15 Top Biotin Rich Superfoods For Hair Growth (Expert Choice)
You might be struggling with situations like – Waking up from a night’s sleep and finding so many strands of hair covering your pillow? And you find bunches of hair stranded in your comb daily. According to research -it’s found that everyone loses up to 100 strands of hair every day. Losing clumps of hair undoubtedly are a cause for concern. But thankfully, a few conscious changes, specifically to your diet, can protect your tresses, and give you a healthy head of hair.
Our hair grows around 0.5 inches or 1.25 cm per month, and 6 inches or 15 cm per year. The faster growth even depends on factors like health, age, genetics, and diet.
However, you can’t change the factors like age and genetics but diet is a thing that you have control over. In fact, consuming a diet that lacks the right nutrients leads to hair loss.
While, eating a balanced diet with including right nutrients helps in promoting hair growth, mainly if you’re experiencing hair loss due to poor nutrition intake.
So, let’s get through the most effective superfoods for hair growth that not only reduce hair fall but also make them healthy, long, and lustrous too.
Best Superfoods For Quick Hair Growth
| Superfoods | Value | Biotin |
| Eggs yolk | 50g | 10 mcg |
| Berries (Black) | 100 gram | 4 mcg |
| Spinach | boiled, ½ cup | 0.5 mcg |
| Fatty Fish(Salmon) | 85 grams | 5 mg |
| Avocado | 200 grams | 1.85 mcg |
| Nuts | 1/4 cup /30 gram | 1.5 mcg |
| Seeds(Sunflower) | 1/4-cup /20-gram | 2.6 mcg |
| Sweet potato | cooked, ½ cup | 2.4 mcg |
| Oysters | 120g | 10 mcg |
| Beans | 28-gram | 5 mcg |
| Soybeans | 100 gram | Biotin 60 µg |
| Meat (Chicken) | 100 gram | 4 mcg |
| Dark Chocolate | 5 oz | 5,000 Mcg |
1. Eggs yolks
Egg yolks are the prominent source of protein and biotin, two effective nutrients that may promote your hair growth.
Having an adequate amount of protein is crucial for hair growth as hair follicles are made mostly of protein. The lack of protein in your diet can lead to promoting your hair loss.
Biotin is a must for the production of a hair growth protein called keratin. So, biotin supplements are generally marketed for hair growth. As per research, consuming more biotin can help you improve your hair growth if you are one with a biotin deficiency.
Although, biotin deficiencies are not common if you are on a balanced diet.
Undoubtedly, eggs are a great source of selenium, zinc, and other hair-healthy nutrients. This is how it is known as one of the best foods to consume for optimal health of hair.
2. Berries
Berries are bombarded with beneficial vitamins and compounds that are helpful in promoting hair growth. Specifically, it includes vitamin C that has strong antioxidant properties.
Basically, Antioxidants are helpful in protecting hair follicles against the damage from harmful damaging molecules known as free radicals. These molecules are found naturally in the body and the environment.
For an instance, 1 cup or 144 grams of strawberries gives you an impressive 141% of your daily vitamin C needs.
Vitamin C is utilized by the body to produce collagen. Collagen is a protein that helps strengthening hair to prevent it from being rough, brittle, and breaking.
This vitamin C even helps your body absorb iron from the diet you take. Low iron levels can cause diseases like anemia, which has been directly linked to hair loss.
3. Spinach
Spinach is one of the most preferable healthy green vegetables which is loaded with beneficial nutrients like iron, folate, and vitamins A and C. All these work together to promote hair growth.
Vitamin A present in it to help the skin glands produce sebum. This oily substance, sebum helps to moisturize the scalp to keep your hair healthy for longer.
A cup or 30 grams of spinach provides you up to 54% of your daily vitamin A needs.
It is a great plant-based natural source of iron, which is crucial for hair growth. Iron helps the red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout your body to fuel up your metabolism and promote growth and repair.
It is because mainly iron deficiencies have been linked to hair loss.
4. Fatty Fish
Fatty fish like herring, salmon, and mackerel consist of nutrients that may promote your hair growth.
