What Vitamins Can Help You Grow More Hair?

You wish your hair was longer, healthier, or thicker, but you aren't sure what you can do to remedy the situation. After all, your mother always told you that you have thin hair just like Grandma had and that you just to live with it the way she did. Fortunately, we know more about hair growth now than they did back in Grandma's day, and science has shown us that certain vitamins in your diet can improve your hair. Maybe they won't give you locks like the models on the TV commercials, but they can give you shinier, more manageable hair throughout your lifetime. So what vitamins aid in hair growth?

Basically, the same vitamins that help your body function smoothly and properly are the same ones that can make your hair healthier. The sad fact that many Americans these days aren't eating the way they should is accountable for a lot of the hair issues that they then spend billions of dollars trying to remedy. Start by eating the foods that have the various vitamins and minerals in them, including fruits, vegetables, proteins, whole grains, and dairy. You've heard all this before, but that's because it's the truth. If you want all parts of your body to be in top shape, a good diet is absolutely imperative.

Many people do not get enough green, yellow, and orange vegetables each day to satisfy their body's requirement. Failure to eat such veggies as carrots, yams, spinach, winter squash, kale, and turnip greens means that you aren't getting the essential beta-carotene that is so essential for hair growth, provides vitamin A for your body, and is used as an antioxidant. Darker vegetables, like broccoli and Swiss chard, are excellent sources of iron and vitamin C. Vitamin C causes the hair follicles to secrete sebum, a natural conditioner for your hair. In addition, it is vitamin C which is good for your circulatory system, and good circulation means more blood carrying vitamins and minerals to the hair which enhances its growth.

Not everyone agrees that vitamin E enhances hair growth. Vitamin E is found in green leafy vegetables, nuts, whole grains, eggs, legumes, broccoli, and seeds. Most people seem to get enough of these foods in their diets so that they are not deficient in vitamin E. Therefore, the claim being made that a deficiency in vitamin E causes hair loss has never been given much credence. Other nutrients necessary for hair growth include water, several of the B vitamins, and Omega-3 and 6 which keep the scalp from drying out.