It all goes back to what you eat.

9 years ago, I wrote a blogpost about how to lose weight, my style.

https://dyazstuffs.blogspot.my/2009/08/losing-weight-dyas-style.html

Even at the time, I know its not a correct way of losing weight, but that was how I did it, that was how I lose my baby weight during my adolescent time.
I realized I'm not in the 'beautiful' category size when I bought my jeans for the first time when I was 15 (2001) and it was in size 34. Few months prior I went to a science fair and use the scale there and my weight is 60 plus kg, I couldn't remember exactly 62 or 65 or 67 because all I remember was feeling so devastated seeing the arrow go past 60 and I was in shocked for the rest of the day.
So in 2002 I started that so called diet I wrote in that post well until I'm 20 (2006).
(No Rice, Soy-based diet, Vege Diet and consuming Herbal Tea, not all at once.)
The first 2 years might be more rigorous than the last two.
It works for me.
At the time, whenever my stomach is empty, I will feel skinny and pretty but whenever my stomach feels full, I will feel guilty and not confident and hated myself.
I use BMI to indicate the best weight, (18.5 is considered underweight) and I strive to be underweight. At one point I did achieve it when my weight was 49kg when I was 19years old. That's sort of a red flag when my mom told me, my eyes where looking hollow and my skin gotten darker and dry. Not pretty at all. So I slightly slow down my 'diet' and by the time I turned 20, I know I don't have to be 'on diet' anymore because I'm steadily 52-53kg at the time. I no longer control what I ate. But my eating habit was still not good. I continue my 'eating habit' well to my mid twenties.

So as expected, I got few negative comments for the post.
I can't say I'm entirely wrong, what I wrote is 60% correct. I even included the food pyramid and everything. It's just that my execution is not correct. I was 22 at the time I'm writing that post and I'm still oblivious to the topic of nutrition.
My mindset at the time, healthy equals to fat. People who had enough nutrition is fat.
I don't wanna be fat, so I don't wanna have enough nutrition and be healthy.
Not healthy means skinny.


I adore body like Alessandra Ambrosio's and Adriana Lima's, not bodies like Mariah Carey or Kim Kardashian.(I don't think the Kardashians is known at the time but you got my point)

Little did I know, that those stick thin skinny models are actually healthy and well nourished.
How do you think they have gorgeouse volumed hair and porcelain skin if they dont have enough nutrition in their bodies?

So during my post-losing weight period, that is my early to mid twenty, things I ate mainly was Maggi goreng with teh ais, Kueytiow goreng, sweet potato bun that I always paired with iced milo, (this drink kiosk at my hostel foodcourt made a mean iced milo) tempura nuggets and if I felt like indulging, I ordered a hearty creamy carbonara at this one western kiosk in my uni, (I swear to god it tasted like heaven in your mouth but unfortunately/or fortunately they no longer sell it),
I don't eat rice all that much only occasional Friday Briyani at the Mamak Cafe who sell the Maggi goreng I loved so much. same thing after I graduated,  I still looking for the same menu outside my uni, in the area where I lived, minus the sweet potato bun. And not forgetting, 3-in-1 coffee, a big culprit of nutrition absorption. We will go to that later.

So when you go on that kind of diet in your younger years, understandably few problem will arises as you grow older,

1. First problem - Blood Donation

In uni, initially I don't eat meat or any cow's part or even fish for that matter. Only chicken.
But then there's this blood donation drive and I was very eager to donate but of course, I failed. The nurse told me I should eat meat and veggies like spinach to increase my iron level. but I don't want to eat meat and I don't like spinach, I wanna be skinny.
But after 2 3 times failing the blood donation, added with my eagerness to donate my blood, I started to consider the nurse's advice. So I started to eat meat regularly and I started to drink milk, still don't like spinach but after that there were few times I managed to donate my blood.

2. Second Problem - Hair Loss

Then if those of you who knew me in uni, you will know that I have hair problem, my hair started to fall rapidly in my adolescent. Also if I think about it, it started to fall at around the year I started my 'weight loss diet'. Even before that, what I ate, in boarding school at the time cant be considered as healthy at all, instant noodle is the norm, other than that dining hall's food that is no help either, most of them were not in any way appetizing that most students will just go back to their room and scour their locker for instant noodle.
In any ways, I don't entirely blame the excess of instant noodle in whatever malnutrition problem people have, I blame the lack of other nutritious food that people take, or, actually, didn't take.

I have a dormmate in uni who frequented instant noddle during uni years, but her hair is still full and she graduated her degree with 3.85 CGPA. Why, because even she took instant noodle, she eat every other thing as well. Yes she's a bit chubbier but she got all the nutrition she needs during her adolescent and uni years. (I realized this years after I graduated)

During uni years I always searching for the cause of my hair fall. I came to oily scalp, and clogged pores, and what causes it? stress? I'm not the only person who's on stress in this world, why doesnt it affect others as much? hormonal imbalance? how to balance hormones?

