Top 7 At-home Tips for Healthier Hair Growth… Naturally!
Fans of Lord of the Rings can gather together and say that Legolas is the poster boy for healthy and beautiful hair. Honestly, we cannot compete with that!
Growing out hair is a pretty frustrating task. It affects not only a large population of men, but is also very common in women. One of the main causes of hair loss or hair thinning is genetics. Sometimes, medications also play a huge factor.
While treatments are a big help, they are pretty expensive. There are some at-home remedies that you can try to help bring back life to your hair and scalp.
In this post, we’ve come up with a beneficial list of tips on how to grow out your hair in safer, more natural, and healthier way this 2020.
#1 Try Biotin supplements
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As humans, we do not have the perfect genetics like the Elves in LOTR, we can come close though, through the help of several supplements.
When it comes to supplements, Biotin has been found to be the most helpful to promote healthier hair growth. In fact, there are various shampoos that have come out recently that is fortified with Biotin.
So, what exactly is Biotin? How can it help with hair growth?
Biotin, otherwise known as vitamin H or vitamin B7, is a vital part of enzymes that naturally occur in the body that help break down specific substances such as carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.
In case studies, it was found out that people who are low in Biotin have really brittle hair and nails. These symptoms were remedied by the intake of Biotin supplements.
With the addition of Biotin in the body, those who took it shared that their hair and even nails were stronger. They also noticed regrowth in their scalp.
Due to these health claims, many supplement manufacturing companies have come up with their very own formulations.
This is why you’ll need to know about the following before buying biotin supplements:
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Most of the biotin supplements are way over the recommended daily allowance for the vitamin.
Like Vitamin C, there are also no reported cases of harmful overdose on Biotin. Vitamin H is a water soluble vitamin that the body easily metabolizes and turns into body waste in the form of pee.
According to the recommended daily allowance (RDA), a healthy adult can consume up to 300 micrograms of Biotin. Most of the commercially available Biotin supplement contains anywhere from 1,000 mcg up to 10,000 mcg.
It would be wise to not pay up for any excessive Biotin when your body is just going to expel it naturally.
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Biotin is already present in your common food item.
Another important thing to know about Biotin is how it naturally exists in your diet. Here are some of the food that were found to be very rich in Vitamin H:
- Dairy products such as milk and cheese
- Eggs
- Almonds
- Spinach
- Sweet potato
- Cauliflower
- Mushroom
Again, there has not been a case of overdose on Biotin, but it won’t harm to add these foods to your diet for a steady source of Biotin.
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Biotin can mess up blood results.
In 2017, the US FDA issued a health communication that mentioned how Biotin can have an effect on the results of the blood tests.
In the same health communication, it mentioned that the vitamin is actually being used to create special bonds in the proteins in the blood. Which is why, anyone who might be taking Biotin or are considering taking Biotin should communicate this with their health care provider prior any blood tests.
Further into the memorandum, Biotin was found to cause confounding results in the blood tests making the results appear unnaturally very high or low.
#2 Avoid too much heat
If you want healthier hair growth and always use a blow-dry to dry your hair, you might wanna read this.
Sure, a little heat can be effective in helping the follicles open up for better absorption of hair products. This is why salons steam your head for a bit when before they apply treatments on to your scalp.
Sadly, using way too much of heated styling products such as blowers, hair straighteners, and hair curlers will make your hair very brittle and dry. This makes it harder for you to achieve that Legolas-type kind of healthy hair.
As an alternative, you might want to use drying products that make use of hair without the heat. You can look up Dyson hair drying products. They have new releases of hair dryers that don’t use heated air like the traditional hair dryers.
#3 Protect your hair from UV exposure
Ultraviolet is the harmful ray of light that can cause negative effects to your skin and hair. It will be difficult to escape the exposure from UV light (unless you live in a very dark corner of the face of the Earth) but, there are products that you can use to help yourself become shielded from the harmful ray of light.
One of the ways in which you’re guaranteed with protection from the UV exposure is by using hats or umbrellas that create a barrier between you and the UV light.
