How to Keep Your Hair Healthy and Strong

Hair problems such as hair loss and hair splits can frustrate people, however, a lot of people don't realize that problems with hair come from the lack of care in choosing food for their hair. Just like we need certain nutrients for other parts of our body, our hair needs protein, water, silica and vitamins A, B5, C and E to grow strong and healthy.

Everybody loves their hair, but often we overlook the fact that our hair needs its specific nutrients to grow strong and healthy. We spend hours in the chemist looking for the right hair treatment every time we walk pass one, but after trying brand-after-brand and bottle-after-bottle, we still haven't solved the problems permanently, and some of the things that we bought are lining up in our bathroom, partly used or not used at all!

The truth is, just like any other parts of our body, our hair just needs the nutrients from the healthy food that we eat. When we consider our dietary intake for our body health, we have to remember to take the right nutrients for our hair health, which is known as the good hair diet.

The most important nutrient that we need to keep our hair strong without split ends is protein, as protein is a basic building block for hair. One example of protein is citrus fruit, which also works as supply of vitamin C and a means for the body to absorb iron from non-meat sources.

Another important nutrient that is needed by our hair is water, as water keeps our hair silky, soft and shiny. Water is a major component of our body, including our hair, and one of its main jobs is to flush toxins out of our body. Some toxins, when they are not flushed out of our body, they can affect blood circulation and in turn slows our hair growth.

The next important nutrient is silica, as it keeps our hair from breaking. Vegetables such as, potatoes, cucumbers, bean sprouts, green peppers and red peppers are rich in silica. These vegetables should be included in our diet to keep our hair healthy.

Vitamins, especially A, B5, C and E are very important for our hair. Fish, liver oil, carrots, brewers yeast, citrus fruit, whole grains, egg yolk and green vegetables are sources of vitamin A, which is antioxidant, vitamin B5, which is pantothenic acid that delays graying hair and loss of hair, and vitamin E, which enhances scalp blood circulation.

If you already have variety of vitamins and hair treatment products at home, you should consult with your doctor whether you actually need some of those and how to gain maximum result. Their use might not show instant result if your hair is already seriously damaged, but with correct procedure and dosage, they can help restore the health of your hair in the long run. Bear in mind that incorrect or overdose use of any vitamins can bring fatal result.

Apart from the dietary intake, we also need to be careful of other things that enter our body. Processed food, high-sugar food, high-fat food, highly salted food, raw food from unreliable sources, smoking and alcohol can also give negative effects on our hair.

It is not that difficult to keep our hair healthy. In fact, it goes along the same process with keeping our body healthy, which is to start eating healthy.