Eating right and hair growth.

MaitreyeeMAYHEM
MaitreyeeMAYHEM Posts: 559 Member
edited September 30 in Food and Nutrition
I heard that eating broccoli and having tons of protein helps your hair grow. Truth or myth?
I take good care of my hair, take biotin pills along with BC pills and I eat right. My hair is just taking forever!!
Any suggestions?


oh FYI- I'm a vegetarian.

Replies

  • xalligator
    xalligator Posts: 33 Member
    I dunno about broccoli. Protein, maybe.

    Since I've started eating lots of meat, I've noticed my hair grows thicker, my nails are shinier and stronger, and my skin looks better. Heard it was because of the increased gelatin intake. I don't know how a vegetarian might be able to manage this--eat more avocados maybe?

    It has its drawbacks: I used to rely on using the keyboard to make my nails short--now they won't break or wear down anymore and I have to clip them! :(

    If you want to be really good to your hair, make sure you're not using a shampoo containing sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate. That stuff dries out your hair, makes it brittle and more likely to break, and nearly all shampoos use it. The ones that don't are on the more expensive side, but they're also better on your hair. They also tend not to have preservatives, so if you don't close the lid, bacteria might flourish in your shampoo. :P
  • MaitreyeeMAYHEM
    MaitreyeeMAYHEM Posts: 559 Member
    I only use designer products for my hair like Redkin, Big Healthy Hair and Paul Mitchell.

    For protein I can nuts and protein shakes but I need other options. Avocados sound interesting, I just don't have any recipes for them.
  • ChantalGG
    ChantalGG Posts: 2,404 Member
    Is your hair already long? For me, my hair will get to almost my butt and then stop growing, it will start falling out more. I have to keep it, the longest, at the middle of my back for it to be long and not thin. I dont know anything about foods helping it grow, i havnt noticed a difference in my hair or nails they are still as crappy as ever.
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    Fish oil, prenatal vitamins?
  • liftingbro
    liftingbro Posts: 2,029 Member
    Myth. I have less hair each year and I eat around 180g of protein a day and normally a serving of broccoli or two per day.
  • MaitreyeeMAYHEM
    MaitreyeeMAYHEM Posts: 559 Member
    Is your hair already long? For me, my hair will get to almost my butt and then stop growing, it will start falling out more. I have to keep it, the longest, at the middle of my back for it to be long and not thin. I dont know anything about foods helping it grow, i havnt noticed a difference in my hair or nails they are still as crappy as ever.

    Its down to my shoulder blades. I used to have long *kitten* hair when I was a kid, it was like mermaid hair. I'm trying to get it back. I know that the older u get the harder it is but I wanna try it out.
  • xalligator
    xalligator Posts: 33 Member
    I only use designer products for my hair like Redkin, Big Healthy Hair and Paul Mitchell.

    Even designer products have sodium lauryl sulfate. If you care about your hair as much as what you eat, make sure to actually read and research the ingredients in your shampoo just like you do with your food.

    Even the most expensive, designer shampoo can contribute to destroying your hair. It did for me, so I'll take Organix over Paul Mitchell any day. :P
  • rankailie
    rankailie Posts: 144
    http://www.webmd.com/healthy-beauty/features/top-10-foods-for-healthy-hair

    This is a pretty good article on the subject.

    To be honest though my hair started growing faster after I ditched shampoo and conditioner earlier this year. I now just use apple cider vinegar and baking soda but what I've been told is most likely stimulating hair growth is the fact that I fairly vigorously scrub my scalp now and I'm not damaging my hair in any way with chemicals or tools.

    So a good proper diet, combined with some stimulation of the scalp and not damaging your hair with chemicals will promote growth.
  • KayteeBear
    KayteeBear Posts: 1,040 Member
    Sometimes the cheapest products are the best....

    Anyway, yes eating more protein will help. First thing first, your hair needs the nutrients to grow (so eating healthy in general). Drinking lots of water will also help.

    Otherwise it's all about how you treat your hair. You can't expect it to grow if you treat it like crap because then it will just keep breaking off and you won't notice any growth.

    There are plenty of other things that can help your hair grow. Just send me a message if you wanna know. I had chin length hair five years ago and now I have hair to the bottom of my butt. :)

    ETA: I also gave up using shampoo a long time ago. I actually ONLY use conditioner to clean my hair and it is always sooooo nice and soft and clean. :)
  • MaitreyeeMAYHEM
    MaitreyeeMAYHEM Posts: 559 Member
    what about taking Omega3 or prenatal pills?
  • xalligator
    xalligator Posts: 33 Member
    You could do either of those, but a better way to get your omegas is to just eat more flax. Sprinkle whole flax seeds some on your cereal or use flaxmeal to make no-flour muffins/bread. Maybe even take a spoonful of flaxseed oil each day.

    However, if you want beautiful, strong, healthy hair, you should definitely research what you put on it. Some people(like the above) even go shampoo-free after learning about how much damage some shampoos can do. Apple cider vinegar and baking soda is a popular remedy.
  • KayteeBear
    KayteeBear Posts: 1,040 Member
    Yes, omegas and prenatal vitamins should help. I know of a lot of people who take prenatals for hair growth. Never done it myself though.
    You could do either of those, but a better way to get your omegas is to just eat more flax. Sprinkle whole flax seeds some on your cereal or use flaxmeal to make no-flour muffins/bread. Maybe even take a spoonful of flaxseed oil each day.

    Don't eat whole flax seeds. All the good stuff is trapped in the seed. You have to break it up instead so put flax seeds in a blender or something and use ground flax seeds instead.
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