If you don’t feel like having to carry an umbrella every time you head out or even wear a hat/cap, you can always use hair products that are fortified with UV light protection. Here’s a list of the best hair products that have protection against UV light according to Elle:
- Sunscreen Care Oil Spray Broad Spectrum SPF 30 by Clarins
- Untangled by Kevin Murphy
- Sun Care Protective Hair Veil by Aveda
- Color Care Color Protect Locking Spray by Paul Mitchell
- Ultimate Sun Protection Spray Broad Spectrum SPF 50+ by Shiseido
- Pre-Soleil Hair Radiance and Protection Mist by Fekkai
- Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil Heat & UV Protective Primer by Bumble and bumble
- Phyto Plage Protective Sun Oil by us.phyto.com
- Hot Toddy Heat Protectant Mist by Drybar
- Climate Protection Hair Spray by Tresemmé
- UV Protecting 5-in-1 Mist by Bare Republic
When shopping for UV light protection for hair, here are some factors to keep in mind:
- When buying sunscreen for hair, it is vital to look out for the SPF level or for the following ingredients.
- Hair sunscreen with an indicated level of SPF are considered to provide the best protection against harmful UV rays.
- Conditioners or shampoos that coat the roots with the sunscreen are more effective than those that you leave-on only on the hair.
#4 Eat a healthy diet
It goes without saying that your diet affects the body in so many ways… Hair included!
When you eat a really good diet enriched with the right amount of proteins and fats, you will start to notice a change in your nails and hair growth. This is because nails and hair are composed of protein.
Here is a list of foods you can eat to improve your hair’s health:
- Egg – Contains biotin.
- Fish – Rich in Omega 3, essential for the health of hair cuticles and follicles.
- Nuts – Rich in Vitamin E which helps protect the hair from damage.
- Spinach – Rich in Folate, Vitamin A, and Iron which contributes to the overall hair health.
- Greek yogurt – Protein-rich treat that has helps build your hair strand to make it even stronger. Found to contain Vitamin B5 which promotes the scalp health.
- Fruits high in Vitamin C – Fruits high in Vitamin C such as oranges, blueberries, kiwi, and guava help the body by giving it the essential antioxidants. Vitamin C also makes the iron get absorbed by the body better thereby making the hair healthier.
- Lean meat – Rich in Protein that helps make each hair strand stronger.
Aside from the foods above, you should always make sure that you stay hydrated. Drinking lots of water is very beneficial to your overall health as well as for your hair.
Always remember that whatever is seen outside comes from within. So, for longer life and healthier hair growth, start eating healthy and stay hydrated.
#5 Condition and apply treatments to your hair once a week
Hair is very similar to the skin. When it’s taken care of, it can look and appear as healthy as you take care of it. And just like the skin, the hair also requires maintenance steps one of which is conditioning it at least once a week.
There are a lot of factors that contribute to your hair’s health. Sometimes, despite consuming the right kind of foods and even taking supplements, it just won’t work. This is where at-home treatments come in.
At-home treatments are nifty because you can do it at home while you’re making food for your children or working on a home project. But the challenge is finding the treatment that will work for you.
Some people find resolve in the use of coconut oil. They put it once a week and they swear that this natural treatment gives their hair shine and softness unlike any other brand of conditioner.
Some swear by salon products that are fortified with ceramide, keratin, collagen, which are types of protein that help build up the strands in your hair.
Whether it’s natural or not, conditioning once a week will go a long way towards improvement of your hair’s health.
#6 Get a regular trim
“A trim when you’re growing out your hair? Now, that seems counterproductive!”
We’re completely with you on this… at first. But, thanks to personal experience and of course, professional knowledge from salon hair stylists, we found out that indeed, getting a hair trim is productive for growing out your hair. How does this work?
Our hair can get regularly damaged and they can easily be seen with split ends.
These split ends usually give the hair a very damaged look and by removing the split ends, you protect your hair from the further damage that the split ends can do. While there’s not much you can do with preventing the split ends from happening,
#7 Comb hair carefully!
I think we all know the struggle of brushing hair so brashly when we’re rushing.
Let us tell you that you shouldn’t really brush your hair like that if you want healthy hair growth.
Stylists will tell you that you shouldn’t brush your hair harshly because follicles are delicate. Brushing harshly will only end up uprooting hair strands which results in hair fall.
Furthermore, refrain from ever brushing your hair while it is still wet.
Brushing your hair while it is still wet causes more tension on your scalp and follicles ending up more hair on the hair brush. Also, did you know that there’s an even better way of brushing or combing your hair?
The best way to brush your hair is to begin from the ends of the hair. Use a wide-toothed comb to remove the tangles or use a detangler brush to ensure that your tangles are removed and your hair taken care of.
Once the tangles are all taken care of, you can now begin brushing your hair from the roots and down.
Don’t get this wrong, brushing your hair actually promotes your hair’s natural health. It allows blood circulation and natural oil distribution throughout your scalp. But don’t forget to do it the right way!
