healthy hair central

The problem of slow hair growth or the lack of length can be caused by a number of reasons, such as the diet you consume, excessively styling or roughly handling your hair, and even cutting it too often. Now you probably know about these already, but chances are that you didn’t know about the following four habits that can affect the growth of your hair.

Habit #1: Shampooing Too Often

Your shampoo strips your hair of its natural oils, which can completely dry your hair if you use it on a daily basis. Once your hair grows dry, you may experience regular hair loss, which then keeps your hair short. So shampoo your hair after every two or three days to keep it healthy and prevent it from falling.

Habit #2: Not Moisturizing Your Hair

Spending too much time working outdoors and exposing your hair to various elements can dehydrate your hair. Dry hair becomes rough and breaks easily, keeping your hair short. So consider using a moisturizing conditioner to prevent such a thing from happening.

Habit #3: Getting the Wrong Haircut

As your hair grows long, its highly porous ends act like a magnet for all sorts of air pollution and dirt. However, cutting your hair too often is also a big mistake. To keep things balanced, keep your hair at collar bone length to give it a healthy look and make it look neater.

Habit #4: Choosing Tight Ponytails and Buns

Tight ponytails and buns cause hair breakage and can actually pull out the roots of your hair. This is especially true while pulling soaking wet hair through ponytails. So, to allow your hair to grow and keep it healthy, keep your ponytail loose or go for a loose bun or braid.

Now that you know your mistakes, make sure to avoid them to get the long, healthy hair you’ve always wanted.

Folate and folic acid are two almost identical vitamins that vary slightly in their chemical formula but have essentially the same beneficial effects for one’s nutrition and hair health. The vitamin is found in green, leafy vegetables like spinach or broccoli, in legumes, such as peas, beans or lentils, and in a variety of fruits.

The importance of folate derives from its ability to stimulate the growth and cell regeneration process in the body. It is widely considered to be a factor in growth because it accelerates tissue repair and healing after prolonged disease or intense physical exercise.

Folate is among the most important vitamins not only for humans, but also for other animals and even bacteria. For example, there are antibiotics used for medical purposes to treat bacterial infections that kill bacteria by inhibiting their ability to use folate for their growth and multiplication. Without folate or folic acid, the bacteria stop growing and soon dies.

In the same manner, the human body needs folate to grow, repair its cells, and replace old cellular structures and components. For example, the hair contains a specific protein called keratin, which offers strength and flexibility.

Folate deficiency in one’s diet can cause the hair to become fragile or grey, and greatly accelerates hair loss. Introducing enough folate in the diet usually results in adequate hair growth. Folate is also very important for individuals who engage in physical work or exercise because it helps repair the muscles and recover faster by stimulating protein production and replacement. Athletes, military personnel and other physically active individuals are encouraged by nutritionists to increase their ingestion of folate or folic acid to satisfy the growing demands for healing, cellular repair and regeneration in their bodies.

A diet rich in “green” vegetables, legumes, and fruits usually provides enough folate for one’s nutritional needs. Fresh juices made from a variety of fruits or vegetables are especially rich in folate.

Resources

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002408.htm http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/folate/NS_patient-folate

Vitamin A is a powerhouse when it comes to keeping your hair feeling healthy and looking fabulous. It is one of the hardest working vitamins when it comes to the well being of the hair and scalp.

Many foods that you eat contain vitamin A including; cantaloupe, carrots, pumpkin, dark leafy greens and meat, but it’s difficult for you to receive all the benefits associated with a full daily allowance without taking a vitamin A supplement, available at most pharmacies and grocery stores. An expert recommended intake of vitamin A is 900 micrograms for men and 700 micrograms for women. More than the recommended amount is too much and can actually cause other health problems.

Vitamin A is an effective source of anti-oxidants, these anti-oxidants can remove unwanted and harmful free radicals from your hair, free radicals which are known to attach themselves to healthy cells and oxidize them, causing premature aging, and dulling and graying of the hair. Eliminating free radicals will make your hair feel lighter, give it more body, and help promote the strength and appearance of younger hair.

Vitamin A is also an anti-inflammatory agent and can stimulate the production of sebum in the scalp. Our bodies produce sebum in the follicles of the hair. The natural lipids, or oils, contained in sebum are essential for keeping your scalp healthy and moisturized. Many shampoos contain an overdose of powerful cleansing agents such as sulfates that can strip this naturally occurring substance from the hair. Washing too often or using a “cleansing” shampoo might make your hair feel squeaky clean, but it is drying your hair and leads to tangles. A properly moisturized scalp that receives a healthy dose of vitamin A helps keep the cuticle of your hair shaft smooth and leads to strong, naturally shiny hair.

A diet rich in vitamins A, D and C is an important source of nutrition for the health of skin and hair. They encourage the growth of healthy cells as well as connective tissues, increasing the efficiency of the entire body on a daily basis. Add vitamin A to your beauty regimen to ensure that your hair always remains abundant and vibrant.

Resources

Having long hair is the dream of most girls. However, not all of them manage to achieve this. One of the reasons behind this is the amount of breakage their hair experiences. If you really want to flaunt long tresses wherever you go, you need to take action against your brittle, easy to break hair. So, here are four bits of advice you should abide by.

Do Your Best to Minimize Your Hair Loss

It is normal to shed 50-100 hairs per day. If you start losing more, you need to make a few changes, such as choosing a protective style for a week or two or resisting the urge to unnecessary comb your hair. Through these small steps, you’ll be able to reduce your hair loss.

Stop Breakage from the Roots

Detangling your hair should never be painful. If that’s not the case and you’re pulling out a lot of hair, your roots will grow weak. So, either change your method of detangling or consider detangling in smaller sections to avoid breakage from the roots.

Try to Avoid Breakage from the Ends

Hair tangles around the ends of shafts, making it prone to breakage. To prevent this from happening, simply dab the tangles with oil for a few minutes and you’ll find it easier to get smooth, tangle-free hair.

Choose the Correct Detangling Method

Healthy natural hair is a process, not a goal. Therefore, you need to know what works for it to make the process successful. One aspect you should concentrate on is finding the correct detangling method to prevent breakage. You can take your pick from damp detangling, shower detangling, or sink/mirror detangling to prevent breakage.

Following these simple four steps will ensure that your hair grows long, healthy and breakage-proof. Just make sure to complement them with a healthy diet and a more active lifestyle for the best results.

healthy hair central

Monthly Archives: July 2014

Mistakes That Keep Your Hair Short