Hair health, their regrowth and daily nutrition are inextricably linked to each other.
It is sufficient to see the chemical composition of hair to realize that it is made up of 65/96% solid proteins such as keratin, known as a substance capable of strengthening hair, and the rest of water, fats, pigments and trace elements.
If you then think about the fact that hair keratin is composed of two essential amino acids, cystine and lysine, called "essential" precisely because the body is not able to produce them on its own, then it becomes evident that these elements must be taken through nutrition, or with hair supplements, there is no other way.
A diet low in these proteins makes hair very fragile and thin, unfortunately favoring the appearance of split ends.
Nutrition for Hair Loss
Correct nutrition is certainly a good natural remedy for healthy hair, but it always remains only one of the many factors that influence hair health.
That is to say that even the best hair nutrition may not be sufficient to protect against the risk of premature baldness and has no relation to any scalp pathologies.
Hair nutrition and nourishment
Let's see in more detail how to nourish your hair with a healthy and natural diet without resorting to hair supplements:
PROTEINS AND AMINO ACIDS.
As anticipated, cystine and lysine are the two essential amino acids for the synthesis of keratin which forms and strengthens hair.
Keratin is a protein particularly rich in sulfur amino acids, the same ones that we find in meat and fish, and which, on the contrary, legumes are lacking.
Taurine and Arginine are two other types of basic molecules that contribute to the nutrition of the hair bulbs and therefore to the nourishment of the hair and which we find above all in red meat, eggs and fish.
HAIR SUPPLEMENTS
These foods should be eaten at least 2/3 times a week because they serve to strengthen the hair by giving volume and resistance to its cortex; exactly what is missing from hair that is too fine.
For this reason, not only nutrition, but also hair supplements cannot lack an adequate protein content.
VITAMINS
A diet that pays attention to hair health cannot do without it; it is no coincidence that we find some of the following substances, isolated and purified, also in hair supplements:
Vitamin A , abundant in egg yolk, fatty fish, green leafy vegetables and liver; also useful for skin health.
B vitamins regulate the metabolism of the hair follicle and are fundamental because, like all other vitamins, our cells are not able to produce them independently.
Vitamin B1 or Thiamine , allows the hair to grow in a healthy and robust way: it is mainly contained in legumes.
Vitamin B2 or Riboflavin , present in eggs, dairy products, broccoli and green beans, promotes sebaceous secretion (sebum production) and metabolic processes. Its absence can cause dry skin (asteatosis).
Vitamin B3 or Niacin is essential for the health of our hair because it intervenes in the correct functioning of energy metabolism.
Vitamin B4 or Adenine , found in meat, cereals, potatoes, egg yolk and tomatoes, improves the activity of hair follicles.
Vitamin B5 or pantotheic acid , which we find in eggs, peanuts, mushrooms, liver and broccoli, contributes to the strength of the hair shaft and accelerates hair regrowth.
Vitamin B6 or Pyridoxine , is involved in the assimilation of proteins and acts on the 5 alpha-reductase enzyme, counteracting the production of DHT.
Vitamin B8 or Biotin (also called vitamin H) optimizes lipid metabolism, preventing the onset of seborrheic dermatitis.
Vitamin B9 or folic acid is essential for the synthesis of proteins, including keratin. Its deficiency causes telogen effluvium, i.e. abundant hair loss.
Vitamin E , which we find in vegetable oils and whole grains, combats free radicals, responsible for cellular deterioration and hair loss.
TRACE ELEMENTS
Hair health also depends on an adequate intake of minerals, which are often lacking in today's diet.
The deficiency of trace elements promotes hair loss known as telogen effluvium, and therefore a balanced diet should always contain:
IRON
Present in red meat, spinach and fruit, essential for the synthesis of hemoglobin and the oxygenation of the blood which nourishes the skin, hair and scalp, as well as the production of color pigments which counteract the onset of gray hair.
COPPER
It is found in spinach, shellfish and potatoes, it contributes to the synthesis of melanin which colors the hair and prevents gray hair.
MAGNESIUM
Present in vegetables and peanuts, it promotes the development of enzymes that intervene both in the production of melanin and in hair regrowth; a complete diet must include a sufficient quantity.
ZINC
Which we find in meat and fish, it promotes the activity of the germinative cells of the matrix and, consequently, the growth of hair or its loss in the absence of this trace element.
SULFUR
Present in white meats, liver and ham, it combats weak and brittle hair.
Diet and Hair
Almost all people can now afford a complete diet of all the substances necessary to maintain healthy hair, but in some cases slimming diets or particularly difficult tastes produce serious nutritional deficiencies that cause thinning hair or alopecia.
The most common cases of poor hair nutrition are:
INSUFFICIENT POWER
It is often due to overly restrictive weight loss diets, which reduce the intake of all major hair nutrients and even the bare minimum of carbohydrates.
Given a genetic propensity to hair loss, this behavior is truly harmful and risks significantly accelerating thinning;
VERY POOR CONSUMPTION OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
There are people who find citrus fruits and vegetables bland and unattractive to the point of never eating them.
It goes without saying that this dietary behavior, if not compensated by the use of hair supplements, enormously reduces the variety of essential substances to nourish the hair adequately.
The lack of vitamin A, for example, makes the skin dry and the hair dry and dull.
This is why a diet that ignores vitamins and some important trace elements such as magnesium constitutes a wrong diet that does not strengthen the hair and obtains the exact opposite result.
Foods and hair treatments
There are foods that help strengthen hair by acting on the peripheral circulation of the scalp.
This is the case of chocolate which is rich in proteins and other mineral elements that are very important for the human body, intervenes directly on the blood circulation of our scalp and is used in some beauty treatments.
The important spice is chili pepper.
Capsaicin, a chemical substance contained within it, is a vasodilator and its local application could help the blood flow to our skin and stimulate the hair bulbs to remain productive and prevent hair loss.
Meat and fish help our hair: in poultry there are noble proteins that help our hair cells synthesize keratin and grow thick, healthy hair.
Salmon contains proteins rich in lysine (the key amino acids for hair health) and is rich in omega 3, necessary to maintain the integrity of our skin cells.
Conclusions on diet and hair nutrition
In all four cases, if one cannot, or does not intend, to change diet and eating style, hair supplements can be used, provided that the choice of the most appropriate product is made under the advice of a doctor or other qualified figures.
Depending on the type of nutritional deficiency manifested, there are suitable supplements to be used strictly in the prescribed quantities.
The cases analyzed represent a limited percentage in the food landscape of advanced countries, where the diet of the majority of people is sufficiently rich in all the nutritional elements necessary for the nourishment of the hair and the entire organism.
Consequently, when in the presence of a balanced diet or despite resorting to hair supplements, hair loss continues to be abnormal, then it is important to rely on a specialist, a trichologist, capable of carrying out hair tests to identify the possible causes of the hair loss. hair loss.
If these are attributable to skin anomalies that alter the normal hair regrowth cycle, the trichologist will propose the most suitable trichological treatment to recover the healthy state of the scalp.
The best diet or nutrition for hair is often not enough to stop hair loss.