Are you looking for an easy, natural and affordable way to invest in your hair health? We’ve got you covered. Below, we list seven foods with hair health benefits and a few delicious meals you can make with them.
You may have undertaken some of your own healthy hair research only to find ads for expensive, aesthetically-branded hair supplements. Do we really need supplements to implement the essential nutrients for healthy hair into our diets? Let’s examine:
If, like me, you want to focus on health and well-being and nourish your body without spending a fortune at Holland and Barrett, I have good news. You can find the key nutrients for healthy hair in most pantry staple foods. These beneficial foods are incredibly simple to incorporate into an overall diet, aka one filled with all of the food groups, including chocolate and ice cream.
According to the Harley Street Hair Clinic, the nutrients associated with healthy hair stimulation are as follows:
- Biotin
- Vitamin A, C, D, E
- B Vitamins
- Protein
- Iron
To cultivate healthy hair we need to source natural sources of the above nutrients. Luckily for us, these nutrients are found in many common foods you are sure to come across at the local supermarket. The Harley Street Hair Clinic lists the following foods as containing these key nutrients:
- Sweet potato
- Spinach
- Salmon
- Sunflower seeds
- Pumpkin seeds
- Avocado
Now that we have a list to follow, let’s think about ways of incorporating these foods into your daily diet. Some of my go-to meal ideas that include these foods are:
Miso salmon bowls
Roast your salmon fillets in miso paste, honey, sesame oil, salt, pepper, and chilli (if you like spice).
Cook your grain of choice (my favourite is black rice, which has a rich flavour and is high in protein) and assemble your bowl with the roasted salmon, grains, half an avocado and a bed of spinach. For a special touch, add sunflower seeds and fresh chilli on top.
Spiced sweet potato lentils
This recipe is a personal favourite from a family friend who is an incredible chef. It’s incredibly comforting in the colder months.
Roast sweet potato with sliced red onion, olive oil, cinnamon, sumac, cayenne pepper and ginger. Cook a serving of puy lentils (or microwave your pre-cooked packets…we won’t judge you). Once you have finished cooking everything, stir the puy lentils through the roast sweet potato and red onion. You can serve this as a main or a side dish with meat and salad.
Avocado toast with cumin crunch
I promised these would be easy meal ideas, and I wasn’t kidding. Sometimes, the best meals are those we can pull together in under 10 minutes (or 15 if you have a slow toaster). Once your cumin crunch mix is ready, this meal is a super-quick staple.
To create the cumin crunch, heat a pan without oil. Once hot, toast sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, roughly chopped almonds, pistachios and cumin. Remove from heat immediately once the mixture starts to brown.
Toast your bread of choice. Mine is a sourdough rye sourced from my local farmers market at an eye-watering price (it’s just too good). Slice an avocado and add it to the toast. Top with EVOO, salt, pepper, and your cumin crunch mixture. Want a boost of protein? Adding smoked salmon or an egg is a delicious way to further ramp up the healthy hair benefits of this meal.
Roast sweet potato breakfast bowl
Chop and roast a sweet potato seasoned with cinnamon and ginger; serve with a tablespoon of peanut butter, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, Medjool dates and goji berries. It’s simple and hits those sweet cravings. If your sweet cravings need extra love, add some chocolate chips (I mean, why not?).
If you create any of the above meals, post on Instagram and tag @thenewfeminist so we can see!
If you’re looking for more words of wisdom on hair health, click here
