10 Best Foods For Healthy Hair Growth

Hair Growth

Hair fall is common problem arising from young age. If you are sincerely following the best hair care, but are still experiencing hair loss, you have probably not been eating the right nutritious foods. Food plays a major role in controlling the hair fall. Hope this article helps you out in reducing hair fall.

Eating clean is the power of vast, it besides offers you a healthy body and glowing skin and also aids in strengthening your hair follicles. You can achieve the dream volume and shine you always wanted to have for your hair. This can be achievable through food.

“A balanced diet is the most important thing when it comes to healthy and beautiful hair, skin and body”. The foods packed with vitamins and minerals should be added to your diet. Each strand is made up of cells that contain a tough protein called keratin and they need to be constantly nourished with minerals and vitamins to make your hair strong and long.

Causes for Hair fall:

Hair fall may be due to the following reasons:

  • Vitamin deficiency
  • Lack of protein
  • Emotional stress
  • Hormones
  • Hereditary
  • Dramatic weight loss
  • Ageing

Foods For Hair Growth

Your hair grows around 0.5 inches (1.25 cm) per month, and 6 inches (15 cm) per year. Growth depends on factors like age, health, genetics and diet.

Eggs:

Eggs are abundant in protein and biotin, these are the two nutrients that may promote hair growth. A deficiency in either of these nutrients has been linked to hair loss.

Your hair is made up of structural protein called keratin. Lack of protein in the diet can lead to hair loss, therefore it is important to ensure that you have enough protein in your diet. Protein is the building block of hair and eggs are one of the richest natural sources of protein. Eggs are also a great source of zinc, selenium and other hair-healthy nutrients. This makes them one of the best foods to consume for optimal hair health.

Avocado:

Avocados are delicious, nutritious and a great source of healthy fats.They are also an excellent source of vitamin E, which may promote hair growth. One medium size (200 g) avocado provides 21% of your daily vitamin E needs. It is also rich in the heart healthy monounsaturated fats. You can add it to your breakfast salad or blend it into a green smoothie.

Vitamin E improves the blood circulation and helps the follicles work more efficiently to promote hair growth. It also maintains the oil and PH levels balance which if exceeds can block the hair follicles and stop hair growth. Vitamin E also protects areas of the skin, like the scalp, from oxidative stress and damage. Damaged skin on the scalp can result in poor hair quality and fewer hair follicles.

Avocados are rich in vitamin E, an antioxidant that may promote hair growth and they are a great source of essential fatty acids, which appear to be crucial for hair growth.

Spinach:

Spinach is a healthy green vegetable that’s loaded with beneficial nutrients like folate, iron, and vitamins A and C, all of which may promote hair growth.

Vitamin A helps the skin glands produce sebum. This oily substance helps moisturize the scalp to keep hair healthy. Iron is an essential mineral that your hair cells require. In fact, a deficiency of iron in the body may cause hair loss. When your body is running low on iron, oxygen and nutrients are not getting transported to the hair roots and follicles adequately which can inhibit growth and make your strands weak. According to some studies, iron deficiency is linked to baldness.

Salmon:

Fatty fish like salmon, have nutrients that may promote hair growth. They are excellent sources of omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids nourish the hair and support growth and thickening.

A study confined that taking supplements containing omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids as well as antioxidants, showed the result of reduced hair loss and increased hair density.

Salmon also contains protein, selenium, biotin, vitamin D3 and vitamin B, all of which promote hair growth and add shine to your hair.

Carrot:

Carrots are rich in vitamin A. carrots will help make your hair stronger, longer and thicker. Carrots help in improving blood circulation, which will give your hair a healthy look and prevent the growth of grey hair.

The hair contains the fastest growing tissues in the body and vitamin A is required for the growth of every cell. It also helps the scalp in producing the natural sebum oil which keeps it and the roots healthy to boost hair growth. Drink carrot juice every day for quick hair growth.

