Hair nutrition 101
Nutritional inadequacies do not just lead to hair fall but also other relevant hair problems.
Life is so stressful, and seeing your hair easily falling on the floor (while taking a shower or brushing your hair) is even more stressful! At one point, both men and women become so depressed to see their scalp become too visible (because of loss of hair).
A big amount of hair fall causes a great deal of concern for people. Although hair fall is not the only hair problem that bugs us, this is what makes us most worried. Aside from medical problems, there is another simple cause of hair loss and that is inadequate nutrition.
Nutritional inadequacies do not just lead to hair fall but also other relevant hair problems. Nutrients that are known to be vital to hair care are protein, vitamins (B1, B6, folic acid, inositol, biotin) and minerals (iron, manganese, and iodine). For your clearer understanding, here is an association of the different nutrients in relation to hair care:
• Iodine and Vitamin B1. Deficiency of either of these nutrients can slow down blood circulation to the scalp that may cause loss of hair and effect very slow hair growth. Adequacy of these two nutrients (plus iron) in the diet, may help provide for better growth of hair. It is important to note that iodine helps the thyroid gland in its functions – a low thyroid activity is among those factors that cause hair fall in women. When you use iodized salt it is so easy to meet your daily iodine requirements. Your daily dose of vitamin B1 is abundantly found in lean pork, whole grain or enriched cereals and legumes.
• Deficiency of Manganese has been associated with retarded hair growth. To help meet your daily needs for this mineral simply have regular consumption of milk; and just like vitamin B1, manganese is easily delivered with diets containing legumes and unrefined cereals.
• Biotin. When one lacks this mineral from the diet, this can bring about thin hair. It is not supposed to be too difficult to have a regular intake of this nutrients as this abounds in liver, milk, mushroom, banana, and strawberry.
• Vitamin B6. Men deficient in this vitamin often lose their hair. Interestingly, after liberal intake of this nutrient hair tends to grow back naturally. This vitamin is too easy to find in our foods by simply having any of these in your diet: liver, glandular organs, egg, pork, fish poultry, legumes, and whole grain foods; see, no need for multivitamin supplements to have this vitamin.
• Folic Acid, like Vitamin B6, has shown to be of help for making hair grow back naturally. Just take as much green leafy vegetables as you can and add liver and glandular organs to your diet and you’ll have enough of this vitamin.
• Inositol, a chemical substance found in meat and meat extractives and glandular organs, legumes, nuts, fruits, vegetables and grains. In animal studies, its deficiency leads to alopecia (a condition of baldness).
• Iron – when pre-menopausal women think that their loss of hair is due to hormonal changes, it may not all be the reason. Iron deficiency is one most important cause of loss of hair.
• Magnesium. Fondly called the hair-stimulating mineral that improves hair growth and texture. You can now enjoy your soybeans for more healthy reasons as these help in your hair loss problems. Other sources include meat, milk, cocoa, seafood, whole grains, dried beans, and peas.
Other than the inclusion of the above mentioned nutrients, you can try making a juice with the combination of lettuce and spinach (consuming at least 500 ml/day). Carrots and juice of alfalfa mixed with lettuce juice is another powerful combination that will provide nutrients helpful for growth of hair.
More than just properly feeding yourself, give extra effort to warding off unnecessary worries and anxiety. Stress leads to severe tension in the skin of the scalp and that can adversely affect the supply of essential nutrition required for the healthy growth of hair. Proper hygiene is also vital to hair care. Unclean condition of the scalp weakens the hair roots by blocking the pores with the collected dirt and eventually makes you lose hair.
These simple tips may have made you realize now that it shouldn’t be too costly to provide care for your hair, you can simply start with good nutrition, and regularly practice good hygiene. – Article courtesy of Manila Bulletin
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