Indian Food and Recipes for Beautiful Hair | Indian food for hair growth |

Indian nutrients for female hair growth and thickness. A head crowned by lustrous hair is surely a matter of great pride. To get a healthy scalp and shiny hair, you need to include nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E, protein, iron and vitamin C in your diet. Our recipes for beautiful hair are abundant in these nutrients, which promote hair growth, strengthen hair and prevent hair loss, all naturally and tastily! Try Watermelon and Mint Salad - a water and vitamin filled dish for bouncy hair.

Mint Watermelon Salad, Indian Style

Beautiful hair is a blessing and keeping it healthy and shiny is not as difficult as one might think. Though hair-care management will depend largely on the type of hair- long or short, curly or straight, fine or thick, etc there are some general practices that all of us can follow for healthy, shiny hair.

A practice that is very important, yet not often associated with healthy hair, is eating right. Don’t forget that the hair is very much part of our body and it needs special treatment too!

If we want our hair to look it’s best, we’ve got to feed our body the vitamins and minerals our hair needs to be strong and healthy. What the nutrients do is, literally, strike at the roots. A luxuriant mop of hair can grow only if the roots are properly nourished. Thus to keep our hair (and body) looking and feeling its best, we should incorporate a healthy diet into our daily routine.

For our hair to really be our ‘crowning glory’, we need to pamper it, care for it, and feed it properly.

6 Nutrients for Shiny Hair

1. Protein: We would require protein to help strengthen our hair. It is necessary to strengthen the hair follicle and prevent hair fall. Enrich your diet with curd, paneer; pulses like moong, chana and a variety of dals along with nuts like almonds and walnuts. Lauki ka Raita added to your lunch is a simple and easy way to add protein (6.1 g protein / serving) to your diet.

Lauki ka Raita, Protein Rich Recipe

2. Iron: Iron is important for proper blood circulation so that the other nutrients reach the hair and keep it healthy.

Green leafy veggies are known to be the best sources of making up your needs and enhancing haemoglobin levels. A serving of Vegetable Hariyali will help to make up for 15% of your day’s requirement of iron.

Vegetable Hariyali

3. Zinc: The mineral zinc helps to reduce or even prevent hair loss. It also helps keep the oil glands around the follicles perform its task. Hair loss is a common symptom of zinc deficiency. Vegetarian sources of iron are whole grains like bajra, jowar, seeds like chia seeds, sesame seeds, dals like masoor dal and nuts like cashews and walnuts. Try Moong Dal Palak Cheela for breakfast.

Moong Dal Palak Cheela, Indian Pudla Snack

4. Vitamin B Complex: Among the vitamins, the group of vitamin B-Complex does wonders in giving the hair gloss, colour and thickness, all of which are so essential to the appearance of our hair. The Vitamin B9 Rich Folate, Vitamin B12 Cobalamin Rich Foods, Foods Rich in Vitamin B2 Riboflavin, Vitamin B3 Niacin, Vitamin B1 Thiamine, Vitamin B 6.

To get a good dose of all these vitamins you need to include whole grains, veggies and fruits. Avoid the refined maida and sugar completely. Say no to aerated drinks too. Try a Barley Moong Dal Khichdi for dinner and serve it with a bowl of curd and a salad for a complete vitamin B rich meal.

Barley and Moong Dal Khichdi

5. Vitamin C: This vitamin is needed in the making of collagen – a protein needed to maintain hair structure. Vitamin C also ensures the health of capillaries supplying blood to hair follicles by helping in the absorption of iron.

Vitamin C is found in all citrus fruits like orange, lemon etc. other fruits like pineapple, grapefruit, amla etc. Green veggies are also a very good source of this vitamin. Try detox Amla Juice to get maximum vitamin C at one go.

Amla Juice, How To Make Amla Juice, Gooseberry Juice

6. Vitamin E Rich: Vitamin E promotes hair growth and maintains overall healthy hair. Vitamin e is strong antioxidant which reduces the oxidative stress on the hair and scalp and thus reduces hair loss. Often vitamin E oil capsules are used to strengthen hair and prevent hair loss.

Green like kale and spinach, oils like peanut oil, olive oil etc., nuts and seeds like sunflower seeds, walnuts etc. are considered to be rich in vitamin E. Learn How to Roast Sunflower Seeds and then make them a part of your daily salads.

How To Roast Sunflower Seeds

Nutrients for Healthy Hair

	Nutrients	How they help Hair Growth
1.	Protein	We would require proteins to help strengthen our hair.
2.	Iron	Iron is important for proper blood circulation so that the other nutrients reach the hair and keep it healthy.
3.	Zinc	The mineral zinc helps to reduce or even prevent hair loss.
4.	Vitamin B Complex	Among the vitamins, the group of vitamin B-Complex does wonders in giving the hair gloss, colour and thickness, all of which are so essential to the appearance of our hair. The Vitamin B9 Rich Folate, Vitamin B12 Cobalamin Rich Foods, Foods Rich in Vitamin B2 Riboflavin, Vitamin B3 Niacin, Vitamin B1 Thiamine, Vitamin B 6.
5.	Vitamin C	Vitamin C ensures the health of capillaries supplying blood to hair follicles
6.	Vitamin E Rich	Vitamin E promotes hair growth and maintains overall healthy hair.