What are the best foods for healthy hair growth?

When you first look at someone, what do you notice first? Whatever your answer is, we can predict that more than half of your said “hair.” And if you did, there’s a reason for that. Hair frames the face, the primary part of people that we interact with, and on a social level, someone’s hair can be a good source of information about a person – how old they are, their personality, and, in some cases, their social standing. That’s why having good-looking hair is such an important goal for many men and women alike. Of course, the most obvious way to ensure that your hair looks great is to use hair products like shampoos and conditioners, but what many people don’t know is that there’s another, simpler way to ensure good hair health: nutrition.

That’s right, nutrition is actually an important part of the process of hair growth, and depending on how your diet is set up, you might be missing out on some key ingredients that our bodies need to keep all of our processes working at their optimum best, and that includes hair cells. So what are these foods that can help our hair grow, and to make our look its shiniest, strongest, and most beautiful?

First, let’s look at the process of hair growth itself. Hair growth comes in three stages: the anagen phase, where hair follicles produce the strands of proteins we call “hairs”; the catagen phase, where hair growth ceases; and the telogen phase, where hair follicles release the hair strand and let it fall away from the body. These processes are happening constantly all over the body, and they are processes that require something which no shampoo or conditioner can give you: nutrients. See, in order for the body to carry out all of its essential processes, it needs the materials necessary for completing those processes, in the form of vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, and carbohydrates.

Here are some very important nutrients you’ll read a lot about:

1. Zinc – a mineral that the body needs for basic metabolic processes, converting and using energy, and synthesizing proteins.

2. B vitamins – these are vitamins that the body requires for cellular metabolism and the functioning of enzymes.

3. Fatty acids – important nutrients that are used in the creation and maintenance of cells, as well as for energy that the body needs to run.

These nutrients are essential for the proper functioning of the body’s processes, and that includes the growth and health of your hair. Without adequate amounts of these important nutrients, your cells won’t have what they need to function at their best, meaning you could see weaker hair strands, dull-looking hair, or even excessive shedding – which leads to hair loss. In both lab tests on animals and surveys conducted on human patients, a common side effect of malnutrition is hair loss and poor hair and skin health, both of which are intertwined due to the interplay between hair follicles and the skin itself. So you can see why it’s important that we get enough of these basic nutrients. But how do you get enough of them? One way is to simply eat more of the foods that contain them.

For zinc, make sure your diet includes meat, legumes (beans, lentils, etc), nuts, eggs, and whole grains. If you want enough B vitamins, the list looks pretty similar to the previous one, and includes dark green leafy vegetables like spinach and broccoli. You can get decent amounts of fatty acids from fruits, olive oil, and fish like salmon, anchovies, and mackerel.

If these foods look a little like we just broke down the food pyramid into little bits, there’s a reason for that. That’s because the #1 thing any decent nutritionist or medical professional will tell you is that a balanced diet rich in whole, natural foods is crucial for your overall health. There are things only medicines can fix, but for many problems including poor sleep, skin problems, and yes, bad hair, sometimes the answer is just to eat a diverse, balanced diet.

As you can see, hair care doesn’t stop at buying things from the hair care aisle. It involves cleaning up and enriching your diet with a balance of foods that contain the basic things your body needs to keep its systems running at optimal levels. By fortifying yourself with balanced nutrition, you can avoid some of the problems that lead others to have weak or brittle hair, or excess shedding. This is one case where food really can be your medicine, and by allowing your body to perform its best, you’re setting yourself up for a great hair day. But don’t take our word for it: try it out for yourself, and see if you can tell the difference after only a few weeks. It’s your body, so treat it right.