healthy hair: What is a healthy diet for your hair to grow long ?

Saturday, November 28, 2009

What is a healthy diet for your hair to grow long ?

The Most Important Things to Know About Healthy Hair Diet

The beauty of hair is a direct manifestation of internal health. How and what we eat determines our hair. It鈥檚 essential to get proper nutrients directly from the foods that we eat. Healthy hair diet is very important. Eating a healthy, balanced diet is necessary for the health and beauty of your hair! Great nutrition is the most effective way of getting awesome hair...

Paying attention to nutrition will help to beat bad hair days.

Having healthy hair requires well-balanced diets that incorporate proteins and vitamins B, C, E, A and K.

Hair instantly responds to the addition of protein rich foods such as meats, eggs, cheese, seeds and nuts.

Protein

Protein is the building block of hair. Hair is 88 percent protein. Protein will give the shaft of your hair more strength, and will reduce the probability of damage.

Vitamin B

The B vitamins are necessary for healthy hair. Lack of B vitamins can lead to oily hair conditions.

Sources: green vegetables, beans, sunflower seeds, nuts and peas.

Vitamin C

It strengthens the immune system, and assists in metabolizing B vitamins and amino acids into the body. Lack of vitamin C can cause dry hair.

Sources: oranges, lemons, limes, melons, berries, red peppers, kale, cauliflower, tomatoes and cucumbers.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A is important for the health of your scalp. A lack of it can lead to dry hair.

Sources: carrots, sweet potatos, squash, broccoli, cantaloupe or apricot.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E provides lots of benefits for growing vibrant hair.

Sources: avocado, rice bran, nuts, dark green vegetables, legume and whole grains.

Vitamin K

Vitamin K helps to maintain healthy hair

Sources: seafood, dairy food, fig, brewer yeast, asparagus, broccoli, lettuce, cabbage, dark green leafy vegetables, egg yolk, oatmeal, rye, soybean, liver, wheat and yogurt.

Iron

Healthy hair needs iron in the body. Iron is needed to help carry oxygen to the hair. Without enough iron, hair gets starved for oxygen.

Sources: eggs, fish, liver, oysters, meat, poultry, whole grains, green leafy vegetables and blackstrap molasses.

Magnesium

Magnesium deficiencies lead to hair problems.

Sources: meat, fish, fruit, nuts, brewer鈥檚 yeast, whole grains and green-leafy vegetables.

Copper

Copper is needed for hair structure and is involved in the pigmentation of hair.

Sources: milk, bread and green vegetables.

Zinc

A lack of zinc can lead to hair loss. Zinc is necessary for building hair protein.

Sources: oysters, peas, pulses, haricot beans, butter and kidney.

Water

Water is important for hair. Water makes up one-fourth of the weight of a strand of hair. Moisture makes the hair supple and helps keep your hair silky and shiny. Eight to ten glasses of water a day are absolutely necessary to nourish healthy hair.

Essential Fats (EFAs)

Healthy hair also needs two essential fatty acids, omega-3 and omega-6, that are not produced naturally by the human body.

Omega-3 fats sources: flax oil, algae, cold-water fish, dark-green vegetables, hemp oil and pumpkin seed oil

Omega-6 fats sources: borage, evening primrose oil, safflower oil, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, corn and pumpkin seeds.

Cold-pressed vegetable oils are also essential to a hair healthy diet. Lack of these oils causes dull, lifeless hair along with parched, rough skin.

To supplement your diet, you should consider taking a daily vitamin-mineral supplement formulated for hair.

Foods and bad habits that harm your hair

Eating dead food can lead to lifeless hair. These are sugars, chocolate, cakes, cookies, starches, soft drinks, and snacks.

Caffeine, alcohol, nicotine and recreational drugs destroy important hair growing nutrients.