Nutrients for Hair Growth
First of all, let’s be real. There is no magic pill or serum to grow your hair. There are a lot of factors that affect hair growth. Some are within your control and some including age, genetics, and certain medical conditions, are not within your control. Before we get too deep into nutrients that may promote hair growth, it’s beneficial to understand what hair is and how it grows.
What hair is
Hair is made up of keratin(a protein) and dead cells. Once it comes out of your scalp there is nothing you can apply to the hair to make it grow. Sure you can apply conditioners and products to make it feel or lay a certain way, but the hair that is out of your scalp is not actively living. The scalp, however, is a different story. Treatments applied to the scalp can have effect on the hair follicle cells below.
Stages of Hair Growth
There are 3 stages of hair growth; anagen, catagen, and telogen. Most of your hairs(roughly 90%) are in the anagen phase. This is the phase when your hairs are actively growing. The anagen phase lasts 3 or more years. The catagen phase is an in between phase when the hair is not actively growing but not falling out either. This phase lasts a few weeks. The telogen phase is the phase where hair falls out and generally lasts a few months. Thankfully less than 10% of your hairs are in the telogen phase at any given time.
Nutrients Hair Growth
Optimizing hair growth involves eating a healthy diet with adequate energy and nutrients required for hair growth. Biotin is an important nutrient for hair growth and commonly found in hair supplements, but there is not enough evidence to suggest that taking biotin supplements will grow your hair if you are not deficient in this nutrient. Zinc and vitamin d deficiency are associated with certain types of autoimmune hair loss. However, if you do not have alopecia or other autoimmune conditions associated with hair loss or deficiency in these nutrients, you may want to save yourself the cost of buying expensive supplements. While some studies show an association between iron deficiency and hair loss, taking iron supplements is unlikely to grow your hair if you are not low in this mineral. Remember how we talked about the phases of hair growth? In one rat study omega 3 fatty acids and DHA were found to promote hair growth in the anagen phase more than minoxidil(the active ingredient in Rogaine). You should talk to your doctor before taking any supplements or non-prescribed medications.
Recommendations
To optimize hair growth you should do a few things. See your doctor to manage any medical conditions such as alopecia or hormone disorders that could contribute to hair loss. You may also want to assess your diet. Eating a balanced nutrient rich diet will provide many of the important vitamins and minerals for hair growth mentioned above. Try incorporating various lean meats, fish, various vegetables, nuts and seeds, other seafood, beans, lentils, fortified grains, low fat dairy or fortified dairy alternatives, eggs, and healthy nut oils into your diet if you can. My usual recommendation is to get the most nutrition you can from your diet and consider supplements to make up where you fall short. The keys to long healthy hair are optimizing your health and developing a good hair care routine that helps you maintain length while minimizing breakage during the anagen and catagen phases of hair growth.
If you need help reaching your #hairgoals, our Hair Care and Fitness Goal Setter and Planner is a great tool. It helps you set specific hair and fitness goals and track them over the course of weeks and months.
Wishing you good health, great workouts, and good hair days!
