Did you know you can make your hair healthier by what goes on inside of it? :O Shocker...to some! But some don't care too much for this as hair grows despite what you eat, but if you want to try and make hair as healthy as possible while it grows, it's important to eat healthy foods, but not just for hair health, but for your overall body health. Here are some vitamins that are great for hair along with foods and their hair related benefits.
Folic Acid - asparagus, beets, broccoli, avocados, Brussels sprouts, beans, chickpeas, soybeans, lentils, oranges, fresh peas, turkey and spinach.
Biotin - cauliflower, liver, salmon, carrots, bananas, cereals, yeast, and soy flour. Keep in mind that biotin content is reduced when food is cooked or preserved.
Vitamin B12 - foods rich in vitamin B12 include animal protein (such as beef, lamb, and veal), clams and oysters, liver, fish, milk, and egg yolks.
Vitamin A - butter, egg yolks, fish, fortified milk, organ meats (such as
liver), and dark green, orange, red (pomegranate), and yellow fruits (persimmons, mangoes) and vegetables, which all contain beta-carotene.
Copper - oysters and other shellfish, whole grains, beans, nuts, potatoes and organ meats are good sources of copper. Dark leafy greens (kale and spinach are amazing for hair along with sea kelp!), dried fruits such as prunes, cocoa, black pepper, and yeast are also sources of copper in the diet.
Zinc – beef, eggs, liver, pork, poultry, and oysters. Also is also abundant in other high-protein foods, like cheese, legumes and nuts.
For strong hair, which is important for my hair type, most people simply tend to focus on eating a high-protein diet. Other than protein, it seems it's most important to focus on supplying your body with Beta Carotene and Iodine, here's why:
Iodine is necessary for the production of the thyroid hormone thyroxin. This hormone promotes hair growth. The foods that contain iodine are seafoods like cod, mussels, seaweed and haddock.
Beta Carotene is actually converted by the body into vitamin A which makes the hair strong. You can find it in green and yellow fruits and vegetables like green peppers and cantaloupes.
Also, while I don't think this is really needed, but if you can't have time to focus on foods to eat for hair, you can take supplements for these purposes, but if you don't want to purchase the supplements and want maximum absorption among other things, it's best to try and get these vitamins from food naturally. Plus, what makes getting vitamins from natural food more desirable, is that you're getting multiple vitamins at once that will be better absorbed as all the nutrients will be working together! Vitamins only take care of one thing...which is whatever the pill is for, like a Biotin pill for an example. The circumstances are different if you're taking a vitamin formulated for hair specifically. It's cool to want quicker alternatives but that costs money as well, it's best to try and work with what you've got, and most people would have at the very least some of the stuff on these lists for these vitamins.
Extras:
-Be sure to get your 7-9 hours of sleep daily, it promotes the hair growth phase.
-If you decide to take supplements, try looking for something as natural as possible!
Besides all this, the most important thing you've got to do, is drink the recommended amount of water daily, as water helps assisting in cleansing the body and helping these vitamins do what they do for our hair! Some people even claim that drinking a lot of water has helped their hair grow noticeably faster! Off to refill my bottle! ^_^
Useful sources with extended information:
Healthy Hair Foods
Healthy Hair Foods
No comments:
Post a Comment