5 Dietary Vitamins You Need To Have Long And Healthy Hair

We all want our hair to be long, strong, and healthy. And as the saying goes, what we put in is what we get out. Even if your diet is healthy and full of the necessary food groups, it is possible that you aren’t getting the right nutrients to grow your hair to the length you want it.

Write down a list of your common daily foods and check to make sure your diet consists of these 5 vitamins*. Here are the 5 dietary vitamins* that your hair needs to succeed!

1. Biotin*

We have all heard of this vitamin, if not from our hairdresser then definitely from this blog. But what exactly is biotin and why does our hair need it? Biotin is also known as Vitamin H, and is a co-enzyme, which basically means that it makes the things our body needs by producing other enzymes.

One important thing it produces is fatty acids, which naturally moisturizes our hair, and without it, no amount of additives could keep our hair moisturized.

Biotin can also increase hair elasticity and produce keratin, which is what our hair is made of. Foods containing biotin* include nuts, dairy, eggs, and leafy green vegetables.

2. Vitamin A*

Vitamin A is good for immune health and energy, but what does it do for my hair? Vitamin A is a group of unsaturated natural compounds and is essential to many natural processes in the body (immune health, vision, growth and reproduction).

It contains antioxidants which activate the sebum in our scalp, triggering natural moisturization and conditioning. It also can help your hair deal with the natural elements that weigh down your hair such as pollution.

Did I mention that it plays a part in strengthening your natural curl pattern? You can get vitamin A* in your diet from sweet potatoes (yams), carrots, spinach, milk, and peaches.

3.Vitamin E

Vitamin E is often overlooked when seeking hair growth, but without it, our hair would be dead and gone. Vitamin E* is a powerful antioxidant, just like vitamin A*, which means that it is in charge of protecting the hair and body from really dangerous outside elements.

It also is an enzymatic protein regulator, which means that it speeds up the protein synthesis process, and that’s good since our hair is made of protein!

Now all of the fatty acids and sebum that goes into making our hair is highly fragile, and with an increase in vitamin E in your diet, you can protect those key moisturizers and increase production.  You can find vitamin E* in nuts, many types of oils* (sunflower, almond, wheat germ), nuts like almonds, green leafy vegetables, and avocados.

4. Niacin*

Niacin isn’t something you hear about everyday in passing so for the most part we tend to not focus on it as much. Niacin is crucial to accelerating hair growth, which is also why you have to be VERY careful not to consume too much of this B-vitamin (unless you don’t mind increased growth all over).

This vitamin is water soluble, and is known to dilate your blood vessels, which can increase circulation to your scalp that directly correlates to longer hair.

This vitamin not only helps with circulation, but also helps with controlling cholesterol. When cholesterol builds up, it produces an enzyme that is linked with balding in both men and women so having niacin in your diet is crucial.

Niacin* is on the back of many supplement bottles, but you can get it from almost any meat (fish, chicken, turkey, pork), mushrooms, sunflower seeds, and avocados.

5. Protein

Protein isn’t necessarily a vitamin, but protein is where you are going to see an all-around difference in your strength, length, and health.

Protein is made up of amino acids, which some of the vitamins* above help produce, so you can never get an entire protein from just one food, because protein is just a long chain of different amino acids.

Protein helps with building a toned body and adding a healthy glow to your hair, skin, and nails. Protein also gives you lots of energy, and helps your stamina build throughout the day.

All of these things benefit your body but if you think of your hair as a giant mass of protein you will understand the need for it. The more proteins you eat throughout your daily routine, the more proteins you have to build hair.

Do not forget that there are food groups that make a complete protein, which when eaten together is a powerhouse for your hair, for example legumes and grains or dairy and a vegetable protein.

Most of the time, with a healthy diet you get these complete proteins, but making sure you get all your essential amino acids the body can’t make itself is very important.

Foods that are rich in protein are ANY type of meat (fish, pork, chicken, turkey, etc.), nuts, dairy, eggs, beans, soy products, or seeds.

A healthy diet generally can fulfill the body’s need for these essential vitamins*, but in order to reach your hair goals for this year, try adding some of these foods to your diet specifically.

What are some of the foods you eat to ensure a healthy head of hair? Comment below and tell us!