Keep protein handy
Stock up on your protein-rich snacks!
Your hair is nearly 90 per cent protein, but as a non-essential function, hair growth is not a priority for your body. That’s why, if you’re interested in long, healthy and strong hair, protein needs to be a top priority in your diet. Protein is made up of amino acids. Your body needs twenty different amino acids to function properly. Nine of these amino acids are essential; we must consume them through our diet. This means that the key to protein intake is variety. Each protein source is made up of different amino acids in different amounts. I recommend keeping a variety of protein sources in your kitchen for optimal hair health.
Include healthy fats daily
Dietary fats are an essential part of a healthy diet. They provide energy, increase vitamin uptake and support cell function.
Healthy fats like walnuts, avocado, extra-virgin olive oil and coconut oil nourish your hair follicles to give your hair strength and shine, and they can even reduce hair loss!
Eat veggies and fruits regularly
Did you know that only 9 per cent of American adults consume the recommended amount of vegetables in their diet? This surprisingly low intake has significant nutritional consequences.
We know how important it is to have a variety of veggies and fruits in our diet for optimal health. Plants provide our body with vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, polyphenols and phytochemicals, all of which play crucial roles in our health.
The next time you’re grocery shopping, challenge yourself to get at least one plant from every colour of the rainbow.
Hydrate adequately
Drinking enough water is essential to health and wellness! Proper hydration allows every system in the body to function properly, and because we are made up of about 60 per cent water, it’s best to sip generously. From skin to scalp, water offers us an easy and natural way to support our hair’s wellness, especially when it comes to growing hair, keeping the scalp healthy and maintaining a beautiful texture. Drinking enough water helps energise and support hair growth from root to tip. It also helps prevent split ends and a brittle hair texture, as well as foster a healthier scalp, meaning you’ll have fewer chances of developing problems like dryness, itchiness, or dandruff. So how much water should you be sipping? A great starting point is to eat half of your body weight in ounces daily. This means if you weigh 120 lbs, you should be aiming for at least 60 oz of water each day.
Strive for blood sugar balance
Unless you have a form of diabetes, you don’t tend to think about your blood sugar very often. However, from a nutrition and hair wellness perspective, it may be a good time to start! When we eat a meal, our blood glucose will initially rise, and then our body will use insulin to lower those glucose levels to a normal range. This rise and fall should take a few hours if your blood sugar is well balanced. For some, this fall can be rapid (a crash) and leave you feeling hungry, cranky and low on energy. Internally, a dramatic blood sugar fall can also create stress in your body, which can lead to telogen effluvium. In telogen effluvium, significant stress pushes large numbers of hair follicles into a resting phase. Within a few months, affected hairs might fall out suddenly when simply combing or washing your hair. But don’t fret too much; the good news is that telogen effluvium is completely reversible! So what should you eat to help balance your blood sugar? It’s quite simple: Have fibre, fat and protein each time you eat! Fibre, fat and protein all help to slow down digestion, promoting a slower rise and fall of blood glucose.
Practice mindful eating
Just like blood sugar imbalances can cause stress in the body, the stressors around us (like work deadlines or relationship stressors) can wreak havoc on our digestion and our overall health. This is where mindful eating can be so impactful! Mindful eating is an eating practice based on Buddhist mindfulness principles. It uses mindfulness to reach a state of full attention to your experiences, cravings and physical cues when eating and supports more efficient digestion. To practise mindful eating, it’s important to focus on your meal with as few distractions as possible – so no TV during dinner time! Here’s what else you should do:
Focus your attention on the flavours and textures of each bite.
Eat slowly and chew thoroughly.
Tune into how your food is making you feel.
Stop eating when you feel naturally full.
Enjoy the meal!
Excerpted with permission from Glowing Skin And Gorgeous Hair: Nutrition, Care Routines, Tips and More, Rohini Patil, HarperCollins India.