Bonus tip: Don’t tie your hair too tightly!
Here’s what not a lot of people don’t know about the ballerina buns. They’re done too tightly which adds tension to the scalp and the follicles. Sadly, doing so causes some of the ballerinas to have receding hairlines.
Tying your hair up is very beneficial. With the hair being known as a trigger for acne breakouts, tying your hair helps move it away from your face.
Just in case you’ll need to tie your hair up, do it very gently. And while you’re at it, use really gentle hair ties like scrunchies!
[mydivider]The Low-down on Hair Growth
Growing out your hair is a tedious task. Growing it out healthily is even more tedious!
Among the tips we’ve shared today, many swear by adding biotin supplements to support their hair growth. Some of the long-time users of the vitamins have expressed that the addition of biotin helped the hair grow back in their bald spots. It’s even considered by many as a miracle vitamin that fight against hair fall and hair loss.
For more tips for a healthier you and everything else, always check out our Topratedanything blog! We update almost every week, so be sure to watch out for new informative articles and buyers guides.
10 Comments
I love your gif of Legolas! I’ll agree with you, he’s truly the epitome of beautiful hair growth! Kidding aside, your post is very informative and well researched. It deserves to be seen and read by a lot of people. Well, your whole site is filled with nice articles worth reading!
I’ve been on a lot of sites lately because my hair is starting to fall out. My alopecia is starting to go bad. I’ve been thinking about getting a hair transplant. So i guess i’ll try the “diet” part of your post. All I’ve seen is take biotin supplements but I’m not even sure if that will work. help?
You know what will truly help your hair to grow out? Stop using blow drier or a hair iron. That would SURELY and DEFINITELY make your hair healthier. It limits hair damage so your hair can keep growing and growing. When I stopped using a blow dry, that’s when I noticed that my hair looked healthier.
Funny that you should mention eating eggs for biotin. My mom has “treated” my hair with mayonnaise since I was little. DON’T JUDGE US. She said it was to make my hair stronger and shinier and fuller! It stinks for about a week, while it stunk of mayonnaise and actually smelling like a sandwich, it would be the shiniest that my hair would ever be. Now that I’m older, I would still do it from time to time… ONLY WHEN i don’t have to be around so many people for several days… I do love some natural treatment.
Hey! Ladies (and gents) apparently, washing your hair with rice wash is effective for making the hair healthy. I’ve tried it as a “toner”, it was great for my skin! I tried making it on my own because SKIN FOOD was very expensive. So, I tried putting it also on my hair. Not on my scalp tho. Just on the hair itself. WOW! it was pretty shiny!!! It was one of my best discoveries of at home/ do it yourself beauty remedy of 2019. I hope you can give it a try too!
Staying in Straya, you’ll just have to learn to protect yourself from the UV rays! When you’re buying sunscreen don’t forget to buy some for your skin as well. People always forget the hair but you gotta take care of it! I swear by climate protection by tressemme! It’s an amazing product, doesn’t cause my hair to be so tangly and sticky. And that price??? Cant go wrong with it!
BIOTIN IS AMAZING. I take it as a supplement and use it as shampoo and conditioner. It’s helped me recover from a really bad hair job from a salon. I almost want to sue that salon, but I don’t wanna waste time and money. If you want really healthy hair, stay away from salons that you’re not familiar with. Stick with your hairdresser and you’ll be fine. If you unfortunately experience a bad hair job like me and experienced bad damage and extreme hair fall, biotin is the answer.
I’ve always loved going to your blog. It always has fresh content for readers like me. I love getting new info and getting updates for a lot of different topics. Hair? It’s such a mundane topic to read about. I’ve heard good things about biotin. I also think that collagen can be helpful for hair growth!
My gram always tells me to brush my hair. This gets all the natural oils throughout the hair strands. So I do, every night, I would brush my hair, with 100 strokes. Gently and very carefully not to pull on any strands. I’ve always kept this routine in mind and have followed it ever since I can remember. My hair has always been healthy and I believe that it is through this method that I’ve helped it grow healthier. I guess you should add that tip to your list!
Hello TRA. I’m a huge follower of your blog since you started last year. You have very well-informed articles and well-written buyer guides. Anyway, I’m taking biotin supplements now so I’ll let you know if they actually have an effect. but, what I found to be very effective on hair growth is trimming off the ends of my hair. Just a trim to remove all the split ends. It always looks as if I went to the salon to get a hair treatment which is what I like. It just looks healthier without any of the split ends. Good luck, TRA! I hope you continue to write more good content, not the trash I often see on the net