They are taken as excellent sources of omega-3 fatty acids, which are very helpful for hair growth.
A study was done on 120 women, and it is found that taking a supplement containing omega-6 fatty acids and omega-3 as well as antioxidants reduces hair loss and subsequently increases hair density.
Another study found that consuming a fish oil supplement considerably reduces hair loss while increasing hair growth in women with thin hair.
Although, there are only a little few studies on omega-3 fatty acids and hair growth. But the results from those few are astonishing as they were performed under the recommendations of health experts.
Fatty fish is taken as a great source of vitamin D3 and B vitamins, protein, selenium, nutrients that promote strong and healthy hair.
5. Avocados
Avocados are not only delicious but nutritious too and a great source of healthy fats.
Avocados are considered to be an excellent source of vitamin E that promotes hair growth.
Even One medium-size avocado which is about 200 grams can provide up to 21% of your daily vitamin E needs.
Similarly, like vitamin C, vitamin E is also an antioxidant that is helpful in combating oxidative stress by neutralizing the free radicals.
In a study, it is found that people facing hair loss have experienced 34.5% faster hair growth after taking a vitamin E supplement for almost eight months.
Vitamin E is beneficial for the skin too, as it also protects areas of the skin, such as the scalp, from oxidative stress and damage. Because damaged skin on the scalp may result in poor hair quality and lesser hair follicles.
Furthermore, avocados are a huge source of essential fatty acids necessary for the body. These fats cannot be produced by the human body itself, but function as the essential building blocks of your cells.
A deficiency of essential fatty acids can lead to successive hair loss.
6. Nuts
Nuts are the food of your choice, as they’re tasty, crunchy convenient, and contain a vast variety of nutrients that are helpful in promoting hair growth.
For example, serving an ounce or 28 grams of almonds provides a sufficient amount of 37% of your daily vitamin E needs.
Moreover, they even give you a wide variety of B vitamins, zinc, and other essential fatty acids. A deficiency in any of these crucial nutrients can definitely lead to hair loss.
Nuts are used as energy booster food and been linked to a wide variety of other health benefits besides hair growth for ages. It helps in reducing inflammation and lowers the risk of heart disease.
That’s why nuts are an excellent and easy addition to your daily diet.
7. Seeds
Seeds deliver an extensive amount of nutrients with relatively no calories. These nutrients are effective hair growth promoters which include zinc vitamin E, and selenium.
Consuming an ounce or 28 grams of sunflower seeds provides you up to 50% of your daily vitamin E needs, with a wide range of hair-healthy B vitamins.
Moreover, specific seeds like chia seeds and flaxseeds also provide omega-3 fatty acids.
Serving of 1-ounce or 28-grams of flaxseeds provide you up to 6,388 mg of omega-3 fatty acids. This is more omega-3 fatty acids than half a fillet or 178 grams of salmon can provide you.
Although, flaxseeds give you a type of omega-3 fatty acid, which is hardly used by the body as efficiently as the omega-3s found in fatty fish. But still, it’s a good addition to the diet.
If you’re a hair growth freak, then consume the widest variety of nutrients, as a mixture of seeds.
8. Sweet Peppers
Sweet peppers are a rich source of vitamin C, which promotes hair growth.
Actually, a single yellow pepper provides almost 5.5 times as much vitamin C as an orange does.
Vitamin C is highly effective in promoting collagen production, which leads to strengthening your hair strands. This is also a strong antioxidant that may protect hair strands against oxidative stress.
Generally, oxidative stress occurs when the free radicals overwhelm the antioxidant defense system of the body. It is directly linked to hair loss and graying of the hair.
Furthermore, sweet peppers are considered an excellent source of vitamin A.
This vitamin speeds up hair growth along with stimulating the production of sebum, which keeps your hair healthy.
9. Oysters
Oysters are one of the best available food sources of zinc. Zinc is a mineral that is helpful in supporting the hair growth and repair cycle.
