Mounika Raghavan
A head full of gorgeous silky hair, what do you think would that one word be to define it? In one word I would call it sexy!
How we all wish to have celebrity-like hair. Now we don’t know that whether their hair is original or weaved, but we all love the sheen and shine on their hair. If you have seen your grand mom’s photos you must have seen their long flowing tresses. How beautiful it looks, but we aren’t that lucky.
No matter how many hair products, shampoos and conditioners we use; our hair keeps falling off. Sometimes we fear that a day will come when we all will go bald! This is because of the damaging lifestyle we lead now-a-days. Damaging because the way we are leading our life is taking a toll on our health. Drinking, smoking, eating fast foods, using a variety of cosmetics, treating our hair with chemical products and exposing them to heat treatments! Are we doing anything that is good for us?
It is not only important what you apply on your hair to keep it good but also what food you eat. So eating right is the key to your long tresses. Our hair is made up of keratine and keratine is nothing but proteins, therefore including lot of proteins in our diet in addition to other nutrients may help you get back the lost luster in your hair.
So lets pick foods in our diet for hair growth, which further will help us achieve and maintain gorgeous and lustrous tresses like that of our grandmoms.
Best Diet for Hair Growth
1. Fish:
We all know that fish is one of the best sources of proteins. Not only that cold water fish like salmon, mackerel, tuna and sardines are very rich in omegs-3 fatty acids that offer a natural source of oil to your body and scalp. Therefore making your hair silky from within.
2. Nuts and seeds:
Vegetarian and don’t know from where to get healthy omega 3 fats from? Well here what you can eat. Almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, cashew nuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and most importantly flax seeds. Walnuts are also a good source of vitamin E and biotin that acts as a natural sun shield for your hair. We can apply sunscreen on our skin to protect it from harmful UV rays, but what about hair? Direct exposure of hair to sun leads to extensive damage and hair fall. But walnuts being rich in biotin prevent hair loss. It has also been found that walnuts contain copper that retains the natural hair colour keeping it shiny and lustrous.
cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by rjp
[ Read: 10 Amazing Benefits Of Sesame Oil For Hair ]
3. Green leafy vegetables:
You have a lot of options in veggies that actually help to retain your beautiful hair. All green leafy vegetables top the list. Green leafy veggies are rich in iron and iron prevents hair brittleness and breakage. Include this food in your diet for healthy hair growth.
4. Carrots:
Not only beneficial for your eyes, carrots are magic for your hair too. Carrots are rich in beta-carotene which transforms into Vitamin A when ingested. It is important to note that none of the cells in your body can function without Vitamin A, so it is advised to intake a lot of Vitamin A in your diet. Lack of Vitamin A in your foods lead to drying of scalp with itchy dandruff. Other options of fruits and vegetables rich in Vitamin A are sweet potatoes, yam, pumpkin, mangoes and apricots.
cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by Kari Sullivan
[ Read: 18 Tips For Long Hair ]
5. Eggs:
A very wholesome food, eggs are a rich source of four major elements, zinc, sulphur, iron and selenium. All these elements are needed for a head full of healthy hair. Deficiency of any of these elements will lead to a dry flaky scalp and innumerable hair loss. Other sources of these rich elements are lean meat, poultry and oysters.
6. Yogurt:
Benefits of yogurt is that it is the best medicine for treating your hair issues. Being rich in Vitamin B5 and calcium, it helps take care of your hair. Other dairy products like low skimmed milk, cottage cheese and low fat cheese along with yogurt helps improve health of hair follicles. Yogurt whether applied externally or consumed internally is beneficial for your hair. This is another best diet for hair growth faster.
[ Read: Spinach For Hair Growth ]
7. Berries:
A rich source of Vitamin C, nothing can beat the exotic berries when it comes to consuming Vitamin C. Any berry you like strawberries, raspberries and especially blueberries, circulates blood to your scalp and to the hair follicles helping healthy hair growth. Tomatoes also function the same way. So if you are not a lover of berries, try including tomatoes in your daily diet as salads or curries.
cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by Debbie
[ Read: 7 Simple Black Hair Care Tips ]
8. Beans and pulses:
The beans and pulses we eat everyday act as magic to our hair. Being a protein rich vegetarian diet, beans and pulses also contain biotin which being deficient leads to hair breakage. This protein diet for hair growth is also very essential.
[ Read: Top 5 Foods For Hair ]
9. Prunes:
Known to be a very rich source of iron, prunes are good to have if you suffer from stiff hay-like dry hair, thinning of hair and hair discolouration. It improves your hair quality and adds health to it. In addition to prunes, consider having beetroots too.
[ Read: Carrots For Hair Growth ]
10. Shrimps:
Shrimps are a good option to include in diet chart for hair growth if you are avoiding red meat because of its high calorie content. Shrimps are also a good and rich source of proteins. Other than that shrimps also contain a good quantity of Vitamin B12, zinc and iron that also prevents hair breakage.
cc licensed ( BY SA ) flickr photo shared by Laurel F
11. Water:
Drink enough water to keep your skin and scalp hydrated and give natural moisture to your hair.
What not to do:
- Spare your hair of all the sprays, mousse and gels you had been using so long to set a particular style. You may look good for the night but what about the damage you are exposing your hair to.
- Please promise to say NO to heat treatments from now on. Do you know how much damage you are causing to your hair by all these artificial heat exposures? The heat steals all the nature moisture from your hair leaving them as dry as grass.
- Â Oil your hair with natural oils like coconut, olive, almond or castor oil.
Use mild herbal shampoos for your hair instead of the harsh chemical filled shampoos. It is even better if you can wash your hair with reetha and amla.