Hair Loss Treatment from Food Sources

Protein is vital for hair health. It can be readily found in animal source foods, particularly meats, cheese, eggs, fish, milk, and yogurt.

There is no need for a person eating the average Western diet to eat additional protein. Excess protein in the diet, even though hair is made of protein, will not improve hair growth but may cause other health problems.

A challenge for vegans is to maintain healthy levels of protein, which contains all nine essential amino acids that are found mostly in animal food sources. Seeds, nuts, legumes, grains and vegetables do not contain the same form of protein necessary for a healthy body.

There is only one common non-meat source for complete protein, and that is the soybean. Fortunately, soybeans have been made into tofu and texturized vegetable protein (TVP) so that they can be made into a variety of dishes. Moreover, you may eat from an array of vegetable sources in order to obtain all the essential amino acids necessary as a natural hair loss treatment.

Next to protein, zinc is also essential for hair maintenance, dandruff prevention, and as a natural hair loss treatment. It is a vital component of healthy hair in that it is responsible for cell production, tissue growth and repair, and the maintenance of the oil-secreting glands of the scalp. It also plays a large role in collagen formation and protein synthesis.

Most foods of animal origin, particularly seafood, contain good amounts of zinc. Zinc is also found in milk and eggs, although in much smaller amounts. Zinc from sources such as legumes, nuts, and natural grains is of a different type than those found in animal sources and is not easily used by the body, although oats are a good source of zinc that is readily used by the body partly as a natural hair loss treatment.

Iodine is also crucial to hair growth. Sheep farmers in the old days discovered that vegetation void of iodine due to iodine-depleted soil will adversely affect the growth of wool in sheep.

Similarly, our hair needs iodine to grow. Iodine is synthetically added to table salt; however, in this form, it is not absorbed well by the body and may therefore cause iodine overload. An excess of iodine in the body can adversely affect the thyroid. It is best to use non-iodized salt and acquire your iodine from natural food sources like salmon, lima beans, seaweed, molasses, eggs, seafood, unpeeled potatoes, garlic and watercress.