*Does your diet affect your hair growth?

[Ayeshia]

for some it does and for other it doesnt....my step mother was a heavy smoker never drank water a pepsi addict no vits and she has some of the healthiest looking hair Ive ever seem. very lustrous and thick...I could only imagine what it looked like if she gave a damn

I cant comment for my hair...I never had a poor enough diet to where it actually affected it.

 

[A_Christian]

Diet definitely affects hair growth, I was just talking to my doctor about hair growth and she said just to make sure you eat something green every night as your last food...the calcium etc...stimulates hair growth

I will definitely try this.

I've noticed that my new growth seems to be thicker and more resistant to breakage when I eat a healthy diet. My skin also seems to become blemish free when I increase my water and vegetable intake. I'm not sure if my hair growth rate improves but I can definitely say that the quality of my hair improves when I make a conscious effort to eat more fruits and veggies and drink more water.

 

[LocksOfLuV]

being honest, for me no.

i was up to drinking 4 pepsi's a day, and eating only lean pockets and my growth was still the same.

 

[locabouthair]

i get .25 an inch a month. sometimes i dont even get that much. my hair is dry, dull, and kinda weak and my diet is very bad. i am almost certain my growth is a reflection of my diet but i cannot say that 100% because i have never eaten healthy. i just started eating healthy 2 days ago so in another three months i will see if i see a difference.

i do believe that diet affects hair growth for some because members here like dlewis, leejure and others got a significant amount of growth when they ate healthy.

 

[deejoy]

Nope. I've never eaten healthy and I've never had a growth problem. I used to eat crap when I was a teen and my hair was down my back.

 

[wheezy807]

No i agree i don't think it affects your hair growth. I've never experience growth problems and i have very poor eating habits and i am anemic.

 

[dlewis]

I would normally get 1/2" per month, now with a better diet I get easily 3/4-1" per month. With a poor diet I'm sure hair doesn't stop growing but with a good diet hair grows healthier and faster. Some ladies will get good growth nomatter what. But I think whose people are few a far between.

The young girl here in the office get 1.5" per month and she eats awful but ther sister who eats very healthy, her hair is very thin and short. But she's a recovering anorexic.

 

[NeeSee]

I think my diet not only effects my growth but it also effects my hair health.

 

[Victorian]

You have to understand that saying that your diet affects your hair's health and growth is not the same thing as saying that if you don't have an especially healthy diet then you'll have problems growing hair. Most people would actually have to get pretty sickly before their hair would slow to a crawl or start thinning, etc. For example, like the person dlewis mentioned who had anorexia. I also knew someone who had recently been battling anorexia and her hair suffered greatly. Most people, even if they have a "junky" diet, are nowhere near anorexic conditions with regard to getting enough nutrients. Eating a surplus of fat and sodium and sugar doesn't necessarily mean that you will be lacking protein or vitamins.

And of course because we all have different hair and different body chemistry, you can't directly compare the hair and diet of one person to the hair and diet of another person.

 

[Ayeshia]

You have to understand that saying that your diet affects your hair's health and growth is not the same thing as saying that if you don't have an especially healthy diet then you'll have problems growing hair. Most people would actually have to get pretty sickly before their hair would slow to a crawl or start thinning, etc. For example, like the person dlewis mentioned who had anorexia. I also knew someone who had recently been battling anorexia and her hair suffered greatly. Most people, even if they have a "junky" diet, are nowhere near anorexic conditions with regard to getting enough nutrients. Eating a surplus of fat and sodium and sugar doesn't necessarily mean that you will be lacking protein or vitamins.

And of course because we all have different hair and different body chemistry, you can't directly compare the hair and diet of one person to the hair and diet of another person.

I was thinking along these lines... the most extreme anorexics eat no more than 500 calories a day if that....

 

[Puddles]

[SIZE=+1]I chose yes........but I feel...yes and no.

Yes because.......I'm getting a much faster growth now that I eat more healthy.

No because......long hair runs in my family. Genetics plays a big part with my hair. [/SIZE]

 

[Gisselle]

To be honest no.

 

[tiffers]

I voted no. My diet is horrible, and my hair still grows. Same goes for my sister, she HATES veggies and hardly touches a fruit, but I've never met a person whose hair grows as fast as hers.

 

[hairdrama:{]

I'm glad I came across this thread. Just yesterday my doctor told me that my hemoglobin was below what's concidered "normal" so I have anemia. I have a balance diet , meaning I eat everthing the right portions, meats, veggies, eggs, beans, rice, pretty much everything, yet I have this problem. He put me on Iron & Folic Acid for a whole month to test me again after this period. I'm hopping this change on my overall health helps my hair as I read on another site that Folic Acid renews your cells to grow hair and Iron prevents hair from falling, so will see I'll keep an eye on my hair this comming month to check for improvement. But most definetly, I do think a good diet and health overall is a plus for your hair.

