Food & Vitamins

Food & Vitamins:

Protein: Your hair is made of 98 percent protein, and it needs special nutrients just as much as the rest of your body does. So you can probably guess what your key nutrient is when it comes to healthy hair. Since hair loss is associated with a high-fat diet, you need to get the majority of your protein from low fat sources such as fish, poultry, and legumes such as soy. However, although protein is the basic building block, too much protein can also cause unhealthy hair by making the body too acidic. Too much protein will also cause a calcium deficiency, which will deplete it from your hair and even your nails. Protein is vital for the healthy hair development cycles. In case you are a vegan or you on a diet, be certain to make sure that your body obtains the essential protein.

Vitamins: There are minerals and vitamins which help in the development of healthy hair. The opinion of your family doctor is very important to know if your severe hair fall is due to the insufficiency of any vitamins. Being part of a high stress, pressurized lifestyle can sometimes make it is next to impossible to have good food habits. The effect is a shortage of vitamin. And this along with common weakening of health causes hair fall as well. Following are the top vitamins for hair growth:

Vitamin A: Vitamin A is another essential requirement for healthy hair. One of the signs of vitamin A deficiency is hair loss. If you’re eating your 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables, you’ll be getting lots of vitamin A in yellow and orange vegetables and fruits, and dark green leafy vegetables such as kale and broccoli. Other sources of vitamin A are liver, egg yolks, milk, and butter. Be careful though of taking oral Vitamin A supplements, especially if you are a woman in the reproductive age group, as there are unconfirmed fears that Vitamin A in excess can cause birth defects, if you do happen to get pregnant while on them.

Vitamin B Group: All of the B vitamins are also important for healthy hair, especially biotin. Animals lacking biotin develop eczema and their hair falls out. The richest source of biotin is yeast.
Being bald has been attributed to the dearth of Vitamin B in a person’s body. Vitamin B5 enhances the growth of hair due to the presence of pantothenic acid and B3 also called as niacin. B6 is similarly significant to the body, because it helps in the processing of nutrients such as other biotin vitamins, zinc, sulfur and magnesium.

Antioxidants – Vitamin C, E and beta carotene come in this group of vitamins that are known as antioxidants. Either a pill or a food resource can fulfill your daily vitamin overages.

Vitamin E: Vitamin E is another key vitamin for healthy hair.The only source of Vitamin E for vegetarians is green leafy vegetables like spinach, parsley, mustard green and broccoli, whole grains and nuts like sunflower seeds and almonds. Other food sources are unrefined, extra virgin olive oil, whole grains, avocados, and nuts.

Vitamin C: All types of citrus foods and a few vegetables such as tomato are good source of vitamin C. Beta carotene is found predominantly in fruits and vegetables having a yellow or an orange color such as apricots, carrots and cantaloupes.

Essential Fatty Acids: Everybody needs essential fatty acids found in Omega 3 for strength of hair. Omega 3 fatty acids are present to the maximum extent only in sea foods like salmon, tuna and halibut. Olive oil in addition to certain nuts such as flaxseeds and walnuts also give the body omega 3.

Minerals: The minerals as zinc, silica, selenium, sulfur, potassium and manganese are very crucial for improving and enhancing the strength of hair. The majority of such minerals could be found in poultry products such as chicken and egg, meat, as well as dairy products such as  cheese and milk. Pumpkin seeds are the vegetarian basis of zinc.

Iron – Iron deficiency is a general cause of hair fall. This deficit causes sluggish blood circulation to scalp as well as therefore the hair follicles are poor of nutrients necessary for their healthy growth.

Iodine – One can augment the strength of hair by including iodine on one’s diet. Hair fall can also be a resultant of hypo-thyroidism (decreased thyroid hormones in the body) which depletes the iodine in our body. It is better to go for natural foods to supplement our body’s requirement of iodine found in salmon, seafood, potatoes, molasses, lima beans, eggs, watercress, garlic and seaweed.

These are the most necessary vitamins and minerals and are excellent for healthy and increased growth of hair.

As far as Food here are the top five foods for healthy hair:

1. SALMON
When it comes to foods that pack a beauty punch, it’s hard to beat salmon. Loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, this high-quality protein source is also filled with vitamin B-12 and iron.

2. DARK GREEN VEGETABLES
Popeye the Sailor Man didn’t eat all that spinach for healthy hair, but he could have. Spinach, like broccoli and Swiss chard, is an excellent source of vitamins A and C, which your body needs to produce sebum. The oily substance, secreted by your hair follicles, is the body’s natural hair conditioner. Dark green vegetables also provide iron and calcium.

3. BEANS
Legumes like kidney beans and lentils should be an important part of your hair-care diet. Not only do they provide plentiful protein to promote hair growth, but ample iron, zinc, and biotin. While rare, biotin deficiencies can result in brittle hair.

4. NUTS
Walnuts contain alpha-linolenic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid that may help condition your hair. They are also a terrific source of zinc, as are cashews, pecans, and almonds. A zinc deficiency can lead to hair shedding, so make sure nuts are a regular on your healthy hair menu.

5. POULTRY
Without adequate protein or with low-quality protein, one can experience weak brittle hair, while a profound protein deficiency can result in loss of hair color. Poultry also provides iron with a high degree of bioavailability, meaning your body can easily reap its benefits.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 20, 2010 at 3:12 am and is filed under MPB Treatment and Cures. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.