Hair and Diet

Before I start telling you about foods that help you build healthy hair, I want to tell you that food is not magic. It's not even medicine, so do not expect miracles with the food items listed below. They will help you get good hair if you take them adequately over a long period. 

As a general rule, all the food articles that are good for your body are good for your hair. That means a balanced diet rich in proteins, vitamins and minerals. Also remember to follow a healthy lifestyle. And yes, exercise is good for your hair also.

Protein 

Well, 99.9% of hair is protein. If you have low protein intake your hair will be thin, dull and unevenly pigmented. These kind of changes in hair (called " band sign") actually form a part of diagnosis in chronic protein deficiency. 

Eat Sufficient amount of good protein everyday from both plant and animal sources.

What to Eat: Pulses and legumes especially soybean is good for hair. Also, white meat like fish and chicken, eggs and dairy products. 

Iron 

Anaemia and low iron levels are a major cause of hair loss in females. This kind of hair loss is totally reversible with appropriate iron replacement therapy. But, more importantly you can avoid it altogether by including following in your dirt.

What to Eat:  Nuts like peanuts, almonds and walnuts, jaggery, green leafy vegetables like spinach. Also red meat, dried fruit and whole grains.

Vitamins

Two vitamins namely Vitamin C and Biotin are very important for hair growth. Vitamin C helps in collagen production which is the building block of hair while biotin is important for keratin production. Deficiency of either may lead to poor quality hair.

What to Eat: Citrus fruits like oranges, limes and tangerines. Whole grains, eggs and dairy products.

Trace Minerals 

It may sound strange but trace elements like Zinc and Selenium are very important for hair health. Studies show these minerals can affect levels of androgens, hormones associated with hair loss. 

What to Eat: Sea food like oysters and fish, sprout beans, beef and nuts, flaxseeds etc. 

Hair Fall and Stem Cells

There was a very interesting news item in field of hair transplant which I would like to share. This concerns cause of male pattern alopecia.
It is a known fact that in male pattern balding (Androgenetic alopecia), hair follicles don't disappear. They become so small by a process called “miniaturization” that they are not visible to naked eye. Although, we know that DHT is responsible for this process, how exactly it causes miniaturization of hair roots is still not known.

One theory of miniaturization says that DHT causes stem cell depletion in hair follicles of bald areas. A new study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, tries to shed some light on this.  The research team led by Dr. Costarelis, MD collected cell samples from bald and non bald areas from the same persons and counted the number of stem cells present. They were surprised to find that bald areas had the same number of stem cells as hair bearing areas. When they looked further, they found that another cell type, which develops from stem cell, called progenitor cell was deficient in miniaturized follicle.

Dr Costarelis says that, "This implies that there is a problem in the activation of stem cells converting to progenitor cells in bald scalp." As of now, why or what causes the arrest in progression of stem cells to progenitor cells is not known. "However, the fact that there are normal numbers of stem cells in bald scalp gives us hope for reactivating those stem cells," notes Costarelis.
The logical next step would be to identify the factors that arrest this progression and to remove them. A locally applied agent or growth factors that can help stem cells to get converted to progenitor cells would also be very useful.
I have used growth factors injections in some of my patients. The results, especially when used with PRP are good but temporary. The repeated injections overcome the cost benefit. The big break will be an agent that can grow hair permanently. Till then we have hair transplants.