In the pursuit of radiant and healthy hair, we often invest in an array of hair care products, treatments, and styling routines. When your hair is in the right condition, it naturally works to accentuate your facial features more than any contouring, dermal fillers or makeup. Discover the transformative power of foods for hair growth, and prepare to be amazed!
The true secret to gorgeous locks lies in our daily diet. The foods we consume play a crucial role in nurturing our hair from the inside out, providing the essential nutrients that support growth, strength, and overall vitality.
It’s impractical to expect instant changes in hair length without paying attention to your diet pattern. Nevertheless, natural foods for overall health and hair growth tend to pay off in the longer run when compared to supplements and chemical-filled cosmetics.
This article delves into the world of hair-boosting nutrition, revealing the top foods that promote hair growth and sharing invaluable insights on how to seamlessly incorporate them into your daily meals. Get ready to discover the culinary path to stunning, head-turning tresses.
Nutrients Essential For Hair Growth
Before starting to pick food items meant to promote hair growth, it’s essential to gain an insight into their nutrient profile. Researching the role each nutrient plays in the hair growth process is vital in making a careful selection of ingredients known to support hair health.
Some of the best hair growth nutrients you can consume in your daily diet are:
Biotin (B7) Niacin or Niacinamide (B3) Riboflavin (B2) Pantothenic acid (B5) Cobalamin (B12) Folate (B9) Tocopherol (Vitamin E) Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) Retinol (Vitamin A) Flavonoids & Antioxidants Iron Copper Sulfur Calcium Magnesium Manganese Zinc Selenium Proteins Omega-3, Omega-6 Fatty Acids
There is no one food to get all these nutrients at the same time. The only way to include all the above-mentioned nutrients in your daily meals is to pair foods rich in proteins, and vitamins with foods that pack in trace minerals such as copper, magnesium, manganese, selenium, etc.
Recommended Article: Choosing the Perfect Hair Mask for Hair Growth: Our Curated Picks
Here’s a rundown of the best foods for hair growth you can include in your diet based on their nutrient profile:
1. LENTILS
One of the easiest ways of getting your fill of daily proteins is with lentils. Rich in proteins and some other trace elements, lentils are the most nourishing food item that can give your daily meals a delicious twist.
They are great for people no matter what age group they belong to. Probably, the easiest available source of dietary proteins for vegans, lentils deserve the highest spot in the list of hair growth superfoods.
Food Sources:
Green (Moong), Black (Mah), Yellow (Dhuli Moong), Red (Masoor), Brown (Moth, Kulth),
How to include it in your diet?
Soups, Stews, Pancakes, Sprouts Salads, Fritters, Desserts, Vadas, Breads
2. BEANS
Always aim to include wholesome foods that provide dense proteins to assist in hair growth, specifically whole grains such as beans and legumes.
Apart from being rich in proteins, this food group contains high amounts of fibre that helps make digestion an easy process, giving way to better absorption of nutrients.
This food group is also a wonderful source of complex carbohydrates that get easily processed and can safely be consumed by diabetics.
Food Sources:
Chickpeas (Kaabuli chana), Soybeans (Chawli), Kidney beans (Rajmah), Black Eyed Beans (Lobia), Black Gram (Kaala Chana), Peanuts (Moongfali)
How to include it in your diet?
Soups, Curries, Stews, Salsas, Vegan Kebabs, Salads, Sprouts, Sandwich Fillings, Hummus (Chickpeas), Peanut Butter
3. EGGS
Power your hair diet with wholesome nutrition that comes from eggs. Hailed as a protein-dense food, eggs have much to offer in terms of nutrients your hair needs on an everyday basis.
They’re filling, delicious and a good source of micronutrients such as biotin, selenium and cobalamin (B12) that work to enhance hair texture and promote growth.
Food Sources:
Chicken Eggs (Standard White, Standard Brown, Free Range), Turkey Eggs, Duck Eggs
How to include it in your diet?
Poached, Boiled, Fried, Omelettes, Parathas, Rice Dishes, Curry dishes, Gravy Toppings
3. NUTS & SEEDS
Make the best of your untimely hunger pangs to meet your daily nutritional requirements with a handful of toasted nuts or edible seeds.
A great source of fibre, proteins, omega fats and trace minerals such as magnesium, they make for a great alternative for vegans to get their daily dose of hair-growing nutrients.
