Healthy eating may be an important factor in saving your strands.
When it comes to achieving thick, luscious locks, there’s a multitude of factors at play: genetics, hormones, age, health conditions, and tons of environmental and lifestyle factors. But according to experts, one factor that should not be overlooked is your diet. What goes on your plate can play a powerful role in preventing hair thinning and loss, and even regrowing your strands.
Our friends over at the biotech company Revela have done amazing work helping tens of thousands of women regrow their hair with their groundbreaking Hair Revival Serum. But they’ve noticed that many of their customers struggle to understand how diet plays into hair growth.
“The hair strand is a fast-growing tissue, which means it requires a lot of energy, or calories, to support the process,” says Samaria Grandberry, MS, RDN, a registered dietitian and trichologist. “The only way to provide our hair with energy is through food.”
Eating too little, or under-consuming the right nutrients, can actually cause hair follicles to fall out: “A lack of hair-supporting nutrients like vitamins A, C, D, and E, zinc, B vitamins, iron, biotin, protein, and essential fatty acids may slow down hair growth or result in hair loss,” says Valerie Agyeman, RD, dietitian, and host of the women’s health podcast, Flourish Heights. “Getting adequate amounts of these specific nutrients may help treat hair loss and promote hair growth.” But there’s more to boosting hair growth than just eating enough — you have to eat the right foods.
What foods to eat for hair growth
A lack of the right vitamins is a root cause of hair loss, so it’s important to figure out how to get the recommended nutrients onto your plate. Luckily, there are plenty of very delicious ways to fuel your follicles. “Oysters have very high amounts of bioavailable zinc, which helps stabilize the hair,” says Grandberry. “It’s also important to get adequate amounts of Vitamin D, which you can get from the sun, but I like to recommend cod liver oil supplements because they have more vitamins and nutrients than just taking a Vitamin D supplement.”
While biotin supplements are often touted as supporting hair and nail growth, Grandberry recommends getting the nutrient naturally instead, from biotin-rich nuts and seeds like peanuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds — or even from oats. As a general rule, Grandberry says, “I like to take a food-first approach with my clients and then fill in the gaps as needed, with supplements.”
Do carbohydrates help regrow hair?
Carbs are not the enemy, especially if you want to show off a shiny head of hair. “Carbohydrates are often one of the first things people cut out when they’re trying to lose weight, but they’re also our bodies’ main source of energy,” says Grandberry. In short, she says, “We need carbs to grow hair.” Potatoes, corn, beans (like soy, pinto, black, and chickpeas), grains (like rice, millet, and quinoa), and fruits (like berries, banana, watermelon, and apples) are all examples of healthy carbs. “Fruit also has antioxidants,” says Grandberry, “which help protect the hair from free radicals.”
In fact, those ever-popular plant-based diets can do wonders for follicle growth. “A diet that’s predominantly plant-based provides key nutrients necessary for keeping your hair, skin, and nails in optimal shape,” says Agyeman. “Also, having a healthy gut flora is essential for helping with nutrient absorption to bolster the hair, skin, and nails.” Fiber-rich foods (like fruits, veggies, whole grains, and beans) can help keep your gut health in check, along with a daily probiotic.
Improve your scalp health with hair-growth products
Healthy hair starts with a healthy scalp. And while there are no beauty shortcuts guaranteed to help you keep a full head of hair, caring for your scalp — in addition to adopting a healthy diet, using clinically proven hair-growth products, and avoiding excessive heat and chemical treatments — goes a long way toward setting up an environment where hair can thrive.
As for the right products, that’s where Revela comes in: This new science-backed brand founded by two Harvard scientists has developed a hair-regrowth ingredient called ProCelinyl that, when combined with a healthy diet, can help thicken hair and improve its overall appearance. The brand’s best-selling Hair Revival Serum, designed for once-daily use, gets patted directly onto the scalp and can speed up the hair-growth process, helping you achieve your goals in as few as six weeks.
So don’t forget to give your scalp some love during your hair growth journey. “Treat your scalp as well as you treat the rest of your skin,” advises Grandberry. “Make sure you keep it hydrated, and of course eat a well-balanced diet, so your body has the nutrients it needs to keep your hair in optimal condition.”
The information provided on this site isn’t intended as medical advice, and shouldn’t replace professional medical treatment. Consult your doctor with any serious health concerns.
