How about 7 (seven!), low-to-no no-fuss, budget-friendly ways to help your hair grow stronger and healthier (even thicker) hair without pills? Without gadgets. That you can use with any other product you might be using?
*This assumes you are healthy, and looking for cosmetic benefits. Because you would definitely want to consult with your healthcare provider first if you experience hair loss, hair thinning, changes in hair brittleness. apples bananas squirrels
Did I have you at, "Stronger, Thicker Hair?" Then let's do this!
1) Protein (in your diet): Hair is protein (duh, you say). Yeah - but growing hair is also not a top priority for your body. All your more-critical tissues come first. So you need a little extra protein in your diet to cover luxuries like hair growth. Especially if you're not a teenager - because we get less efficient at digesting protein as we get farther into adulthood. Go here to find out how much protein is the bare minimum based on your age, size and activity level. Then aim for some extra servings of protein when you can. Give your body the raw materials it needs.
Protein isn't just meat, fish, eggs and dairy. Protein can come from seeds, grains, nuts, legumes (beans, peas, peanuts, tofu), or vegetarian "meat alternatives" like veggie burgers. We can swap lower-protein foods for higher protein foods so it all fits into our daily intake well.
2) Silica: Silica is a nutrient that can help improve hair's tensile strength (that reduces breakage) - and this means that your hair grows in stronger when you have a higher silica intake. It doesn't affect hair that has already grown. Higher silica intake is correlated with reduced hair loss. Individual hairs may grow in a little wider. Two of the most bioavailable (right-sized to get into the bloodstream) silica sources are alcohol-free beer, and green beans. Hair and nails often grow a little bit faster when you have a higher silica intake. Silica has an effect on the way that skin and hair (and nail) proteins are produced (1, 2), and may reduce oxidative stress, both of which may point to its ability to strengthen hair and maybe help discourage that too-soon hair shedding that goes with pattern hair loss. Fun facts (because I'm a pro in an area of silica science) - plants also use silica in their immune systems and for structural support.
Foods are a great way to get the benefit of silica without supplements. Grains are grasses - they contain silica in their tissues that breaks down to be at least partly bioavailable during digestion. Beer contains silica because the grains used in producing it release the silica in their hulls during fermentation - and it becomes soluble in the liquid. That's why it is easily absorbed. Studies with supplements usually include 5 to 10 mg supplemental silica, on top of whatever silica people were eating. Here's a handy table of high-silica foods to help you level up your silica intake. Note the serving size and do the math. You can easily get 10-15+ mg of silica from foods that deliver lots of other nutrients you need for healthy hair.
| Food | Silica content | Serving size |
|---|
| Green Beans | 4 mg | 4 oz (1/2 cup, 50 g) |
| Non-Alcoholic Beer | 6 to 7 mg | 10 oz (300 ml) |
| Salad greens | 1 to 1.75 mg | 80 g |
| Oat Bran | 3 mg | 2 Tablespoons (30 g) |
| Oat Cakes | 3 mg | 2 cakes (26 g) |
| Oatmeal (Porridge) | 3 mg | 2 Tablespoons (30 g) |
| Oatmeal - dry | 9 mg | 1/2 cup (4 oz, 120 ml) |
| Whole Wheat Bread | 1.5 mg | 1 Slice |
| Bran Flakes | 1.5 mg | 30 g |
| Granola | 6 mg | 3 Tabelspoons (60g) |
| Museli | 3 mg | 4 oz (1/2 cup, 50 g) |
| Brown rice (cooked) | 4 mg | 1/2 cup (120 g) |
| White rice (cooked) | 2 mg | 1/2 cup (120 g) |
| Wheat bran | 1.5 mg | 2 Tablesppons (14 g) |
| Corn chips | 2 mg | 50 g (20 chips?) |
| Dry beans and lentils | 0.5 to 0.8 mg | Per Tablespoon (30 g) |
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Microscopic
image of a silica-
rich"hair" from a
green bean plant. |
3) Keep the Sun Off: UV exposure to your scalp causes stress! You don't need your skin and hair follicles spending energy fighting oxidative stress caused by sun exposure. Your hair doesn't provide your scalp all the UV protection you need. (
Details here). Give your scalp a break - let some fabric (hat/cover, scarf) take the stress instead.
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4) Keep Your Scalp Very Happy: Some folks like to space out their wash-days as far as possible, for good reasons. But if you're waiting until
after your scalp becomes itchy - you're ignoring a distress call. Itch is communication. Itch is probably coming with oxidative stress. Again - that causes your skin and hair follicles to spend energy dealing with stress instead of doing their hair-growing job. Wash
before itch or irritation sets in whenever possible. Especially if you have eczema, seborrheic dermatitis, or psoriasis - when those conditions flare, hair tends to grow in
less-strong, possibly less-dense.
There are some other ingredients that can soothe the scalp that aren't considered "medicine" that might work for you as well if your scalp experiences unrest occasionally. They're the same ones in my
"oily hair" post.
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5) Add Bond-Repair to Your Routine:
If you have long hair, chemically-treated hair, breakage-prone hair, if you heat-style or otherwise abuse your hair, a bond-repair treatment (or product) can help maintain strength. You can DIY it with a Pre or Post-Shampoo Rinse (recipes here). Or you can find a variety of products listed here. Stronger hair means less breakage, fewer split ends, better length-retention.
6) Add Oil Pre-Shampoo Treatments to Your Routine:
These treatments are great for long hair, for breakage-prone hair, and chemically treated hair. Most oils will minimize the drying effects of shampoo. But some oils have special chemical features that help them "soak in" more deeply (Coconut, Sunflower, Avocado, Olive). Especially if left on hair a few hours before washing - they can prevent hair from being weakened and dehydrated during shampooing. That means stronger hair in the long run. Fewer split ends, better length-retention. You can find lots of tips here. This treatment is easy to do - but it takes some trial and error. That post can help cut through some of the frustration in learning which oil, how much to use, how long to leave it on.
These measures can give your hair what it needs to grow well, to stay strong. They may seem very common sensical compared to all the flashy products marketed for hair loss elsewhere. But all these little things add up. As with everything - be consistent. We look for changes in hair growth in terms of 3-6 months, not in days or weeks.
7) Reduce Intake of Sugar: Sugar and sweetened beverages are correlated with worse androgenetic alopecia in young adults - which refers to male (and female) pattern hair loss. In particular, sweetened beverages: Sweetened fruit juice, sweetened tea, energy drinks, soda. For many people, the greatest component of their daily intake of sugar comes from sweetened beverages.
Higher sugar intake has a greater impact on hair-density (thinning hair) if you have other risk-factors for hair loss. Such as family history of thinning hair, high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, seborrheic dermatitis.
The American Heart Association recommends no more than 9 teaspoons of sugars (not occurring naturally, like in fruits) per day for men, and no more than 6 teaspoons for women. A 12 oz can of soda contains 10 teaspoons of sugar. Yeah - that's a lot.
When we give the body a large dose of sugar, it has to flip on a "standby" or "overflow" sugar metabolism-mechanism to handle the load. Unfortunately, that can trigger some stress inside the hair follicle for some individuals - because all things are connected. It may also disrupt their energy supply.
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Science-y Hair Blog © 2023 by Wendy M.S. is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 
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Thanks for this information, I would love to have my hair grow in wider! I had not heard of silica’s role in hair growth, will try to increase that in my diet.
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