Food Sources:
Walnuts, Almonds, Hazelnuts, Cashews (Kaaju), Brazil Nuts, Pecans, Coconut, Pine nuts, Macadamia, Pistachios, Pumpkin Seeds, Sunflower Seeds, Flax Seeds, Melon Seeds, Chia Seeds.
How to include it in your diet?
Toasted Nuts/Seeds, Fruit Smoothies, Nut-butters, Dipping Sauces, Nut-milks (Almond, Coconut, Melon, Cashew), Gravy Toppings (chopped), Milkshakes, Breads, Salads, Desserts
4. ONIONS & GARLIC
Both these kitchen staples deserve the spotlight as hair superfoods that help not just in refurbishing hair texture but go further to promote hair density with their ability to stimulate the scalp.
Classed as Allium vegetables, these two food groups are rich in sulfur, which helps quicken the healing of damaged hair with a boost in keratin levels, a protein that imbues resilience and structure to the hair.
Food Sources:
Onions: Red-Yellow-White, Leeks, Spring onions, Scallions, Shallots, Pearl Onions
Garlic: Artichoke, Silverskin, Scapes, Rocambole, Elephant garlic, Turban Garlic
How to include it in your diet?:
Soups, Stews, Pickles, Dips, Chutneys, Sandwiches, Fritters, Salads, Curries, Omelets, Rice Dishes, Chicken and meat Dishes
5. MILK PRODUCTS
Aim to include this food group in healthy proportions to meet your daily intake of calcium, proteins, and other trace elements.
It’s always important to be mindful of the proportion of dairy in your daily meals and include it with other protein-rich foods.
Food Sources:
Milk (Buffalo, Cow, Goat, Camel); Unprocessed Cheese (Ricotta, Feta, Cottage, Tofu, Cheddar, Parmesan, Cream); Greek Yogurt, Skye Yogurt, Kefir
How to include it in your diet?:
Milk – Condensed milk, Sweets, Rice pudding, Milkshakes, Homemade Icecreams, Smoothies
Yoghurt – Frozen Yogurt, Fruit Yogurt, Homemade Icecreams, Smoothies, Salad Dressings, Gravy dishes, Buttermilk, Dessert Toppings
Cheese – Curries (Cubed Cottage Cheese); Parathas, Omelettes (Grated Cottage Cheese, Parmesan); Sandwiches (Cottage, Cream, Parmesan, Cheddar); Pizzas, Pastas
6. DARK LEAFY GREENS
Leafy greens are a great addition to your food especially if your goal is to improve your existing hair volume. This particular food group is a rich source of iron that is recognized as the primary nutrient our bodies need to carry out their functions. The main role of iron is stimulating blood flow and maintaining healthy haemoglobin levels.
If you are deficient in iron, all your efforts in improving hair growth are going to fail as your body will find it hard to transport other essential nutrients to your scalp.
The best way to consume iron is with dark green leafy vegetables like spinach and kale that also pack in other trace nutrients like potassium, phosphorus & magnesium.
Food Sources:
Mustard greens, Spinach, Kale, Chard, Lettuce, Turnip Greens, Bok Choy
How to include it in your diet?
Soups, Stews, Stir fries, Salads (Blanched), Gravies, Flour Pancakes, Sandwiches (Blanched)
7. SEAFOOD – FISH AND OYSTERS
Women living in coastal regions have thick, long, silky hair not without reason. It’s their proximity to seashores that gives them plenty of choices in seafood, the healthiest known source of omega fats, vitamin E and proteins.
You can see instant transformation in hair quality with a regular intake of foods like salmon, shrimp, prawns and oysters included in your daily diet.
All is not lost for vegans, as they can still get their source of essential omega fats and other supernutrients from seaweed, a kind of algae.
Surprisingly, this food item also contains high percentages of certain minerals that can cause adverse effects if consumed in excess. Before you begin to include this food in your diet, you need to figure out the right quantity, so you don’t have to experience any ill effects.
Food Sources:
Salmon, Tuna, Mackerel, Sardines, Clams, Oysters, Shrimps, Prawns, Seaweed, Scallops, Crab
How to include it in your diet?:
Whole Fish (Baked, Steamed, Grilled); Soups, Fish balls, Gravy Dishes, Curries, Rice Dishes, Salads, Sandwiches
8. PROBIOTICS
Reconsidering your diet to get healthy hair can only work if your gut health is in good shape. All the essential nutrients meant to encourage hair growth are effective only when they get fully absorbed into the bloodstream.
