10 Essential Nutrients for Faster Hair Growth – Absolute Hair Growth Guide

The secret to strong, healthy, shiny hair isn’t an expensive shampoo or fancy salon treatment—it’s all about your intake. Eating a variety of nutrients rich foods will give you the hair you’ve always dreamed of. Check out the list of essential nutrients for faster hair growth.

10 Essential Nutrients For Faster Hair Growth

Fill up on these nutrients to begin growing your healthiest hair ever.

Iron

All cells in our body need a constant supply of oxygen to work and red blood cells in our blood maintain this constant supply. Red blood cells have an iron-binding protein called hemoglobin, which is a perfect transporter for oxygen. They pick up and release oxygen in an exact and targeted way. Women of child-bearing age or those men and women (of any age) who don’t eat a lot of red meat tend to be deficient in iron. It may come as a surprise that a number of plant foods are also a good source of iron.

Why Iron Is Important In Hair Growth?

Iron helps in maintaining good health by preventing anemia, a condition in which the body does not have enough healthy red blood cells or hemoglobin. Anemia can make you feel tired, hence affecting your overall productivity at work or even during personal time. Besides fatigue, anemia can also lead to pale skin, shortness of breath, dizziness or headaches and even hair loss. Getting enough iron is essential for good health as well as hair growth.

As oxygen is required for every single cell in our body to work and hair are no exception. They require oxygen to thrive and iron carries oxygen to the hair that promotes hair growth. So munch on healthy greens for rapid hair growth.

Major Iron Sources:

If you’re looking for an easy way to incorporate more iron into your daily diet, look no further than green leafy vegetables like spinach and kale. Other iron-rich foods include: meat, fish and poultry, lentils, beans.

Vitamin-D

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin. It is an essential vitamin for your body as it helps in regulating calcium and phosphate levels, which are important for strong and healthy bones and teeth. When it comes to vitamin-d sunlight pops in our heads. It is an established fact that human skin cells exposed to sunlight can make vitamin-d. Even though it is an abundant vitamin but deficiency is of great concern.

Why Is It Important?

Treating vitamin D deficiency can help to reduce the risk of various diseases including multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, cancer and type 1 diabetes. Vitamin D can also help in maintaining a healthy heart, muscle function, hair follicle cycling and good immune system.

Major Vitamin-D Sources:

Salmon, Sardines, Milk, Mushrooms, Beef liver, and Grains are good food sources of vitamin-D.

Zinc

Zinc may be less familiar than other known vitamins and minerals but it’s not any less important to our health. Zinc plays a crucial role in blood clotting, wound healing, bone production and cell division. It also supports our immune system and has antioxidant properties.

People who exercise extensively, and those who sweat heavily, lose significant amounts of zinc.

Why Is It Important?

Zinc is an essential mineral that works with enzymes to carry out specific functions throughout the body. Zinc is required for immune function, DNA synthesis and cell division as well as healthy growth and development of tissues. It helps maintain healthy skin, hair, nails and eyes. Zinc also plays a role in reproduction, taste and smell as well as growth and healing after injury or surgery.

Major Zinc Sources:

Among the high-zinc foods are Lamb, Turkey, Pumpkin seeds, and Chocolate.

Silica

Silica, also known as silicon dioxide or SiO2, is a colorless, white, chemical compound. It is made of the most common elements on earth, silicon (Si) and oxygen (O2). Silica has a low bioavailability, meaning the body will only absorb a small amount of silica and excrete the rest in urine.¹

Why Is It Important?

Silica has long been a go-to supplement for hair, skin, and nails. Silica is naturally found in nails, making them strong. When our dietary silica goes down, our nails grow slower and become more brittle. The same goes for hair but don’t worry, a nutritional route is a slow process but has a long-lasting effect. To care for your brittle/frizzy hair, you can read the most common hair problems and solutions.

Silica also plays a role in keeping skin elastic and collagen healthy.²

Major Silica Sources:

Leafy green vegetables are high in silica, which helps to strengthen the hair.