 

[Highly Favored8]

so, true. Diet does affect hair.

 

[pre_medicalrulz]

OP I'm glad someone brought this up because I wondered how SERIOUSLY your diet can effect a persons hair growth.

I know for myself that I live alone & don't cook nor do I care to cook. Ever. I eat out for the last 10 years of my life which includes mcdonalds, burger king, wendys, papa johns, etc. And Vitamins???? what are those? jk But I don't take those either & exercise is for the birds. I have a head full of thick lucious hair and its still growing. So I'm up on defense about that. Good post.

Sent from my LG-MS690 using LG-MS690

 

[candy626]

Yes I think it does.

I was looking at pictures from a couple of years ago and my skin looked really good and my hair looked long (MBl though very thin due to too muchflat ironing). At this time, I used to work retail and I remember I would have customers come up to me all the time and tell me how beautiful my complexion was (mostly older white women and men which I found interesting). I believe this was due to the fact that I ate really healthy (I ate mostly lean meats like turkey, chicken, fish, eggs, consumed limited amounts of processed foods, alcohol, and carbs). I also drank tons of water, daily protein shakes from Odwalla and Naked, and stayed physically active by walking a lot throughout the day. My skin and hair seemed to flourish though I took no multivitamins and did no protective styles. Had I done protective styles though I belive my hair would have been much thicker and retained even more growth.

However once I got a desk job, stopped getting daily exercise, eating junk food, and drinking alcohol frequently it seemed like my hair growth slowed for sure. My skin also started breaking out more.

My hair growth didn't really pick back up until recently when I started taking multivitamins.

However it seemed to be really good back when I had a good diet, walked alot, and drank lots of water. Diet definitely plays a role. Particularly if you consume processed foods, alcohol, and caffeine. Your body has to use essential vitamins and nutrients that may be useful for hair to rid itself of artificial ingredients, presertatives, and toxins from consuming these types of things.

I believe that is why when I graduated college and moved back home for a while, I lost so much weight. I lost between 15-20 pounds (I went from 145 pounds to 128 pounds. I am 5'8 so 128 pounds looked really good on me) from eliminating processed foods and fast food from my diet. My hair and skin improved immediately as well.

For some people diet doesn't play a role but for most it does.

 

[Spongebob]

i have actually seen this with my own eyes

I am on week four of an intense fruit and veg juicing diet. i have been juicing every possible fruit and vegetable I can lay my hands on. And I swear I have never seen this type of natural sebum on my hair, ridiculous shine its beautiful it looks like i have shiny moisteriser on but I dont, and my hair has grown visibly.

I have to say its mentally draining, and im going to take a break this weekend, because im craving normal food so badly. not even fatty food but just healthy warm cooked food.

sorry OP i digressed a little bit, but my answer is yes a healthy diet, altho hard to maintain, can make dramatic difference not only to YOUR GROWTH, but what YOUR EXISTING HAIR will look like.

 

[Ms. Tiki]

My hair grows better when I am on a low carb diet and I take my multi daily. I think everyone is different. I wish I could eat whatever and still have my hair grow.

 

[MarieB]

I know that I do better with growth and retention when I stick to low-carb, regardless of vitamins or water intake. I just had to cut my hair due to too many bad habits catching up to me at once, but I'm back in the path...

 

[greenandchic]

For me it does. Just because I see women with long hair eating McDs doesn't mean I can get away with it.

Not me; no way, no how. I have a hard enough time with the diet I do have gaining length.

 

[Curlykale]

water, healthy fats (avocado, almonds, hemp, fish oil) and dark greens give me the impression that it grows quicker when I have them daily for a month or so.

 

[My Friend]

I need to drink more water.

 

[nadiacurly]

Yes it certaintly does.. When i eat a lot of protein my hair grows a lot thicker/more coarse.. So i try to find a balance.. Otherwise my hair is unmanagable.

 

[Meadow]

How thick a persons hair is or the growth rate can be positively affected by eating healthier and drinking plenty of water. But the way our hair performs mostly depends on genetics and overall health in general.

Sent from my T-mobile Sidekick 4G

 

[CharyAlm0nd]

For me, I honestly think it didn't make a difference. The one time I saw a signification amount of growth in my hair was when I wore weaves (with a a frontal) & wigs for about a year to a year and a half straight and throughout that time I ate nothing but junk and never exercised. Now I'm eating healthier, I'm exercising somewhat regularly, drinking water and paying attention to my hair and nothing is happening.

 

[Kn0ttyByNatur3]

my diet is pretty poor. but I make sure I take a multivitamin to feel like I am doing something right. My hair is still on a good growth path.