Adding probiotics to your diet ensures there are enough good bacteria in the gut to help process other nutrients easily.
Foods like Yogurt, Kefir, Apple Cider Vinegar, Miso and pickles are probiotics and therefore make for a wonderful addition to your hair growth diet.
Food Sources:
Yoghurt, Kefir, Buttermilk, Kombucha (Fermented Black Tea), Sourdough, Pickles
How to include it in your diet?:
Greek Yogurt, Skye Yogurt, Fruit Yogurt, Yogurt Dressing (salads), Spiced Buttermilk, Pickled Cucumbers, Sauerkraut, Pickled Vegetables, Apple Cider Vinegar, Kimchi
9. SOY PRODUCTS
Soy products like soymilk, tofu and soy nuggets, wonderfully fit in as a source of essential proteins in your hair diet.
Apart from these foods, there are some other products made from soy that can be great for your gut health. They are generally made with fermented soybeans as a basal ingredient. And are used in the preparation of Chinese condiments such as Miso, Soy sauce and Natto.
Food Sources:
Soybeans, Tofu, Soymilk, Soy Meat/ Nuggets, Fermented Soybeans, Soy Sauce
How to include it in your diet?:
Toasted Soybeans, Tofu curry/Stir Fry, Soy Milkshake, Soy Nugget Curry/ Soy Cutlets, Miso, Natto
10. CULINARY HERBS
Hair growth herbal teas have earned great recognition as a hair superfood in recent years. These teas provide sufficient levels of anti-oxidants through a selection of ayurvedic herbs known to stimulate hair growth.
Another way to consume herbs is to take them in prescribed dosages on the recommendation of an Ayurvedic expert.
Some dried herbs like ginger, rosemary, thyme and dried gooseberry, known to be beneficial for hair can be sprinkled over your daily meals in tiny amounts.
Food Sources:
Rosemary, Thyme, Ginger, Lavender, Gotu Kola, Ginseng, Gingko Biloba, Gooseberry extract, Brahmi, Holy Basil
How to include it in your diet?
Herbal Teas; Seasonings (Pasta Curries, Sauces, Salads); Medicinal Extracts (Needs Prescription)
11. CITRUS FRUITS
Vitamin C is not just an immunity booster but has many other applications, the most appreciable being its function in skin and hair health. For healthy hair, the consumption of Citrus fruits is crucial to augment the circulation of hair nutrients, which further helps in strengthening collagen in the scalp and hair to make your hair strong and resilient.
Food Sources:
Amla, Kiwifruit, Orange, Grapefruit, Pomelo, Tangerine, Bitter Orange, Clementine, Lemon, Kafir Lime, Gooseberry
How to include it in your diet?
Whole fruit, Juices, Smoothies, Mocktails, Salad Dressings, Candied Fruits
Recommended Article: The Magic of Henna For Hair Growth & Easy DIY Henna Masks
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What are the best foods for promoting hair growth?
Foods rich in protein, such as lean meats, eggs, and legumes, are essential for hair growth. Additionally, foods high in biotin, like nuts and seeds, and those rich in vitamins A and C, like sweet potatoes and citrus fruits, can also support hair health.
2. How can I incorporate these foods into my diet easily?
You can add hair-boosting foods to your diet through smoothies, salads, and by making simple recipe swaps. For example, use sweet potato fries instead of regular fries for added vitamin A.
3. Do specific vitamins and minerals play a significant role in hair growth?
Yes, vitamins like Biotin (B7) and vitamin D, and minerals such as iron and zinc are crucial for hair growth. These nutrients help maintain the health of hair follicles, promote blood circulation to the scalp, and prevent hair loss.
4. Are there any foods that should be avoided to prevent hair loss?
Sugary, highly processed foods and excessive caffeine can contribute to hair loss. Limiting their consumption can help maintain healthier hair.
5. Can a balanced diet alone solve all hair-related issues?
While a balanced diet is a crucial part of hair health, other factors like genetics, hormonal imbalances, and hair care practices also play a role. Consult with a healthcare professional or dermatologist if you’re experiencing severe hair issues for a comprehensive solution.