Sweet potatoes:

Sweet potatoes are a great source of Vitamin A (beta-carotene), which is linked to good hair health. Vitamin A is essential for sebum production on the scalp. They also contain biotin, which lets the hair use protein for growth. Vitamin A prevents hair follicles from regressing. It could also speed up the rate of hair growth and encourage the growth of thicker hair.

Seeds:

Seeds deliver a huge amount of nutrients with relatively few calories. Seeds are rich in vitamin E, zinc, selenium and other nutrients that may promote hair growth.

Seeds like flaxseeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and chia seeds promotes the hair growth and are really high in omega-3 fatty acids, which have been linked to hair growth.

Flax seeds: One ounce (28 g) serving of flaxseeds provides 6,388 mg of omega-3 fatty acids, i.e, more omega-3 fatty acids than half a fillet (178 g) of salmon. They are loaded with polyunsaturated fatty acids that keep scalp dryness away. Flax seeds can serve as mid-meal healthy snack while also supplying the essential fats to your hair.

Pumpkin seeds: Pumpkin has vitamin A, iron, vitamin C, vitamin E and zinc in good amounts. Pumpkin contains vitamin B9 (folate) that helps in hair growth by improving blood circulation on the scalp. Pumpkin also contain antioxidants that fight premature loss of hair and is also known to keep scalp infections at bay.

Nuts:

Nuts are convenient to eat and contain a variety of nutrients that may promote hair growth. They also provide a wide variety of B vitamins, zinc and essential fatty acids. A deficiency in any of these nutrients has been linked to hair loss.

Almonds and walnuts are really high in Omega-3 fatty acids.

Walnuts are good source of protein, biotin, copper, vitamin E and omega fatty acids. The omega 3s, omega 6s, omega 9s in the walnuts contribute towards strengthening hair follicles. Selenium is often associated with hair loss but walnuts are a rich source of selenium and protect your hair from sun damage. 

Berries:

Berries are loaded with beneficial compounds and vitamins that may promote hair growth. They include vitamin C, which has strong antioxidant properties. Antioxidants can help protect hair follicles against damage from harmful molecules called free radicals, which exists naturally in the body.

Blueberries contain vitamin C that stimulates the production of collagen, a protein that helps strengthen hair to prevent it from becoming brittle and breaking. Vitamin C helps the body absorb iron from the diet as low iron levels may cause anemia, which has been linked to hair loss.

Strawberries are packed with Vitamin C, and are extremely beneficial for your hair. Eating strawberries helps to prevent hair loss. Because strawberries are a rich source of ellagic acid, they help in protecting hair thinning and hair fall.

Meat:

Meat is a staple food in many people’s diet and is a great source of protein and other nutrients, which is essential for healthy, strong hair. It is a high source of protein and protein is all you need to feed your hair strands well. The protein in meat aids growth and helps repair and strengthen hair follicles.

Red meat, is rich in iron that’s easy to absorb.  It has ferritin, which stores iron and helps in making hair cell proteins. This mineral helps the red blood cells deliver oxygen to all cells in the body, including hair follicles.

Deficiencies in protein and iron have been linked to hair loss. 

Summary:

Whether you are a vegetarian, non-vegetarian or an eggetarian, make sure you are getting your daily intake of protein, vitamins and minerals. What you eat can have a huge effect on the health of your hair.

if you think you are lacking of the right nutrients including vitamins A, C, D and E, zinc, B vitamins, iron, biotin, protein and essential fatty acids may slow down hair growth or even cause hair loss. Correcting a deficiency in any of these nutrients may help treat hair loss and promote the rate of hair growth. If you feel a lack of nutrients is impairing your hair growth, it is time to add the above-mentioned foods to your diet.

They can help in restoring hair loss from pregnancy, thyroid, stress, dandruff and pollution. If you have noticed unusual and sudden hair loss recently, consult your doctor (dermatologist).

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