Your hair is a pure reflection of your inside health. If your body gets all the minerals and vitamins that are essential to it, your hair will appear shiny, smooth, and strong – just the way you like it. However, if you deprive your body of nutrients, it may result in weak, dull and brittle hair. You can try using top-quality hair products that are touted to restore shine to your tresses, but without the right food, all your efforts will be unsuccessful.
Although pretty trite, the saying “You are what you eat” is nothing but the truth. It’s all about filling your plate with the right stuff. By feeding your body with vitamins and minerals, you will also be feeding your hair, making it healthiest than ever.
In this article, we will give you an outline of the best foods to eat to get the mane you’ve always wanted. Let’s get to it.
What is the most perfect food to eat?
Protein
Did you know that each and every strand of hair on your scalp is made of protein? That’s right. It may come as a surprise to you, but that’s how it is. This means that if you want to grow beautiful, strong hair, you need a protein-rich diet.
If you don’t provide your body with enough protein, it may cause your hair to be weak, brittle and dry. It can even result in hair loss. So, these are the foods that you should eat week in, week out to keep your tresses looking at their best: nuts, legumes, eggs, dairy products, fish, turkey, chicken, soy foods, and steak.
Vitamin E
Your hair needs protection from the sun. Vitamin E does help against sun damage and also makes your hair stronger. Just like it is important for your skin, so is it for your mane. Foods that contain plenty of vitamin E include nuts (walnuts, pecans, pistachios, hazelnuts, almonds), dark leafy greens (turnip greens, Swiss chard, cooked spinach), broccoli, fish (swordfish, rainbow trout, salmon), avocado, plant oils (argan oil, olive oil), fruits (raspberries, apricots, nectarines, peaches, mangos, blackberries, kiwifruit), pumpkin and squash, shellfish (oysters, crayfish, shrimp), seeds (sesame seeds, squash & pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds), etc. You need about 20 mg of vitamin E per day.
Vitamin A
You need vitamin A to help your system make sebum. It is produced by the sebaceous glands which are located on the scalp. Sebum is a waxy or oily matter, whose purpose is to waterproof and lubricate the hair and skin. Without it, the hair may become dry and the scalp – itchy.
Good sources of vitamin A are dark leafy greens (spinach, frozen or cooked kale), cooked carrots, cooked sweet potato, dried apricots, papaya, mango, tuna fish, sweet red peppers, and culinary argan oil.
Iron
A mineral that is important for your body, specifically for your hair, is iron. Without it, you may suffer from hair loss. If your body doesn’t get enough iron, it causes anemia. And since the root and follicle of your hair need a blood supply high in nutrients, they will suffer if the levels of iron in your system are too low. This will eventually result in hair shedding, among other things. So, to keep your hair healthy and strong, you need to eat foods high in iron, including liver, chickpeas, pumpkin seeds, oysters, fortified cereal, lentils, cooked spinach, sesame seeds, beans, soybeans, etc.
Omega-3
The cells on your scalp need omega-3 fatty acids to function normally. Omega-3s help keeps it hydrated, as they provide oils that get the job done.
Since the body cannot make fatty acids itself, you need to give it food that is fortified with omega-3s, such as pumpkin seeds, culinary argan oil, avocado, trout, sardines, herring, salmon, egg yolks, white fish, mackerel, walnuts, anchovies, etc.
Vitamin C
It is important to eat foods rich in vitamin C when you are eating ones that contain iron. The reason for this is that iron absorption in the body is dependent on vitamin C. In addition, the vitamin is an antioxidant, so it has many other benefits to the body.
Your daily intake of the vitamin can be obtained from the following food sources: cooked tomatoes, broccoli, papaya, citrus fruits (lemon, grapefruits, pummelo, and oranges), berries (blackberries, raspberries, strawberries), guavas, yellow bell peppers.
Selenium and Zinc
Selenium and zinc are other crucial minerals involved in the scalp protection. Therefore, if the body doesn’t get enough of these, you risk getting a flaky, dry scalp. You can even suffer from hair loss.
The best sources of selenium are mushrooms, lamb and beef, whole grains (quinoa, oatmeal, brown rice, rye), chicken, pork, seeds (flaxseeds, sesame seeds, chia seeds, sunflower seeds), seafood (clams, lobster, octopus, oysters), and nuts (macadamia nuts, black walnuts, cashew, Brazil nuts). Zink-rich foods include beans, chicken, pork, chocolate and cocoa, spinach, nuts (almonds, pecans, and cashew), lamb and beef, and seafood (lobster, crab, and oysters).
How is Culinary Argan Oil Beneficial?
Edible argan oil has a whole host of benefits. The omega-3 fatty acid content adds to its nutritional value. It has tocopherols, as a result of which it is also rich in vitamin E. Its composition is pretty similar to that of olive oil, however, argan oil has three times more vitamin E activity and is more stable than said oil.
The presence of vitamin E gives it anti-oxidant properties and also makes it a good hair and skin treatment. As you can see, argan oil has some of the nutrients your hair needs. You can improve your diet by including culinary argan oil in it.
Here are some more benefits of argan oil. You will see that the product is good not only for your hair, but also for your whole body.
- Antiatherogenic properties – Argan oil helps keep your cardiovascular system in tip-top shape and prevent atheromatous lesions from forming in your blood vessels.
- Hypolipidemic properties – Argan oils help boost the lipid profile.
- Anti-diabetic properties – It can keep blood sugar in check and avoid spikes.
- Hypocholesterolemic – Argan oil also helps improve high-density lipoprotein, also known as HDL cholesterol.
- Chemopreventive – Although argan oil cannot heal cancer, it certainly can delay or reduce it since it has the ability to retard malignant cell growth in the body.
Without a doubt, food is important for your whole body. If you want your inside health to result in shiny, thick, and lustrous hair, be sure to eat a diet rich in nutrients and consider using culinary argan oil on a regular basis for the best results.