Browse > Home / Tips for Good Hair / Good diet for Healthy Hair

Good diet for Healthy Hair

Healthy hairAnita, a 23 year-old model, found that her hair was falling at an alarming rate. The fallen hair shaft had a white tip. Her problem was her diet. As the saying goes, “You are what you eat”. The clue was in the ‘white tip’, which was actually the hair root or hair bulb. This meant that Anita’s hair was falling in the anagen (growing stage) and not in the telogen (falling stage). The presence of the root indicated that the root was too weak to handle even a little pressure. This is known as Loose Anagen Syndrome. The cause was easily discovered. Anita’s agent had put her on a strict diet. She lost a lot of weight very rapidly. This had weakened the entire structure of her hair, including the hair follicle and connecting tissue. Anita was put on a protein rich diet with a dietary supplement of the mineral silicon. Today she has healthy hair.

How does our diet affect our hair?
Our hair receives its nutrition from the blood stream through the papilla and grows according to whether it is well nourished or not. It is also affected by other contents of the blood such as hormones, drugs and waste material. Our hair is a great indicator of what is right and wrong with our body. When our hair is shiny and bouncy, our body is in good condition but when it looks dull and lifeless, it reflects an overall state of ill health.

What are the nutrients that affect out hair?
Proteins are a prime necessity for good looking hair — dairy products, soya, cereals, etc. Fat helps in making hair look lustrous and shiny — dairy products. Vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and amino acids responsible for hair growth — water, flax seeds, etc Vitamin E and C, or beta-carotene act as antioxidants, protecting hair from free radicals — almond and citrus fruits.

How does our hair reflect nutrient deficiency?
Nutritional deficiency leads to finer and dull hair, slow growth, etc. Mineral deficiency leads to dry brittle hair. Nutritional and mineral deficiency leads to hair loss. If we are deficient in a certain nutrient, the quality of cell operations will be less efficient without leading to real illness. Energy production, molecule fabrication, the transmission of information or repairing damaged structure could be affected chemicals reactions and this will have an effect on the metabolism. Hair is very susceptible to deficiencies of vitamin B, iron, zinc, and sulphured amino acids. High calorie diets are often deficient. Anti-acid medication prescribed for stomach ulcers, for example, reduces the absorbtion in the stomach. Sulphur, hydrocarbon and traces of tar found in polluted air lead to reduction of vitamin C, zinc and glutathione. Tobacco neutralises vitamin C and other anti-radical vitamins. Alcohol interferes with the absorption of vitamin B. Our normal diet may not give us the necessary quantity of micro-nutrients. This is because vitamin B and C are sensitive to light, oxidation and cooking. Ten minutes of cooking destroys 80 per cent of vitamin content. Moreover, smoking and contraceptive pills are connected to vitamin B and C and beta –carotene deficiencies.

What should be eaten to have great looking hair?
Avoid frying or long cooking as this destroys vitamins. Don’t crash diet. A balanced diet should contain: 55 per cent carbohydrates, especially those of slow assimilation (eg: pasta, rice, potatoes). 30 per cent lipids, half of which should be monosaturates like olive oil, a quarter should be polysaturates like groundnut and sunflower oil and another quarter of saturates like butter, cream, cheese, animal fat etc. 15 per cent protides (found in fish, lean meat, cereals). Fruits and vegetables should represent half of your foodstuff. Drink at least 11/2 litres of water a day.

Remember

Eat food rich in linoleic acid such as fish, meat, milk and vegetable oils. Carrots, beets, curry leaves prevent premature greying. Limit the intake of coffee, tea, alcohol. To determine which minerals and vitamins are most needed for your hair, or to treat specific hair problems related to diet, you would have to contact a trichologist. But in general, if your hair is healthy, make sure it stays that way by eating well. Remember, our hair is what we eat!

Written by James · Filed Under Tips for Good Hair 

Related Articles: