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Best Foods for Hair Growth.

Many people want strong and healthy hair, especially as they grow older.

Interestingly, your hair grows around 0.5 inches (1.25 cm) per month and 6 inches (15 cm) per year. How fast it grows depends on factors like age, health, genetics, and diet.

Although you can’t change factors like age and genetics, diet is one thing you have control over. In fact, consuming a diet lacking the right nutrients can lead to hair loss.

On the other hand, eating a balanced diet with the right nutrients can help promote hair growth, especially if you’re experiencing hair loss due to poor nutrition.

Here are the 14 best foods you can eat to promote hair growth.

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  1. Avocados
  2. Beans
  3. Berries
  4. Citrus food
  5. Carrots
  6. Eggs
  7. Fatty Fish
  8. Lentils
  9. Meat
  10. Nuts
  11. Oats
  12. Oysters
  13. Shrimp
  14. Seeds
  15. Soybeans
  16. Sweet Peppers
  17. Sweet Potatoes
  18. Spinach
  19. Whole Grains
  20. Yogurt

Avocados

Avocados are a rich source of vitamin E as one medium avocado (about 200 grams) provides 21% of your daily vitamin E needs.

Vitamin E is an antioxidant that helps combat oxidative stress by neutralizing free radicals. It stimulates your blood circulation and helps the follicles work more efficiently to promote hair growth.

What’s more, avocados are also a great source of essential fatty acids. These fats cannot be produced by the body, but are essential building blocks of your cells. A deficiency in essential fatty acids has been linked to hair loss.

Beans

Beans are a great plant-based source of protein, which is essential to hair growth.

Like oysters, beans are a good source of zinc, which aids the hair growth and repair cycle. A 3.5-ounce (100-gram) serving of black beans provides 7% of your daily zinc needs.

They also provide many other hair-healthy nutrients, including iron, biotin, and folate.

On top of all these benefits, beans are highly versatile and inexpensive, which makes them an easy addition to the diet.

Berries

Berries are loaded with beneficial compounds and vitamins that may promote hair growth.

This includes vitamin C, which has strong antioxidant properties.

Antioxidants can help protect hair follicles against damage from harmful molecules called free radicals. These molecules exist naturally in the body and the environment.

For example, 1 cup (144 grams) of strawberries provides an impressive 141% of your daily vitamin C needs.

Also, the body uses vitamin C to produce collagen, a protein that helps strengthen hair to prevent it from becoming brittle and breaking.

What’s more, vitamin C helps the body absorb iron from the diet. Low iron levels may cause anemia, which has been linked to hair loss.

Strawberries also contain high levels of silica. Silica is a trace mineral vital for hair strength and hair growth. Other foods rich in silica include rice, oats, onion, cabbage, cucumber, and cauliflower.

Citrus Fruits                                                                  

citrus foods are a great source of vitamin C. Your body requires Vitamin C for iron absorption, therefore; you need to add citrus fruits to your diet. Nutritionists recommend that one lime per day is enough to get your daily dose of Vitamin C. Just make yourself a chilled glass of nimbu paani (with honey or a healthy alternative to refined sugar) and you’re sorted. You could also opt for oranges. Vitamin C is also required for the production of collagen that makes capillaries that connect to the hair shafts strong thus, ensuring a regular supply of nutrients and quick hair growth.

Carrots

Deficiency of Vitamin A may lead to dry and itchy scalp. Carrots are rich in Vitamin A which is very beneficial for hair growth as it is important for the eyes. Vitamin A required for the production of sebum oil in hair which boosts the roots of the hair and adds thickness to hair with the protection of hair from external damage.

Eggs

Eggs are a great source of protein and biotin, two nutrients that may promote hair growth as hair is composed of 68 percent keratin protein

 A lack of protein in the diet has been shown to promote hair damage and ultimately to hair loss.

Biotin, commonly known as Vitamin B is essential for the production of a hair protein called keratin, which is why biotin supplements are often marketed for hair growth. Research has also shown that consuming more biotin can help improve hair growth in people with a biotin deficiency.

Fatty Fish

Fatty fish like salmon, herring, and mackerel have nutrients that may promote hair growth.

They are excellent sources of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D, which have been linked to hair growth.

Reaches have shown that taking fish oil supplements that contains omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids as well as antioxidants reduced hair loss and increased hair density

Lentils

Lentils are a great source of protein, iron, zinc, and biotin. They are also loaded with folic acid which is necessary for restoring the health of red blood cells that supply the skin and scalp with much-needed oxygen.

Meat

Meat is a staple in many people’s diet and is rich in nutrients that may aid hair growth.

The protein in meat aids growth and helps repair and strengthen hair follicles. A 3.5-ounce (100-gram) serving of cooked sirloin steak provides as much as 29 grams of protein.

Red meat, in particular, is rich in a type of iron that’s easy to absorb. This mineral helps the red blood cells deliver oxygen to all cells in the body, including hair follicles.

Nuts

Nuts are packed with nutrients like vitamin E, B vitamins, zinc, and essential fatty acids, all of which may promote hair growth and are linked to many other health benefits.

An ounce (28 grams) of almonds provides an impressive 37% of your daily vitamin E needs

Whereas walnuts contain biotin, B vitamins (B1, B6, and B9), Vitamin E, plenty of protein, and magnesium – all of which strengthen hair cuticles and nourish the scalp. It helps protect your cells from DNA damage that may be caused due to sun exposure.

Both Almonds and walnuts also contain omega-3 fatty acid which is an essential fatty acid, cant produce by our body so it is required from an external source.

 Oats

Oats are rich in fiber, zinc, iron, omega-6 fatty acids, and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) that stimulate hair growth and will make your hair thick and healthy.

Oysters

Oysters are one of the best food sources of zinc.

Zinc is a mineral that helps support the hair growth and repair cycle.

A lack of zinc in the diet may promote telogen effluvium, a common but reversible form of hair loss caused by a lack of nutrients in the diet.

Studies have shown that taking a zinc supplement can reverse the effects of hair loss caused by a zinc deficiency.

However, taking too much zinc could also promote hair loss. That’s why getting zinc from foods like oysters may be better than taking supplements since foods provide zinc in small but healthy doses.

SUMMARYOysters are one of the best sources of zinc in the diet. This mineral helps support the hair growth and repair cycle.

Shrimp

Shrimp are popular shellfish rich in many nutrients that have the potential to promote hair growth.

For example, shrimp are a great source of protein, B vitamins, zinc, iron and vitamin D. A 3.5-ounce (100-gram) serving of shrimp provides 38% of your daily vitamin D needs.

Interestingly, studies have linked vitamin D3 deficiency to hair loss.

Despite being very low in fat, shrimp also provide a small amount of omega-3 fatty acids. Diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids have been linked to improved hair growth.

SUMMARYShrimp is a great source of protein, B vitamins, zinc, iron, and vitamin D, which may aid hair growth. They also provide a small amount of healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

Seeds

Seeds deliver a massive amount of nutrients with relatively few calories. Many of these nutrients may also promote hair growth. These include vitamin E, zinc, and selenium.

An ounce (28 grams) of sunflower seeds provides nearly 50% of your daily vitamin E needs, with a wide variety of hair-healthy B vitamins.

What’s more, certain seeds like flaxseeds and chia seeds also provide omega-3 fatty acids.

A 1-ounce (28-gram) serving of flaxseeds provides 6,388 mg of omega-3 fatty acids. That’s more omega-3 fatty acids than half a fillet (178 grams) of salmon.

However, flaxseeds provide a type of omega-3 fatty acid that is not used by the body as efficiently as the omega-3s found in fatty fish. Nonetheless, it’s a great addition to the diet.

In order to get the widest variety of nutrients, it’s best to consume a mixture of seeds.

Shop for sunflowerflax, and chia seeds online.

SUMMARYLike nuts, seeds are rich in vitamin E and other nutrients that may promote hair growth. Some seeds also contain omega-3s, which have been linked to hair growth.

Soybeans

Studies have shown that compounds in soybeans may promote hair growth. One of these compounds is spermidine, which is abundant in soybeans.

For example, a study of 100 healthy people found that a spermidine-based nutritional supplement prolonged a phase of active hair growth called the anagen phase. The longer a hair follicle stays in the anagen phase, the longer it will grow.

Test-tube studies have also shown that spermidine promotes human hair growth.

However, the research on spermidine and hair growth is fairly new, so more studies are needed before health experts can make recommendations on spermidine intake.

Sweet Peppers

Sweet peppers are an excellent source of vitamin C, which may aid hair growth.

In fact, one yellow pepper provides nearly 5.5 times as much vitamin C as an orange.

Vitamin C helps promote collagen production, which can help strengthen your hair strands. It’s also a strong antioxidant, which can protect hair strands against oxidative stress.

Oxidative stress occurs when free radicals overwhelm the body’s antioxidant defense system. It has been linked to hair loss and the graying of hair.

What’s more, sweet peppers are also an excellent source of vitamin A.

This vitamin may help speed up hair growth while stimulating the production of sebum, which helps keep hair healthy.

SUMMARYSweet peppers are a rich source of vitamins A and C, two nutrients that help ensure hair stays healthy and that may aid hair growth.

Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are a great source of beta-carotene. The body converts this compound into vitamin A, which is linked to good hair health.

A medium sweet potato (about 114 grams) contains enough beta-carotene to provide more than four times your daily vitamin A needs.

Research has shown that vitamin A promotes the production of sebum, which helps keep hair healthy.

What’s more, vitamin A could also speed up the rate of hair growth and encourage the growth of thicker hair, all while preventing other hair follicles from regressing.

Spinach

Iron deficiency is one of the main causes of hair fall. Spinach is a great plant-based source of iron, which is essential for hair growth. Iron helps red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the body to fuel your metabolism and aid growth and repair

Besides that Spinach is loaded with other beneficial nutrients like folate, iron, and vitamins A and C, all of which may promote hair growth.

Vitamin A helps the skin glands produce sebum which acts as a natural conditioner for hair and provides us with omega-3 acid, magnesium, potassium, and calcium. This oily substance helps moisturize the scalp to keep hair healthy.

A cup (30 grams) of spinach provides up to 54% of your daily vitamin A needs.

Whole Grains

Whole grains are rich in biotin (commonly known as vitamin B) along with iron, zinc, and B vitamins. Biotin is required for cell proliferation and plays an important part in producing amino acids (protein) which are required for your hair to grow.

Yogurt

Yogurt is packed with Vitamin B5 and Vitamin D that are known to promote hair follicle health.

The Bottom Line

What you eat can have a huge effect on the health of your hair.

A lack of the right nutrients including vitamins A, C, D, and E, zinc, B vitamins, iron, biotin, protein, and essential fatty acids may slow down hair growth or even cause hair loss.

Fortunately, correcting a deficiency in any of these nutrients may help treat hair loss and promote the rate of hair growth.

If you think you’re lacking any of these nutrients, try adding some of the above foods to your diet.

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