How Nutrition Affects Hair Growth
Your diet plays an important role in your body’s function, your mood, and how you look. If you eat certain foods such as foods rich in vitamin C specific body parts like your immune system will greatly benefit. Your hair is no exception. There are specific foods that will help your hair grow faster, keep the natural oils in balance, keep the color, and not become brittle and break off. We have eight types of food that you can eat to keep your hair healthy.
1. Essential Fatty Acids
Hair is made up of three percent essential fatty acids. Omega-3, or fatty acids are found in the natural oils in your scalp and the cell membranes that make up your scalp. Some foods that you can eat that are rich in these essential fatty acids are alnuts, pumpkin seeds, and avocado.
2. Walnuts
Walnuts are a great source of essential fatty acids, which help hair growth. Walnuts also have biotin, Vitamin E, and Copper. Biotin helps keep your hair strength, vitamin E protects your cells from damage, and copper, which is a mineral, helps to keep the color of your hair.
3. Zinc
Zinc is found in oysters, nuts, beef, and eggs. You can also find zinc in fortified foods such as cereal and bread. Zinc helps you to not lose hair, and keeps the scalp from becoming dry and flaky. If you do not have enough zinc in your diet you can develop dandruff and lose patches of your hair when it becomes brittle. Zinc helps with all of the hair on your body, not just your head.
4. Beta Carotene and Vitamin A
Beta Carotene is an anti-oxidant that the body makes into the Vitamin A. Vitamin A helps cell growth as well as plays a vital role in the natural oils on your scalp that helps to keep the scalp stay moisturized so that the skin does not dry out and flake off. Some foods that are rich in beta carotene and vitamin A are sweet potatoes, cantaloupe, carrots, pumpkin, apricots, and mangoes.
5. Iron
Iron helps the body’s cells deliver oxygen through the blood stream to the hair follicles. You can find iron in leafy green vegetables such as kale and spinach.
6. Folate
Dark leafy greens such as spinach, broccoli, kale, and Swiss chard all contain folates which help circulate the natural oils on the scalp as well as maintain the hair follicles health.
7. Protein for Vegetarians
Hair is predominately protein, so eating foods rich in protein will help to strengthen your hair as well as help it to grow faster so that you do not need extensive hair restoration treatments.
Legumes, or the bean family, is an alternative route to giving your body protein if your diet does not contain lean meats. These legumes also contain iron, zinc, and biotin, all of which help with hair growth and repair. Some examples of legumes are soybean, lentils, edamame, and kidney beans.
8. Vitamin C
Kiwis, sweet potatoes, raspberries, blueberries, tomatoes, pineapples, and strawberries are all great examples of vitamin C. This vitamin is important because it helps your body absorb iron, as well as helps your blood vessels that feed your hair follicles important nutrients to circulate and collect the nutrients that they need.
These eight types of food will help you create a balanced diet that will not only show through healthy hair, but will help you to feel and function better in every aspect.