The Best Nutrition for Hair

If we ask a couple of people what they consider to be the best hair care practice, there’s a high likelihood they list a series of hair care products and styling methods. While these work, they aren’t always the case because nothing defeats good nutrition for good hair health. As much as people often overlook the potency of good nutrition for the hair, we are here to remind you that it’s second to nothing.

Your appearance is a product of what you eat. So if you want to look healthy, you have to eat healthily. And without any dropoff, the same thing applies to the hair, which means if you want healthy-looking hair, you have to commit to a healthy diet. Hair care products only work externally, but good nutrition works internally and externally.

We understand that deciding what to eat to stay alive and well-nourished is a hell of a job in itself, so determining what to eat for good hair growth could add to this difficulty. So to save you from this stress, this article will suggest some food nutrients you can add to your diet that are of value for your hair. But before we go into that, we’ll show you how food nutrients affect the hair.

How Do Food Nutrients Affect Hair?

A remarkable fact about the human body is that it is organized in a way that priority is given first to essential organs before auxiliary items like our skin, fingernails, and hair. All the energy or nutrients we get from feeding are first directed to these vital parts before any other place. And as far as the hair is concerned, it ranks pretty low in receiving these essentials for growth and development and only gets what’s left of the supply.

With this, it becomes evident that you can’t afford poor nutrition because if your body is poorly fed and malnourished, the direct implication is that your hair will suffer a lot. Hence, the need for you to feed properly such that whatever the body sends to the hair is enough for its health and proper functioning. Therefore, focusing on eating good food means you and the hair on your head will benefit significantly from it.

Some Food Nutrients for Healthy Hair

If you want to prioritize healthy feeding habits, below are some valuable food nutrients  you can add to your diet for quality hair health:

1. Protein

Of all the elements and molecules inherent in human hair, keratin is the most dominant. It is the element responsible for the physical features of the hair and its cohesion. If this property is short in the body, it results in brittle, dry,  and lackluster hair appearance, which may degenerate into hair loss.

While keratins aren’t directly derived from food, they are abundantly found in protein-rich foods. Hence, adding a significant amount of protein to your diet increases the availability of keratin suitable for your skin, fingernails, and, most importantly, your hair. For example, 50 – 70 grams of protein diet concentration every day will suffice good hair health. You can find it in foods like meat, legume, fish, nuts, and so on.

2. Biotin

A list of the best food nutrients for hair health can’t be complete without mentioning biotin. This is because its presence is crucial for many enzymatic reactions in the body. In the same vein, it is also essential for some nutrients because it helps to properly break these nutrients down before they are distributed for proper functioning.

A poor metabolism signals biotin deficiency which degenerates into hair loss from undernourished follicular cells. So it’s important to be intentional about having a decent level of biotin in our diet because no research suggests that the scalp and hair can absorb biotin inherent in hair products. Food sources of biotin include oats, green peas, brown rice, soy, lentils, eggs, etc.

3. Iron

Iron deficiency is one of the many explanations for excessive hair shedding. A low iron reserve in the body affects the supply of nutrients to hair follicles, affecting hair growth. So getting an adequate supply of iron and increasing ferritin reserve is crucial for your hair.

You can get this nutrient supply from plants and animals. The plant-derived iron-rich food includes green vegetables, dried apricots, pumpkin seeds, soybeans, lentils, and so on. At the same time, animal-derived iron-rich foods include red meat, fish, chicken, eggs, etc.

4. Omega-3 Fatty Acids

The omega-3 fatty acid is another essential nutrient the body requires for optimal functioning. Its inexhaustible benefits extend to our hair because it needs it for strength and proper growth. Research conducted in 2015 even established that omega-3 effectively corrects hair loss in women. However, you don’t have to wait to suffer from the condition before taking diets rich in this nutrient.

Taking omega-3 fatty acids means you can improve sebum secretion, which helps keep your scalp oiled and hydrated. It also helps eliminate any chance for inflammation which may cause damage to your hair follicles. You can derive this nutrient from foods like salmon, flaxseeds, mackerel, tuna, chia seeds, and so on.

5. Zinc

The best way to avoid having a flaky and dry scalp is to have a decent supply of zinc. It is responsible for the activation of oil glands for proper functioning. Additionally, zinc contains antioxidants that keep the body immune from premature aging. Its results are easily noticed, and you’ll find it in foods like lobster, crabs, egg yolks, oysters, and so on.

Taking a balanced diet that involves all nutrients can help promote quality hair health, but moderately prioritizing the ones mentioned above will show more results earlier than you imagine.

In Conclusion

No matter how effective hair care products are or how many of them enter the market, you can’t displace the effect of good nutrition on hair health through feeding. So if you want to have fine, thick, and lustrous hair on your head, you’ll need to prioritize a good diet because they contain the best nutrients for your hair.