3. Third problem - Lethargy and Sluggishness

After I graduated, I started to find the answer of all the questions I had in my uni years.
One of it is there are times when I always felt lethargic, sleepy and no mood to go to class or work.
Since uni, I'm having trouble focusing and remembering stuffs.
I used to be good in my studies up until lower secondary, after that, I struggle in my studies. I only get good enough grades for passing the paper, and for those subjects I got an A, I REALLY really have to work REALLY hard for it.

So when I started working in a company that requires more technical understanding/thinking, I feel like it got challenging again, I cant focus, I can't improve myself without help, and at one point I feel useless and wanted to give up. So one day I went to the clinic. And this doctor is one of the good doctors who gave me a sound advice without judgement. (Cos most doctors will just roll eyes at you when you asked why you're feeling tired, they'll just assume you're just there fishing an MC and give some snarky comments in the process)

She told me, actually what your body is feeling has everything to do about cell turgidity (kesegahan sel). If the red blood cells in your body is not healthy it cant carry enough oxygen.
If it is healthy it could carry oxygen through your entire body. So all your organs, brain will get enough oxygen and function properly. If there isn't enough oxygen that is what makes you feel tired, sleepy, sluggish, forgetful etc.

unhealthy (left) and healthy (right) blood cell.

An insufficient amount of oxygen in your blood can result in anemia, marked by fatigue. Iron is also necessary for brain function, aiding the interaction between neurons that help with thinking and cognitive function.

Also if you don't have enough nutrients, your cells in your blood is not nourished. Normally the nutrients will dissolve in blood plasma and will be transported throughout your body through the bloodstream. Same thing, if not enough nutrients your body wont function properly.
(If any doctors or nutritionist read this, do correct my understanding if I'm wrong)

So this Doc suggest me a multivitamin, Appeton MV21G+Selenium to be exact. She told me normally what we eat, especially when we don't practice good eating habit or too busy to maintain a healthy diet, doesn't provide you enough nutrition. So take this vitamin and try to practice good eating habit.
Of course that's not the only multivitamin you can take, there's a lot of Multivitamin brands that are sold commercially. You just have to know what are the things you lacked and find one that suits your need. In my case, when I look at the content of the multivitamin, I realize I did not have 60% of them in what I normally eat.
So I started to take what I eat seriously, and make sure I got the vitamin and minerals I need when I eat.

This brings me back to all those supermodels with bodies I admire. When supermodel Coco Rocha
got pregnant with her first child, I wonder whether the baby will be well nourished and whether Rocha herself would gain a little weight for her baby sake. (remember my thinking is that skinny is unhealthy and chubby is healthy) but to my surprise she stays the same size till the end of her pregnancy, only the tummy got bigger and bigger as months goes by and she gave birth to a healthy baby girl with chubby cheeks and arm and legs and everything. So my believe was shattered that the skinny Rocha and other models that are all bones are indeed healthy.
Like I said they wont have great skin and full gorgeous hair if they are not well nourished.
You CAN be skinny and healthy at the same time.
and healthy DOES NOT equals to FAT.

So I found the cause to some of my health problem is not having enough nutrition (and wrong mindset) during the most important period in my life - adolescent, and the habit carries on to my early twenties.

So starting mid twenties I tried taking vitamins and stop the caffeine little by little. I remember during my first job where I always feel sleepy, (during uni you can wake up anytime you want but when you started working you need to wake up early to reach office at 8.30 in the morning.)
So i'm having trouble adjusting the sleeping pattern an always sleepy in the morning, but I wanna stop the caffeine intake so I drink a lot of water, jump around, walk here and there like a crazy person. But I managed to ditch the caffeine at the end. Caffeine is ok sometimes, but not right after meal or after consuming vitamins cos it will interfere with your nutrients absorption. Mainly calcium, magnesium and iron.
Imagine whatever little nutrient I had when I was a teenager not getting absorb after numerous cups of 3-in-1 coffee.
No wonder my brain deteriorates.

4. Irregular periods/PMS.

Another problem with me is that I have irregular periods and bad period cramps. Normally I would just use hot water in a bottle to ease the abdominal pain and just take a panadol if it is too much. Because I have no idea what caused it.

Then I got married at 30 and I found new information about hormonal inbalance that caused ireegular period.
Hormonal Pills.
Of course, its started with us wanted to have some family planning before we're both ready to take the huge responsibility as a parents. We can't do it naturally since my period was never regular since the very start. Of course it doesn't because of my eating habit during my teenage years and the 'Soy-based diet'. Yes soy based food is good for reducing cholesterol and soy does have other good properties but soy also contains estrogen mimicking properties called isoflavones that could interfere with your hormones.

Laboratory studies show that genistein, a phytoestrogen found in soy, may lead to a decline in fertility, ovulatory dysfunction and irregular menstrual cycles.  

So that is one of the reason of my period irregularity, on top of the bad eating habit of course.
I asked the doc to take something to make my period regular, so the doc said
"Normally we will give you this pill to train your brain to signal the uterus to work according to 'schedule' i.e, to make the period cycle regular. You need to take it at least 3 month for it to work and it also act as a contraceptive. So if you planning to have kids in these 3 months you shouldn't be taking these."
Well doc, that's kinda the whole point I'm here.
True enough, my period gets regular and my PMS gradually reduced.

