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Food for Follicles – Eating for Hair Loss

By on October 8, 2012

A lot of people don’t realize that it’s not just a matter of treatments and solutions. You can prevent hair loss by eating the right foods. There are foods that will help prevent further hair loss. While there are no guarantees that you can prevent hair loss by eating the right foods, you can certainly concentrate your diet on those foods that will maintain your scalp at its healthiest. This, alone, will help to prevent further hair loss.

Proteins

Since the major component of hair is protein, it follows that eating for your hair would involve a diet rich with proteins. We aren’t talking about those high fat meats like steak and sausage. In addition to the other ramifications of a fatty diet, excessive fat will lead to increased testosterone and that is known to promote hair loss. Be sure to eat the right proteins, think lean and even non-meat. Good choices are chicken, turkey, fish, egg whites, nuts, beans, cheeses that are low in fat or yogurt. Soy products are usually a good choice too as they are protein rich, but fat poor.

Food for Follicles – Eating for Hair Loss

Iron

Iron is the hard worker that helps produce hemoglobin. Hemoglobin carts oxygen all through your body to keep your tissues and organs healthy. As long as you have a healthy dose of hemoglobin in your system, then you will have no issues with getting plenty of oxygen everywhere that you need it. This means that your scalp is experiencing a healthy blood flow that will foster hair growth. Great choices for iron replenishment are liver; dark greens, leafy vegetables; and whole grain cereals. If you have a taste for something sweet, try dried fruits such as raisins or cranberries. Also, Vitamin C greatly enhances the body’s iron absorption. Make sure you are getting the recommended amount through fruits like oranges and lemons. Strawberries are great sources of Vitamin C, as well.

Silica

Most people are not familiar with the value of silica in preventing hair loss, as well as stimulating hair growth. Silica helps the body with absorbing vitamins and minerals. If you are taking your vitamins or getting them through the food you eat, you may not be getting all you can from them. A lack of silica in your diet will prevent your body from accepting and processing the nutrients you are trying to introduce into your system. Silica is found in cucumbers (leave the green skin on), potatoes, red peppers and bell peppers. Don’t forget that you will get much more nutritional value from these vegetables if they are consumed raw. If you simply must cook them, try a light steam. Overcooking will deplete the nutrients they can provide.

Zinc

It has been learned from studies that men suffering from hair loss are often found to be deficient in zinc. Zinc affects everything from the reproduction of cells to the balance of hormones. These are definitely areas that affect hair growth, or the lack of it. One of the most important functions of zinc is that it provides a healthy balance to the glands attached to hair follicles. If you have insufficient zinc intake, there is going to be weakness in these glands. The result is that hair follicles will turn lose and fall out, leaving you with thin hair or baldness.

Zinc can be maintained at healthy levels solely through diet. Foods heavy in zinc are red meat, shrimp, poultry, oysters and nuts. It is

not recommended that you concentrate your diet on these items AND take any additional zinc supplements. Zinc in high concentrations can also result in hair loss, so it is extremely important that you maintain the right levels through diet or supplements, but not a combination of the two.

Balance

Eating for a healthy head of hair falls right in line with eating for a healthy body. If your body is healthy and getting all the nutrients it needs for all systems to function well, then you should be able to stop or slow any thinning that you may be experiencing on your head. Just be sure to saturate the healthy foods already in your diet with a well-balanced combination of the foods mentioned in this article.