While you may be tempted to spend a small fortune on over the counter treatments or procedures to improve your hair, you may not need to do so. In fact, you may be able to see significant improvement to the way you feel and look by just focusing on your diet as a first step. How can you see improvement? Consider these five healthy eating tips that will make all of the difference.
#1: Eat Healthy Fats
At the start of your healthy diet should be eating more healthy fats. Foods that are high in omega-3 fatty acids are best for your health. They can also improve the health of your skin (including your scalp) and your hair itself. For example, look for natural sources of healthy fats. You’ll get this from eggs, cold water fish, and nuts. Add some avocado to your menu. Add in a serving or two of salmon each week. This will help to give your skin the foundation of success it needs.
#2: Get in the Antioxidants
Antioxidants work to flush away toxins in the cells. Toxins can cause your skin to look dull, and do the same thing to your hair. To improve your scalp health, increase the amount of antioxidant rich foods you eat. You’ll find these in deeply colored foods. Aim to eat a rainbow colors. For example, blueberries are rich in this antioxidant. You’ll also find them in goji berries, dark chocolate (who doesn’t want more of that!) and artichokes. Pecans, elderberries, cranberries, and kidney beans also have a large source of antioxidants.
#3: Get in Your Leafy Green Vegetables
The next step to boosting your diet is to focus on leafy green vegetables. These vegetables contain some of the most important nutrients for healthy hair and scalp cells. This includes vitamin c and a high level of iron and folate. It also has beta carotene in them. When you add more of these leafy greens into your diet, you’ll improve your skin’s hydration and help to stimulate growth. In addition to this, these nutrients help to improve circulation to cells, removing toxins, and creating healthy, glowing skin and hair.
#4: Eat Iodine-Rich Foods
This is one type of healthy eating habit you may not be focused on just yet, but it can play a role. If you have any type of hormonal imbalance, it may be due to an overactive or inactive thyroid. When this occurs, the hormones in your body are not regulated and that can lead to concerns such as thinning hair or hair that grows slowly. You may have a very dry scalp as well. Eating foods rich in iodine can help. This includes kelp and wakame, for example, or other sea vegetables. This will boost your iodine level, helping to add a bit more regulation to hormone production.
#5: Get More Zinc
Zinc is yet another important nutrient that your body needs to stimulate hair growth and overall scalp health. You’ll get this nutrient in high doses from oysters, for example. Zinc works well to help you to reduce the risk of hair loss. It also helps to strengthen your hair to avoid those common hair loss concerns. If you have a scalp that is dry or damaged, this can also help to create smoother skin that’s more likely to produce beautiful hair.
Of course, there are other eating habits you’ll want to put into place as well. Check out this blog to see 5 supplements for a healthy scalp and hair. Take the time to remove foods with transfats from your diet. You’ll also want to stay hydrated by drinking more water every day. And, invest some time in good exercise and an overall well balanced diet. Doing this can help to stimulate overall health and that translates into a healthy diet full of nutrients. Your hair will appreciate your efforts to provide it with more nutrients and your scalp will feel better with each day. Your diet plays an integral role in the way you feel and the way your scalp and hair look. Contact our team for more information.
