(NaturalPath) Everyone wants thicker hair that looks better and is stronger. People pay tons of money to make it happen. The simpler, healthier, easier and cheaper way is to fix your hair through nutrition and food. Here are some foods to make your hair exactly how you want it.
Salmon
Your hair needs healthy fats and if you don’t get them, your hair starts to lose its natural shine. Salmon and its omega-3 fatty acids feed the oil gland around hair follicles, helping lubricate hair for added luster. If you don’t like fish, try flaxseeds.
Pumpkin Seeds
If your scalp is dry, you may need some more zinc. One great way to get zinc in your diet is through pumpkins seeds as only a half a cup of roasted seeds supplies 19 percent of your daily requirement of zinc. To get you to your daily 8 mg, supplement with fortified cereals, pork, yogurt, and cashews.
Strawberries
Vitamin C is key to helping create protein, which in turn builds your hair and muscles stronger, into unbreakable strands. Strawberries are a great source as one cup has more than a daily serving of the vitamin. To mix it up you can eat peppers, guavas, and citrus fruits.
Shiitake Mushrooms
If your hair is losing its natural color, you may be deficient in copper, which one study found could be linked to premature graying. Shiitake Mushrooms, as well as seaweed and sesame seeds, are good sources of copper that can keep hair looking great.
Beans
You may have an iron deficiency if you have severe hair loss. While Clams and oysters have high amounts of the mineral, it’s easier and cheaper to aim for beans. That can help fortify your hair and keep it looking good.
Razi Berry, Founder and Publisher of Naturopathic Doctor News & Review (ndnr.com) and NaturalPath (thenatpath.com), has spent the last decade as a natural medicine advocate and marketing whiz. She has galvanized and supported the naturopathic community, bringing a higher quality of healthcare to millions of North Americans through her publications. A self-proclaimed health-food junkie and mother of two; she loves all things nature, is obsessed with organic gardening, growing fruit trees (not easy in Phoenix), laughing until she snorts, and homeschooling. She is a little bit crunchy and yes, that is her real name.