10 Natural Steps to Beautiful Hair
Contrary to popular belief, it’s not shampoos or special $70 conditioners that will make or break your hair. Beautiful hair is crafted from the inside out and requires a healthy gut, which is key to all things health.
I’ve struggled with my hair after my pregnancy, but after a whole lotta research, as well as trial and error, my hair is thick, strong, and grows super fast.
I’ve had a number of clients ask me for hair growing tips and tricks, so I compiled the 10 most important things you can do to have thicker, longer, and stronger hair:
1. 🐟 Get in lots of omega 3 healthy fats
Feast on foods like salmon, sardines, olive oil, coconut oil, avocados, and get in a daily dose of extra virgin, raw cod liver oil. The fatty acids in these foods nourish your scalp and promote stronger circulation, preparing your follicles to grow you lots of thick, resilient, style-ready hair!
2. 🥬Eat lots of leafy greens
Leafy greens, like kale, are full of iron (a key mineral for the stimulation of thick, fast-growing hair), vitamin A (hydration-boosting vitamin that will help keep you properly moisturized, to prevent scalp dryness and dandruff), and vitamin C (which supports your body’s production of collagen, a fundamental protein for the structuring of sturdy yet flexible hair strands).
3. 💊 Supplement with MSM
Kala MSM, a sulfur-rich compound with anti-inflammatory properties. According to research, MSM sulfur can form bonds essential to strengthening hair and influencing hair growth. Kala is the top brand in MSM and gives you the option of powder (which does not taste very good but is more economical) or capsules. Since I started taking this supplement, I found that my hair grows much faster than before (my lashes too!). Moreover, my nails are stronger, skin feels smoother, and all my joints are far less achy.
4. 🍊Get in your vitamin C
Eat lots of citrus fruits, berries, camu camu and supplement with a Liposomal (i.e., most bioavailable) Vitamin C, which fights against free-radical damage and improves collagen synthesis and production.
5. 😴 Get plenty of sleep and Use a silk pillowcase
Poor sleep increases stress hormones, which wreaks havoc on healthy hair and silk has many amino acids in common with your hair, hence it aids in reducing damage, like spilt ends. Beauty experts claim that the luxurious fabric can help keep your hair soft, moisturized, and free of pesky tangles. “Sleeping on a cotton pillowcase will cause hair to bunch, knot, and get staticky,” says New York City salon owner John Corbett. “On a soft silk pillowcase, however, hair will slide, which is much less damaging.” Moreover, your hair do will last much longer when sleeping on silk, which helps it retain the style and shape.
6. 🤢 Eat lots of grass-fed beef liver
Liver is one of the top sources for vitamin A, which plays a key roll in keeping the scalp healthy and hydrated. Can’t get it down? Supplement with Perfect Desiccated Liver to get all the benefits, but none of the dry heaves.
7. 🤐 minimize inflammation
Avoid inflammatory foods, like sugar, wheat, conventional dairy and meat, processed foods and vegetable oils, and anything to which you may be allergic or sensitive. Inflammation can be associated with different types of hair loss. Taking turmeric, a natural anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agent, can lead to dramatically enhanced protection against inflammation, which can reduce the risk of scalp infections and injuries that hinder your hair’s ability to grow, and the antioxidants in turmeric can also battle the yeasty scalp buildup that causes dandruff. So spicing up your diet with a touch of turmeric and taking a high quality turmeric supplement will nurture and nourish your scalp for smoother-growing, cleaner-looking locks!
8. 🤯 MANAGE stress
It is very difficult if not impossible for the body to heal or repair itself when you’re in "fight or flight" mode. Breathing and meditation brings the body into homeostasis, so practice this daily!
9. 🥥 Do a weekly coconut oil hair mask.
Coconut oil is the holy grail of haircare. It contains lauric acid, a type of fatty acid that permeates the hair shaft to support growth and moisturize dry spots. It's also known to replenish proteins that are lost to color treatments and bleaching. A thirty-minute hair mask can restore moisture; an overnight hair mask can protect hair for weeks to come. Just heat the coconut oil in the microwave or on the stovetop until melted and apply it to your damp or dry hair. Wrap it in a towel or shower cap and wear it overnight (or for at least 7 hours during the day). In the morning, rinse out the mask with your preferred toxin-free shampoo and let it air dry.
10. 🚫 Cut out the toxins.
Most shampoos are loaded with synthetic chemicals that cause them to foam like crazy and emit super “perfumey” odors that are anything but natural. Many of these chemicals aren’t just bad for your hair but harmful to your overall health. For example, sulfites, which are compounds that make shampoos lather, also remove oil from the hair. While this can help hair look cleaner, it can also dry it out causing breakage. Keeping at least some oil in your hair is important to protect it from damage.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Victoria Gregory is an Integrative Nutritionist and founder of NEWTRITION NEWYOU. Her focus—whether with private clients, readers of her blog, or her followers on social media— is whole body wellness, incorporating whole-food nutrition, supplementation, exercise, toxin-free living, and mindset coaching. Victoria’s personal mission is to help make the world a healthier place, one person at a time, and she has helped thousands of people find joy and self-love through better eating habits and mindfulness. Learn more about Victoria.