Everyone wants thick, strong, and healthy hair, but how can you fulfill that? It’s pretty simple. You need to pay a little more attention to your diet. Exceptionally restrictive diets like the keto diet can even be a reason for hair loss, and can also significantly impact your body.
Having that in mind, you’re probably asking yourself how you can get thicker hair, right? Well, you can start by eating foods with antioxidant flavonoids to strengthen your hair follicles, along with foods rich in iron to boost RBC (Red Blood Cells). Also, to stimulate hair growth take foods filled with protein and silica.
So, which are these foods? Read ahead to find out the best foods for hair growth!
1. Salmon
Being a fatty fish, salmon contains vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids to boost your scalp’s health while keeping your hair fully hydrated. If you want those strands to become firm, include salmon in your diet. Apart from being an excellent source of protein, this type of fish offers many more health benefits, including boosting your central nervous system and reducing inflammation.
According to a study conducted in 2015, you can increase hair density and reduce hair loss by taking supplements rich in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Hence, if you have thinning hair, a fish oil supplement would be a great idea to increase your hair growth and promote healthy hair.
2. Eggs
Eggs are a great source of protein, and we would highly recommend you to give them a shot. They provide nutrients like protein, carotenes, iron, selenium, zinc, Sulphur, and vitamin A and D. Among these nutrients, iron is the most critical because if you have low iron in your system, you’ll likely experience hair loss. But this is more common for women.
Since an egg is a whole protein meal, including it in your diet will boost your collagen production. Besides, eating adequate protein is a great advantage to your hair follicles because they are primarily dependent on proteins.
3. Nuts
If you have tasted nuts before, you can agree with us that they are very delicious. They are not only convenient but also offer many nutrients that might promote the growth of your hair. All types of nuts are rich in protein, particularly walnuts, which contain a substantial amount of biotin, omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamin E.
Not to mention, consuming walnuts will maintain the color of your natural hair due to the copper mineral in it. Apart from hair growth, nuts reduce inflammation and heart-related disease. For that reason, we can say that they are an excellent addition to your diet.
4. Avocado
Avocados are not only tasty but also nutritious and an excellent choice for healthy fats. They contain vitamin E, an excellent mineral to help your hair growth significantly. If you’re not sure about the amount of Vitamin E you need every day, one medium avocado will undoubtedly give you 21% of it, which is quite adequate.
On top of that, vitamin E found in avocados protects skin areas like the scalp from oxidative damage and stress. You certainly don’t want to have damaged skin on the scalp because it only leads to fewer hair follicles and poor hair quality. Do you know what’s more? Avocados provide essential fatty acids to boost your cells.
5. Berries
One of the most powerful nutrients of berries is vitamin C, which helps in boosting collagen and aiding iron absorption. That’s not all. Berries are loaded with beneficial compounds that promote scalp circulation and protect hair follicles from free-radical damage.
Vitamin C delivers strong antioxidant properties that fight against free-radical molecules, which can be very harmful to your hair. Also, since having low iron levels can result in hair loss, vitamin C will help your body absorb iron from the diet. Not sure which berries to take? Start with strawberries, and you’ll thank us later.
6. Dark leafy greens
Dark leafy greens like spinach are rich in iron, an essential mineral to your hair cells. As we mentioned earlier, lack of iron can cause hair loss. This is simply because your hair roots and follicles are not receiving enough nutrients and oxygen making your strands weak.
However, since you wouldn’t like that to happen to your hair, take a lot of spinach which is quite healthy and filled with beneficial nutrients like vitamin A and C, iron, and folate. All these nutrients will make your hair thicker in no time. For instance, vitamin A will help your skin glands to produce sebum, an oily substance that moisturizes the scalp leaving your hair healthy.
7. Seeds
Seeds come with lots of benefits that you’ll undoubtedly love. You can expect a massive amount of nutrients yet with few calories. Some of these nutrients include zinc, vitamin E, and selenium, and they will all contribute to your hair growth. So, you can at least take an ounce of sunflower seeds to enjoy the benefits of vitamin E.
Also, you can get omega-3 fatty acids from seeds like chia seeds and flaxseeds that are great for promoting healthy hair. However, we would recommend that you consume a wide range of seeds if you want to benefit from several nutrients.
8. Sweet potatoes
As a rich source of beta-carotene, sweet potatoes are another food that you should never lack in your diet. By consuming sweet potatoes regularly, your body converts beta-carotene into vitamin A, which is connected to healthy hair.
Taking about 114 grams of sweet potato contains enough beta-carotene to provide adequate Vitamin A, which is responsible for producing sebum, a substance that keeps your hair healthy. Besides, you can depend on vitamin A for speedy hair growth and thickness while preventing your follicles from regressing.
Bottom line
On the whole, what you consume can significantly affect your hair’s health. So, if you take foods that lack the right nutrients like iron, B vitamins, zinc, biotin, essential fatty acids, protein, vitamin A, C, D, and E, your hair growth might slow down.
Just a group of real women dealing with life’s daily struggles! Want to write for us? Email: hello@thedailystruggle.co.uk