Vitamins For Hair Gives You Healthy Hair

Vitamins for hair can be a great way to improve the health of your hair, making it softer, thicker, and more beautiful. When it comes to the health of your hair, half is genetics and half is how well you take care of it. One of the best ways to take care of your hair is to take specific vitamins for hair.

Whenever you see soft, silky smooth hair, you probably fight the natural impulse to touch it.  You can’t help admiring the hair. But the next thing that comes to mind is the thought of how much it cost in time, hair treatments and styling products to get such great healthy hair. Can it be true that there are vitamins for hair? Can great hair days just be a vitamin supplement away?

The texture of your hair, just like its color, is genetically pre-determined.  Whether you have soft curls, waves, straight thick hair or thin limp hair is something nature chooses for you. But whatever the natural texture of hair you were born with, what makes it beautiful is its strength and health.

Hair is made up of layers of protein called keratin. It grows from roots called follicles in your scalp. Underneath the hair follicles are blood vessels that bring nutrients and vitamins for your hair. If you are generally healthy and well-nourished, your hair will be healthy, too. Healthy hair means shiny, smooth, strong hair.

Maintaining a balanced diet, drinking enough water, getting enough rest, enough sleep, enough exercise and maintaining good hygiene all contribute to a healthy body and, healthy hair. On the other hand, stress, medical conditions, illness, medication and poor nourishment all contribute to poor hair health. Over-styling and using too many hair treatments may actually lead to hair damage, dullness and even hair loss. Premature graying, brittleness, dryness, split ends, breakage, excessive hair loss and balding are not only signs of poor hair health but poor general health as well. These hair conditions are usually signs of vitamin deficiency. They are a sure sign that you definitely need vitamins for your hair.

So what can you do to maintain a healthy body and healthy hair? As there are no short-cuts to good nutrition, there are no short-cuts to good hair nutrition. Eating fruits, leafy vegetables, nuts, fish, eggs, grains and legumes not only keep the body well-nourished, they are also great sources of hair nutrients. There is no wonder drug or super-vitamin to grow healthy strong hair.  The vitamins and minerals you get from a healthy and balanced diet are the same vitamins and minerals you need for healthy hair.

Exactly what vitamins for hair, minerals and nutrients do you need to have a healthy hair?

Protein. Since hair is made up of protein, it makes sense to eat protein-rich food to maintain healthy hair.

Iron. Blood brings nourishment to the hair follicles that produce hair.  To keep healthy blood circulation, iron is necessary. So eating iron-rich food also makes sense.

Vitamin C. This vitamin found in citrus fruits and cabbages helps keep bones, teeth and hair strands strong. You do not store Vitamin C in the body so you need a good daily supply of it. This is one of the best vitamins for hair.

Vitamin E. This vitamin helps the body repair itself.  It makes the membranes, skin and hair elastic enough to keep moisture in by promoting the development of collagen. Vitamin E is fat-soluble; it is stored in the fatty cells of your body. You will need to watch that you do not overdose on this vitamin for hair.

Vitamin B Complex.  Niacin, riboflavin, biotin, lecithin, folic acid and pantothenic acid are all components of Vitamin B. They strengthen the roots or follicles of hair so that they can replace hair that you naturally lose. They also promote hair growth. They maintain the follicles’ production of the natural oil that coats the hair called sebum. Vitamin B Complex helps arrest excessive hair loss and helps promote new hair growth.  It is an important vitamin for hair.

Trace minerals. Calcium, magnesium, zinc, potassium and selenium all keep muscles and soft tissues strong. They keep the hair from turning prematurely grey. They also protect the hair from brittleness and breakage. They also promote healthy balance of the hormones: hormonal imbalance is one of the leading causes of premature baldness.

Essential fatty acids. Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids help maintain good blood circulation and a good balance of hormones. Good blood circulation provides nourishment to the different organs of the body and the hair as well.

But what if you can’t always eat healthy? What if your busy schedule keeps you from eating a rich variety of good healthful food? Or, what if the food you eat does not give you enough of the vitamins for your hair? What if you don’t eat enough of the food that boosts your intake of nutrients and minerals you need to maintain good health and good hair health? What then?

You may take vitamin supplements that contain most if not all of these natural vitamins and minerals mentioned above. Vitamins for hair add to the nutrients lacking in the food you eat. Essential fatty acids and trace minerals are not synthesized or made by your body from the food you so you must continually eat food that are a rich source of these trace minerals and essential fatty acids. If your regular diet is lacking in sources of these nutrients, taking vitamin supplements may ensure you get vitamins for your hair.

Prenatal Vitamins For Hair

Perhaps you’ve heard that prenatal vitamins help grow hair faster and longer. That is a popular misconception. It is the pregnancy hormones that primarily make hair grow faster and longer. When a woman is pregnant, her body produces hormones that help the baby develop its bones.  When the pregnant woman’s body releases the hormones, it also makes her hair grow thick and long.

