The Thickness Of Human Hair: Everything You Need To Know

Ensure Proper Nutrition

If you could do only one thing to increase the thickness of your hair, we would advise you to focus on nutrition. All other tips and tricks to increase the thickness of hair are secondary to this basic requirement.

After all, if you don’t give your body enough protein or micro nutrients, then it will not be able to grow healthy, thick, and luxurious hair. As to what nutrients you need to focus on most, here is a quick primer.

Proteins

Proteins are the single most important nutrient you should focus on. Proteins are long chains of amino acids. Different types of proteins vary either on the basis of the type of amino acids they contain or how they’ve been combined.

In fact, there are more types of proteins than types of amino acids. This means that the same type of amino acids could be used to make different types of proteins depending upon the configuration in which they’re arranged.

Our bodies break down the proteins we eat into their base amino acids. These amino acids are then repurposed to produce other proteins. One of these proteins is keratin, which accounts for 80 percent of our hair.

In a nutshell, our bodies need proteins to be able to grow thick and healthy hair. These proteins could be sourced from animal-based foods such as eggs and meats or plant-based foods such as soybeans and dairy products.

Omega 3-Fatty Acids

Omega 3-fatty acids are scientifically proven to boost hair growth, which automatically means that they can increase the thickness of your hair too. The biggest problem with omega 3-fatty acids, however, is that they’re not part of most people’s daily diets.

The reason for this is that very few foods contain omega 3-fatty acids. One food group that is rich in omega 3-fatty acids, though, is seafood. Fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, and herring are particularly good sources of this nutrient.

If you’re looking for omega 3-fatty acids containing foods that are easier to incorporate into your diet than seafood, you should consider eggs and olive oil. Even though these foods don’t contain as much omega 3-fatty acids as seafood, they’re good sources for people living in landlocked, arid regions.

Vitamins

Vitamins are enablers in the human body. Even though we don’t need vitamins in large quantities, we need them in regular doses because they make bodily processes possible.

Moreover, all vitamins are important for healthy hair. If you’re deficient in even a single vitamin, the effects will become visible first in your hair, skin, and nails. While all vitamins are important, some are critical for healthy hair growth and, hence the thickness of hair.

The foremost of these is biotin. Biotin is also known as vitamin H or vitamin B7, which makes it a part of the B-complex vitamins. Biotin is important because it improves the keratin infrastructure in the body i.e. it makes it easier for your body to manufacture keratin.

Another important vitamin for healthy hair is provitamin B5 because it improves the body’s ability to absorb other vitamins. It is also responsible for making your hair more elastic, which can only be achieved with thicker hair.

Minerals

The two most important minerals for healthy hair are iron and zinc.

Iron is essential for the proper functioning of the body’s circulatory system because it is a key component of red blood cells. Since red blood cells are responsible for carrying oxygen to various parts of the body, sufficient iron ensures cellular health all over the body, including the scalp.

Zinc also impacts cellular health because it supports cellular division and development. Since cellular growth is critical for follicular health and proper hair growth, zinc becomes critical to overall hair health and thickness.

Additionally, zinc is also a great inhibitor of dihydrotestosterone or DHT. DHT is primarily responsible for pattern hair loss in men and women. As a result, people suffering from pattern hair loss will find zinc particularly helpful.

A Note on The Quality of The Food You Eat

It isn’t just what you eat, either. It is also about how you eat i.e. how regular you are with your meals and how they’re cooked.

For example, you can have loads of chicken burgers in the name of proteins, but they will not help you that much when compared with a chicken steak grilled at home with the right kind of fats.

Similarly, you cannot have fries in the name of veggies. You need broccoli, peas, carrots, spinach, and other healthy vegetables cooked in the right way to benefit from the micronutrients they contain.

You should also make an effort to balance your meals. This means having sources of carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and minerals in every meal. It is also a good idea to incorporate fiber into your diet.