If I knew one of the purpose of contraceptive pills is to correct irregular periods and balances hormones, I would have taken it wayy earlier in my twenties.

So, when I google about this contraceptive pills, I found out its also known to be used as acne treatment suggested by doctors to those who has terrible acne problems. And most terrible acne problems are caused by hormonal imbalance that cause the skin to be super oily or super dry.
It's also been use for those who had period irregularity or stops for months due to excessive weight gain or weight loss (again hormonal imbalance.)
Basically whatever problem caused by hormonal problems, acne, period problems, and maybe, hairfall due to hormonal imbalance might be corrected using the pills.

There is no specific article I found about correcting hair fall using contraceptive/hormonal pills  but I believe there's the link between the two. I did found some people say the side effects of taking the pills that their hair fall is reduced, but there are also claims that the pills makes them shed more hair.
So I don't know for sure.
I've been taking the pills for almost a year now and I don't notice massive changes on the hair department. I don't notice more hairfall either.
It might actually due to other issue. But even if my hair did fall due to hormonal imbalance,and taking the pill did works, 10 months of balanced hormones might not be that noticeable yet in comparison to 18 years of hormonal imbalance and 15 years worth of hairfall.

So all the problems I had
1. Sluggishness, lethargy, forgetfulness, lack of focus.
2. Can't donate blood.
3. Hairfall
4. Period irregularity/PMS

(3 & 4 can be considered as hormonal imbalance)
All these are actually interrelated to one another.

These issues can always be traced back to what we eat.
As a women, I know almost everyone has hairfall problems, the difference is just how bad. One is of course due to the high sodium in the food we take, and 2 we have periods every months so we did require more iron intake than men. Iron and zinc are two minerals that are important for hair growth.
Most of iron in our body is in hemoglobin, so if we loses blood every month we need to increase the iron intake twice as men.

This is also the reason why we always here women say,
"I wanted to donate blood, but I failed because my hemoglobin too low."
Seems familiar? because women need more iron in their food intake and most of us failed to do this.

And with less iron, your body cant produce enough red blood cells that carries oxygen through your body, so when your body and brain didn't get enough oxygen, it will definitely makes you feels lethargic and sluggish and yes, effect brain function and will lead to forgetfulness. Also in my opinion why there are more women that has Alzheimer than men. Just my opinion. No specific studies on this yet.

For reference, adult women 19-50years requires 18mg of iron daily while men need only 8mg.

I hope this helps to those who has the same problems with me. Now at 31, I no longer have trouble donating blood, or bad period cramps or feels lethargic. My weight has never been more than 55kg ever since. The only problem  remains is the hair.

But the most important thing I can suggest is,
1. Drink a lot of water.
2. Monitor your nutrients intake, have 18mg of iron daily.
3. Don't take caffeine after meal/consuming vitamins.
4. Don't practice unhealthy diet during adolescent phase. If you want to experiment with weird diets, do it after you're 20.

If you have a daughter, sister, niece that are a little on the chubbier side when they are younger than 18, don't mock or say hurtful things, instead encourage them to eat healthy and if they want to lose weight and try unusual diet, wait until they're no longer in adolescent state.

So as a solution, how do we meet the 18g per day of iron daily?
I listed some of the food with the amount of iron in them,

1. Shellfish (Clams/oyster/mussle)
    Clams - 28mg per 100grams of serving (already exceeds the 18mg of your daily intake)
    Oyster - 7mg per 100grams
    Mussel - 6.7mg per 100grams
2. Dark Chocolate - 17.4mg per 100grams
3. Pumpkin Seed - 8.8mg per 100grams
4. Dried Apricot - 6.3mg per 100grams
5. Spinach - 3.6mg per 100grams
6. Beef Liver/Organ meats
    Liver - 6.5mg per 100grams
    Lungs - 5.4mg per 100grams
7. Nuts
    Cashew - 6.7mg per 100grams
    Pistachio - 3.9mg per 100grams
    Almond - 3.7mg per 100grams
8. Lentil - 3.7mg per 100grams
9. Tofu - 2.7mg 100 grams
10. Red meat (beef) - 2.7mg per 100grams
11. White button mushroom - 1.7mg per 100grams
12. Quinoa - 1.5mg per 100grams

Whole grains and fortified cereals also have rich source of irons, which varies according to brands. You can look up the info of nutritional contents in the box/packaging.

Not getting enough nutrient is bad enough, but not getting enough nutrient when your body is changing (adolescent/puberty phase) could cause a lot of trouble later in life. Like me.

P/S: I welcome any comments if any of the thing I said above is not accurate or misleading. This is all just based on my personal experience and research. Any other inputs on the topic are highly appreciated.

References:
https://www.livestrong.com/article/328673-blood-plasma-and-nutrients/
https://www.livestrong.com/article/474660-soy-and-hormonal-imbalance/
https://www.livestrong.com/article/527028-why-do-female-adults-require-more-iron-than-male-adults/
https://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/features/iron-supplements#1
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/
https://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/vitamins-minerals/the-effect-of-caffeine-on-vitamin-absorption.html
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/11-healthy-iron-rich-foods#section12