For your Crowning Glory
Lustrous, beautiful and healthy hair is a result of a healthy body and a healthy diet. Any nutritional deficiency can lead to problems of hair like dryness, brittleness, dandruff and ultimately hair loss. On the other end, there are certain foods that make your hair healthy and strong. Hair like other tissue is largely made up of protein and foods rich in this nutrient should form an important part of the diet.
The bottom line to this thread is that your hair ultimately reflects the overall condition of your body. If your body is healthy and well nourished, your hair will be your shining glory.
Eating right, exercise, reducing stress, rest, relaxation, lots of sleep, and you are well on your way to maximizing your hair growth potential. Incorporating healthy foods in day-to-day diet will lead to a difference in hair.
Nutrients necessary for maintaining healthy hair are:-
Carbohydrates
Around 55-60% of your daily calories should come from carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are an essential source of energy and help in the growth of body tissues, hair. Thus it is important to consume more of complex carbohydrates like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, brown rice rather than simple sugars and white flours. Carbohydrate rich foods are good source of B complex vitamins that are vital to healthy hair.
Protein
Protein is the building block of hair, so a diet for healthy hair should make up at least 20% of your daily calories. Protein provides strength to the shaft of the hair and thus reduces chance of hair fall by snapping and splitting. Inadequate protein intake over a lengthy period causes major hair fall affecting the texture and quality. Thus sufficient portions of foods high in protein content should form part of your daily diet. The best sources of dietary protein are soy protein, tofu, dairy products like milk, curd, paneer, cheese, nuts, oilseeds, beans and pulses.
Essential fatty acids
Along with proper diet healthy hair needs essential fatty acids, which aids dry and brittle hair and improves the texture. Essential fatty acids from vegetable oils, whole grains, legumes, fresh nuts and oil seeds, spirulina, flaxseed oil and pumpkin seeds. Roughly 15 - 20% of your daily calories should come from these sources.
VITAMINS
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is essential to hair growth by providing healthy scalp. Beta-carotene is found in green and yellow vegetables and fruits, sweet potatoes, broccoli, apricots.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E increases oxygen uptake and improves circulation thereby improving hair health and growth. Add E to your diet by consuming foods like avocados, rice bran, nuts, dark green vegetables, legumes and whole grains.
Vitamin K
This lesser known vitamin helps to maintain healthy hair. Food sources of Vitamin K include dairy foods, figs, asparagus, broccoli, lettuce, brussel sprouts, cabbage, dark green leafy vegetables, oatmeal, rye, soybeans, wheat and yogurt.
Vitamin B
To ensure that your hair is healthy and does not split include foods rich in the different B vitamins. This includes whole grains, beans, lentils, plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables -- especially citrus fruits and tomatoes. Biotin deficiency has been linked to hair loss. Foods high in biotin are brown rice, cracked wheat, green peas, lentils, oats, soybeans, sunflower seeds and walnuts. Deficiency of B complex vitamins can lead to greasy hair, dandruff, poor hair growth and gray hair.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is important for good circulation, hair growth and hair color. If you ensure that you have enough vitamin C you will have strong, supple strands of hair that do not split. Vitamin C is an important antioxidant that promote cell and tissue repair and enhances the immune system. Good sources of vitamin C are all citrus fruits like oranges, lime, lemon, berries, vegetables like brussel sprouts, cucmbers, tomato, cauliflower, green leafy vegetables and red peppers.
MINERALS
Iron
Helps to carry oxygen to the hair. Without enough iron, hair and itsfollicles get starved of oxygen. This means that the goodness in the root of your hair is much less effective along the length of the strand. You canincrease your iron intake by eating dark green vegetables, whole grains, garden cress seeds or by adding iron supplements under supervision.
Potassium
Banana is the best source for potassium, which is important in nutrient transfer through cell membranes and is essential in hormone secretion. Potassium is also found in dairy products and pulse.
Magnesium
Magnesium is an important mineral for hair growth . Include foods like whole grains, green leafy vegetables, dairy products, fruits, nuts and pulses..,.
Zinc
Zinc builds hair protein and thus plays a vital role in maintaining good hair condition. Zinc stimulates hair growth by improving immunity. Its deficiency often results in poor hair growth and considerable hair loss. Natural Sources of Zinc are legumes, mushroom, non-fat dry milk, spinach, whole grains, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds.
Water
Water makes up one-fourth of the weight of a strand of hair. Moisture makes the hair supple, so make sure you get plenty of fluids. Water is a medium that helps to eliminate all toxins, chemical wastes and other pollutants out of the body.. Water not only hydrates your body, but also helps keep your hair silky and shiny. Ideally, you should drink between eight and ten glasses of water a day.
Diet don’ts
Hair fall and baldness is increasingly becoming a problem for most people who love to eat junk foods, follow an unhealthy eating pattern and have a stressed lifestyle. Hair fall can also be caused by anxiety, insomnia, hair abuse or excessive use of chemicals like bleaching treatments, perming and coloring.
Sugar is highly acidic, destroying B vitamins and decreasing minerals, leading to unhealthy hair. Soft drinks, snacks like the fried, overcooked junk snacks, caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine have detrimental effects on the nutrients that enhance hair growth .
Stress, tension ,some medications and poor dietary habits are known to retard hair growth.
LIFE STYLE CHANGES
- Along with a healthy hair diet it is important that you exercise properly as it will ensure that there is proper blood flow to your scalp and will help in the growth of hair.
- Treat your hair delicately. Avoid unnecessary brushing, combing or handling. Use a soft, round bristles brush.
- Have a weekly scalp massage to provide stimulation to the hair follicles.
- Have regular trims to eliminate split ends and allow the hair to look and feel healthier.
- Get plenty of rest and sleep to allow your body to grow hair
HEALTHY HAIR FOOD PLAN
Follow the diet plan given below as a starting point for healthy and lustrous hair.
Breakfast
Skim milk / Soy milk
Whole grain bread or toast or poha or breakfast cereal or sprout
Bowl of fresh fruit
Morning Snack
Fresh vegetable juice like carrot or cucumber juice
Handful of nuts like walnuts, soaked almonds, raisins, dates
Lunch
Fresh veg. soup or salad
Whole-wheat flour or jowar or bajra chapatti
Green veg.
Dals or whole pulses
Brown rice
Curd / Tofu
Afternoon snack
1 glass skim milk
Kurmura or roasted channa or popcorn
Evening snack
Fresh veg. and fruit juice (carrot, apple, lemon, dudhi, palak)
Dinner
Fresh veg. soup or salad with sprouts
Chapati
Vegetable
Buttermilk
Bedtime Snack
Fruit like watermelon or banana
Use natural substitutes like fruits, dates, figs or honey instead of sugar. Fruits like berries, grapes, apples and cherries have useful enzymes that can add value to your hair health.