Healthy Foods for Healthy Hair

Ever wonder what makes your hair shiny and strong?

Why your hair is prone to dryness in one season and oiliness in the other?

Factors like pollution, smoking, hormonal imbalances and lack of sleep can be the cause of your hair’s mood swings. No magic nutrients can make up for those concerns but all hope is not lost! If you keep a balanced, varied, protein-rich diet that targets the following foods, you’ll be giving the total love, care and affection that your locks deserve.

Before you can plan out your next few meals, you should understand what the following nutrients do to help facilitate strong and healthy hair growth.

• Iron: Your hair follicles and roots are fed by a nutrient blood supply. When iron levels are low, you may experience anemia. This disrupts the nutrient supply to the hair follicle affecting growth and even resulting in shedding.
• Vitamin C: Vitamin C aids in the absorption of iron the same way that Vitamin D aids the absorption of calcium. It is also an antioxidant, so is used readily by the body.
• Omega-3: This helps provide oils to hydrate your scalp and hair. Our bodies are not equipped to produce this, so eat up!
• Vitamin A: Similar to Omega-3, Vitamin A is needed to make an oily substance by the name of sebum, which provides a natural conditioner for a healthy scalp.
• Zinc and Selenium: To protect your scalp, your body also needs other minerals such as zinc and selenium. Lack of these minerals can lead to hair loss and a dry and flaky scalp.
• Vitamin E: Just as the sun can damage our skin, it can also be quite harmful to our hair. To help protect our hair from harmful exposure, we should eat foods rich in Vitamin E.
• Biotin: Biotin is a water soluble B vitamin, which, if it is lacking, can cause brittle hair and even hair loss.

Let’s target our key problems!

Dryness is caused by a lack of

Protein, Omega-3, Vitamin A and zinc in your diet.

You should eat chicken, beef, turkey, fish, oysters, eggs, dairy products, avocado, pumpkin seeds, pumpkins, carrots, sweet potatoes, whole grains and fortified cereal.

Hair loss is from a lack of

Protein, iron, Vitamin C, zinc and biotin in your diet.

You should eat: chicken, beef, turkey, fish, oysters, liver, dairy products, eggs/egg yolk, legumes, lentils, spinach, broccoli, kale, blackcurrants, strawberries, blueberries, guava, kiwi, oranges, papayas, sweet potatoes, whole grains, yeast and soy flour.

Weak and brittle hair is from…

The lack of Protein, Omega-3 and biotin in your diet.

You should eat: chicken, turkey, fish rich in oils such as salmon, sardines, mackerel, trout, avocado, nuts, pumpkin seeds, whole grains, liver, egg yolk, soy flour and yeast.

WEAK HAIR growth IS FROM…

The lack of Iron, Omega-3, and Vitamin C in your diet.

You should eat: red meat, chicken, fish rich in oils such as Red Meat, Chicken, Fish rich in oils such as salmon, mackerel, trout and sardines, lentils, spinach, broccoli, kale, sweet potatoes, avocado, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, blueberries, strawberries, kiwis, guavas and oranges.

Protect your hair from harsh elements by incorporating Vitamin E into your diet, any nuts will do!

By keeping a balanced diet that is rich in protein and targets your key problems, you’ll be able to provide all the important nutrients that are needed to keep your hair strong and healthy!