way... I really dislike the angle that some of us view ourselves in relation to others. No one says that white people are pale because they are deficient in melanin or whatever vitamin or mineral that can make ones skin darker. They just have less melanin.

 

[Bunnyhaslonghair]

People are going to be od’ing on copper trying to get straight hair. I thought y’all were using msm for that.

 

[intellectualuva]

What do they say about them?

Great for hair, skin, energy, etc...plus they are low cost. Everyone I know says they are more effective than taking hair, nail vitamins....I would cycle them of course the way I do most of my vitamins.

 

[Theresamonet]

Great for hair, skin, energy, etc...plus they are low cost. Everyone I know says they are more effective than taking hair, nail vitamins....I would cycle them of course the way I do most of my vitamins.

Thank you. I may go pick some up today. I was looking for a new vitamin.

 

[Evolving78]

This thread is old, but I didn't like what is implied in the op, nor some of the comments. Our hair is not the way it is because of any deficiency--not copper, not sulfur, not anything. Having less of something compared to other races doesn't mean we're deficient. That automatically implies that we don't have something that we're supposed to have; and the way we are is the wrong way... I really dislike the angle that some of us view ourselves in relation to others. No one says that white people are pale because they are deficient in melanin or whatever vitamin or mineral that can make ones skin darker. They just have less melanin.

Aside from the comments, Do you think it has a lot to do with the climate we were forced into as far as our deficiencies, as well as our diet? Do other blacks have these types of issues when they are in tropical climates, or in African countries and the foods are more rich with nutrients?
I hope you see where I’m going with this, if I’m not articulating this well.

 

[Evolving78]

I started taking a prenatal from Trader Joe’s 3 years ago for mild anemia and the rate of the greys popping up has dramatically decreased. Wasn’t expecting that. I actually like the greys tho lol.

Do you know the amount of iron in them? I just grabbed some Centrum Women. I grabbed those for the calcium and cut D3.

 

[BillsBackerz67]

Everyone raves about Trader Joe's prenatals. I should take them and see what's popping.

Interesting thread.

I definitely can attest to texture changes taking MSM and other stuff and now that I'm not, ive had the most difficult time maintaining moisture...balancing protein/moisture, etc.

Yeah the only reason why I took them was because it had 100% DV of Iron with vitamin C. No other multivitamin I found OTC has that amount. Obv the body can’t absorb all of that at once but it gave me a good booster dose to supplement in addition to what i was eating. My hemoglobinlevels went from 10.5 to 13.1 in 3 months taking them consistently.

ETA: I had no constipation issues from the prenatal and they are vegan. I already get constipated easily and taking an iron supplement alone will cause your stool to be brick hard and black lordt. no thanks lmao.