Selenium

Our body requires a small amount of selenium and is considered one of many important dietary minerals. Selenium is an essential trace mineral that is closely related to other minerals like sulfur and iodine. It plays an important role in thyroid hormone metabolism and immune system function. Selenium is also an antioxidant that can help protect the body from oxidative damage caused by free radicals.

Why Is It Important?

Selenium not only supports normal thyroid function but also provides Antioxidant protection. It is also important for a healthy scalp and healthy scalp means healthy hair.

Normal thyroid function is important to prevent hair loss in women.

Major Selenium Sources:

Selenium can be found in a variety of foods including Tuna, Shrimp, Lamb, Chicken, and Nuts. The best way to get adequate selenium is through diet since your body does not store this mineral.

Copper 

Copper is an essential trace mineral that plays a role in many different body functions. It’s required for creating strong tissues, maintaining blood volume and producing energy in your cells. If you don’t have enough copper in your system, you could become deficient in a number of other nutrients as well, including iron, vitamin C, and collagen.

Why Is It Important?

Copper plays a key role in energy production and helps the incorporation of iron into red blood cells. It is also required for the body to produce collagen, helps cholesterol balance and provides antioxidant protection.

Major Copper Sources:

Copper can be found in a variety of foods like Leafy green vegetables, Legumes, Whole Grains, Nuts, and Seeds.

Magnesium

Magnesium is involved in more than 300 biochemical reactions that keep our bodies working normally. It helps maintain normal muscle and nerve function, keeps heart rhythm steady, supports a healthy immune system, and keeps bones strong. Magnesium also helps regulate blood sugar levels, promotes normal blood pressure, and is known to be involved in energy metabolism.

Why Is It Important?

Magnesium helps to reduce calcium buildups at the scalp level without disrupting calcium flow to other areas of the body. Magnesium improves scalp circulation and ensures that vital nutrients reach hair follicles, which stimulates faster hair growth.

Magnesium stimulates protein synthesis which is responsible for the creation of melanin, one of the pigments that give hair its color. Magnesium is also essential to hair growth. Without magnesium, protein synthesis is lost and can lead to problems for the structure of the hair and in the growth cycle.

Major Magnesium Sources:

To improve magnesium intake, consume foods rich in magnesium such as avocado, dark chocolate, seeds and nuts, tofu, beans, fatty fish, bananas, and leafy greens.

Calcium

Calcium is widely known for its major role in the formation and maintenance of bone structure. Furthermore, It is also used to help control muscle and nerve function, as well as to manage acid/base balance in our bloodstream.

Why Is It Important?

Calcium helps with the contraction and relaxation of muscles, nerve signaling, blood clotting, and the secretion of hormones and enzymes. Such as androgen, which stimulates hair growth and enzymes like biotin promote cell growth that strengthens healthy growing hair.

Major Calcium Sources:

Low-fat dairy products are prime sources of calcium.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Omega-3 fatty acids are a group of polyunsaturated fats found in a wide variety of foods, most famously in fish. Because of recent research suggesting potential cardiovascular prevention and other health benefits, omega-3 fatty acids are currently a hot topic in nutrition research.³

Why Is It Important?

Omega-3 found in fish oil promotes hair growth by providing essential proteins and nutrients to the follicles. It also prevents inflammation, which can directly contribute to hair loss.

Major Omega-3 Sources:

Flaxseeds, Walnuts, and Salmon

B-Complex Vitamins, Especially Biotin, Niacin, and Cobalamin

The eight B vitamins are a group of water-soluble vitamins (B-Complex). Among them is biotin, also known as vitamin H, which helps produce red blood cells that supply oxygen to the scalp, allowing hair follicles to produce new hair.

Why Is It Important?

They help restore shine and thickness to hair.

Major Sources:

Fish, Beef, Whole grains, Eggs, Avocados, and Legumes

The best way to see promising results in any area is a persistent effort. If you want to see healthy hair growth then you need to provide an abundant supply of essential nutrients. It will not only improve your overall health but also add shine and thickness to your hair.

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