Prenatal vitamins by themselves do not directly cause hair to grow longer or thicker. In fact, most prenatal vitamins are the same as regular vitamin supplements for women: they only differ in the doses of iron, folate and lecithin. Prenatal vitamins, however, contain most if not all of the nutrients you need for healthy hair. That is to say, instead of taking two or three supplements to ensure that you get all the nutrients you need to boost the health of your hair, you may take prenatal vitamins because these contain all of the vitamins for hair mentioned above. So while prenatal vitamins will not, of and by themselves make your hair lustrous, silky and smooth, they will provide you hair nutrients needed maintain good healthy hair and overall good health.

Beyond Vitamins For Hair: Be Gentle to Your Hair

It is also worth mentioning that besides good nourishment, good hygiene and regular gentle care for hair are essential to maintain hair health. For instance, the process of relaxing hair essentially involves breaking down the structure of the hair strands. This process of relaxing damages the strands: that is how the hair is straightened. Relaxed hair must be repaired to restore its health and make it healthy relaxed hair.

For healthy relaxed hair, use warm water and a gentle shampoo to wash your hair only once every week. Always apply conditioner for added moisture. Opt to use natural conditioners like warmed olive oil instead of using more chemical-based conditioners. Absolutely avoid combing or styling relaxed hair when it is wet. Let your hair air-dry, or pat it down with a towel.  Do not wring or rub hair with a towel. This will break the strands. Never brush your hair. Use a wide-toothed comb or your fingers to remove tangles instead.  Avoid using heat to dry and style your hair.  Avoid other chemical treatments to already relaxed hair.

Naturally curly hair is another example. The strands of naturally curly hair may be uneven and course.  It is prone to breaking, splitting and frizzing. Care and repair is necessary for keeping curly hair healthy. Use warm water to wash curly hair and use a gentle shampoo: warm water and gentle shampoos do not strip natural oils from the hair. It is essential to keep hair moisturized so that it does not frizz or become unruly so use conditioners after each shampoo. Leave-on conditioners help tame the frizz. Apply warmed olive oil to hair as this keeps hair moisturized, shiny and smooth. Do not brush harshly or too frequently as this leads to breaking the hair shaft. Do not rub your hair briskly with a towel: the friction may break the strands. Do not dry or style too often using heat or chemical treatments as this promotes dry or split hair ends. Keeping curly hair healthy is not impossible; it takes patience and consistency.

First rule of thumb for healthy hair (whether it is naturally straight, naturally curly or relaxed): less means more. Less heat and chemical treatments; less harsh handling and manipulating; more moisturizing; and more hair nutrients all do their part to give you great healthy hair.

Second rule of thumb: easy does it. Gentleness and goodness toward your hair spells healthy hair. While you may never be able to overcome genetics, you can go a long way with proper hair care and the right vitamins for hair.

Have a great healthy hair day everyone!

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How Fast Does Your Hair Grow?

Your hair plays a large part in giving you your unique and defined appearance. Therefore, it is normal to do your best in taking care of it. In order to do this, you must be familiar with your hair; know its composition and determine how it grows. In addition, you may also wonder how fast does your hair grow and how will it react if you apply certain products on it.

Your body has about one hundred thousand hair strands which simultaneously grow out of your hair follicles. Of course, this is not something we think about until it’s time to get a haircut, but if we want to learn more about hair growth, we need to start thinking in terms of how our bodies grow and develop over time.

How Fast Does your Hair Grow? Determining the Normal Cycle of Hair Growth

Hair growth cycles are the processes wherein your hair follicles produce new hair. Each hair strand you find in your body, including your facial and body hair, is undergoing its own developmental stage. The cycle starts, ends, and restarts continuously.

In general, the growth cycle of the hair is divided into three phases: the anagen, catagen, and telogen stages.

Anagen Phase – simply known as the stage of growth. Anagen begins in the hair follicle and can basically last for more or less eight years. This growth phase depends on your genetics. About 85% of hair strands are in the anagen phase.

Catagen Phase – begins when the anagen stage ends. It is the transitional phase, which allows the hair follicle to renew itself. During the catagen phase, the follicle reduces its size because of disintegration and detachment from the blood supply. The length of the hair’s terminal fibers expands during this phase, even if the hair is not actually growing.

Telogen Phase – hair rests during this phase, wherein the hair follicle remains idle for about 1 to 4 months. While 85% of the hair is in the anagen growth stage every time, the remaining hair strands are in the telogen phase. This is also the time when the hair is pushed out by new hair, thus causing shedding. Thus, it is just a normal sight to have about 50-100 hair strands in your bathroom sink everyday, for this just means that new hair is beginning to grow.

There are times when the growth of hair is hindered by elements, such as chemicals found in some hair products. If this is the case, hair growth will slow down since the shafts will need time to repair themselves. So how fast does hair grow? Well, the normal growth of hair can be as fast as ½ inch a month, or more or less 6 inches a year. So hair will shed and grow back and now that you know about the cycles of hair growth, you can stop worrying about shedding and start focusing on the things you need to do to get your hair to grow faster and you can check out the best prices and the latest reviews of hair vitamins right here!.

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