Hair Treatment For Hair Loss
As Martin Luther says, “Hair is a woman’s richest adornment.” Shiny shiny long hair is a sign of a healthy person. Show the world our well-being and vitality. Unhealthy hair is one of the first signs of mental and/or physical discomfort. Just as our body requires proper nutrition for its growth and maintenance, our hair needs it too. Therefore, eating the right food is the best hair treatment for hair loss. So, let us have an overview of what are the various necessary nutrients and their role in keeping our hair healthy and preventing hair loss.
Proteins:
Rightly called the building blocks of our body, proteins make up 98% of our hair. This makes protein one of the most important nutrients for healthy hair. Promotes healthy cycles of hair development. There are many sources of protein. However, of protein sources, low-fat sources like fish, poultry, and legumes like soybeans, ragi, etc. are preferred. This is because high fat diet is associated with hair loss. Also, taking too much protein is not healthy for your hair as it offsets the body’s acid-base balance which ultimately leads to hair loss. It causes deficiency of minerals like calcium making hair loss even worse. People who are dieting or following a vegan diet should monitor their protein intake and replenish properly.
Vitamins:
Vitamins are a group of the most important micronutrients. They have to be replenished in our body by dietary means alone. One should make sure that one is not vitamin deficient as it is very common in today’s lifestyle of constant stress and pressures that one cannot focus on good and healthy eating habits. The deficiency, if present, will cause a general decline in health and hair loss. Let’s look at some of the most important vitamins that promote hair growth.
Vitamin A:
It is an essential nutrient for healthy hair. Hair loss is one of the signs of vitamin A deficiency. Good sources of vitamin A are yellow and orange fruits and dark green leafy vegetables such as broccoli and kale. Other sources include liver, egg yolks, milk, and butter. Oral vitamin A supplements are also a source of vitamin A replenishment, but care should be taken when taking them as it can cause excess vitamin A resulting in vitamin A hypervitaminosis.
Vitamin B:
Vitamin B is a group of vitamins that are very important for healthy hair. Vitamin B deficiency is one reason for baldness. Of the various vitamins, biotin is one of the most important. Its deficiency leads to eczematous changes and hair loss. Yeast is one of the richest sources of biotin. Vitamins B3 and B5 are important for hair growth. B6 is also very important as it helps in the processing of the various nutrients required for good and healthy hair growth.
Antioxidants:
These are the nutrients that consist of vitamins C, E and beta-carotene. They can be supplemented through a pill or diet.
Vitamin E:
Vitamin E is another important nutrient for healthy hair. It has few vegetarian sources like green leafy vegetables such as spinach, mustard, parsley, etc. whole grains, nuts such as sunflower seeds and almonds. Extra virgin olive oil, avocados, etc.
Vitamin C:
The main sources of vitamin C include all kinds of citrus fruits and some vegetables such as tomatoes. Tomato also has lycopene which also improves the skin and protects it from UV rays.
Essential fatty acids:
One of the most important essential fatty acids when it comes to healthy hair growth are Omega 3 fatty acids. They are mainly present in seafood such as salmon, tuna and halibut. Vegetarian sources of omega 3 fatty acids are nuts such as flaxseeds and walnuts.
Minerals:
There are certain minerals that are important to us in the form of Micro and Macro Nutrients. For example, zinc, silica, selenium, sulfur, manganese. These are very important to improve the strength of the hair. These minerals are found in food sources like egg, chicken, egg, meat, cheese, milk, pumpkin seeds, etc.
Iron:
Iron is a very important mineral to increase hair health. Its deficiency leads to hair loss. Iron deficiency leads to lower hemoglobin levels, which causes slow blood circulation and lower oxygen supply to the scalp. This in turn leads to decreased nutrients being supplied to the hair follicles, thus causing hair loss.
Iodine:
Iodine is a micronutrient mineral and is responsible for imparting strength to hair. It is seen that people suffering from hypothyroidism, which is caused by lower levels of iodine in our body, have a very high incidence of hair loss. Sources of iodine are seafood such as salmon, potatoes, molasses, beans, eggs, watercress, garlic, and seaweed. Also today, common salt is enriched with iodine to address the iodine deficiency in our daily diet.
The current scenario where lifestyle has become stressful with our busy schedules and work pressures, the incidence of hair loss is high. Most of these can be treated simply by incorporating a healthy dietary regimen where we include all the nutrients in our regular meals in a balanced way. The importance of diet as a preventive and therapeutic tool to adorn our heads with beautiful and healthy hair and as the best hair treatment for hair loss cannot be underestimated.