A lack of zinc in your diet can lead to Telogen Effluvium which is a common but reversible form of hair loss caused due to a lack of nutrients in the diet.
As per few studies, taking zinc supplements in your diet can reverse the effects of hair loss caused by a zinc deficiency and make your hair thicker and shinier.
You must aware of the fact that taking too much zinc can also lead to hair loss. Thus, getting zinc from natural foods like oysters might be better than taking supplements. As the food provides zinc in small but healthy doses to meet the requirements.
10. Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are considered the best source of beta-carotene. The human body converts this compound into vitamin A, which is directly linked to good hair health.
A medium-sized sweet potato which is about 114 grams contains enough beta-carotene to fulfill four times more than your daily vitamin A needs.
As per scientific research, vitamin A is efficient in promoting the production of sebum, which helps you keep hair healthy.
Moreover, vitamin A is also capable of speeding up the rate of hair growth and encouraging the growth of thicker hair, while preventing other hair follicles from regressing.
11. Shrimp
Shrimp is actually a popular shellfish rich in infinite nutrients having the potential to promote your hair growth.
Just like, shrimp are a huge source of protein, zinc, iron, B vitamins, and vitamin D.
Serving of a 3.5-ounce or 100-gram of shrimp provides you a 38% of your daily vitamin D needs.
The interesting thing about it is, studies have co-related vitamin D3 deficiency directly to hair loss.
In spite of being very low in fat composition, shrimp even provide you a small amount of omega-3 fatty acids. Particularly, Diets consisting of omega-3 fatty acids have been linked to improved hair growth.
12. Beans
Beans are plant-based superb sources of protein, which gives essential nutrients for hair growth.
Similarly oysters, beans are rich source of zinc that subsequently aids hair growth and its repair cycle.
Serving of a 3.5-ounce or 100-gram of black beans provides you a 7% of your daily zinc needs.
Additionally, they provide many other hair-healthy nutrients like biotin, iron, and folate.
The topmost benefit of beans is, they are highly versatile and inexpensive to buy. Thus, it can be easily added to the diet.
13. Soybeans
Scientific studies have shown that compounds present in soybeans can help promote hair growth. One of these amazing compounds is spermidine, which is abundant among soybeans.
For example, a study was conducted on 100 healthy people found that a spermidine-based nutritional food supplement prolonged the phase of active hair growth called the anagen phase.
The longer a hair follicle stays in an anagen phase, the longer it can grow.
Many of the Test-tube studies have also shown that spermidine promotes the growth of human hair.
Still, the research on spermidine and hair growth is fairly amusive. So more studies are set before health experts who also can make recommendations on spermidine intake.
14. Meat
Meat is a staple food in many people’s diets. It is highly rich in nutrients that may aid your hair growth.
The protein present in meat aids growth and directly helps repair and strengthen the hair follicles.
Serving a 3.5-ounce or 100-gram of cooked sirloin steak provides you as much as 29 grams of protein can.
In particular, Red meat is super rich in a type of iron that is easy to absorb. This efficient mineral helps the red blood cells of your body to deliver oxygen to all cells in the body, including the hair follicles.
Otherwise, it is found that the deficiencies in protein and iron have been linked to hair.
15. Dark chocolate
Dark chocolate is a treasure of flavonols, which is an antioxidant that increases blood flow to protect your hair and skin from free radicals and UV damages.
As per the research, Cocoa is also proven to reduce stress hormones, which successively prevents hair loss and collagen breakdowns in the skin resulting in lesser wrinkles.
Whereas, dark chocolate poses have concrete clear beauty benefits, among which portion control is most important.
If you eat a typical 100g chocolate bar, you’ll be getting a lot more than just flavonoids. You’ll also get fat, sugar, and lots of unnecessary calories along with it.
Nutritionists recommend that having a finite quantity of 50g of 70% plus dark chocolate a week is all you need to reap for a healthier head of hair.
Satisfy your daily cravings for chocolates without even blowing your diet by offering yourself 2 squares of it in mid-afternoon or after dinner daily to space it out.
16. Salmon
Salmon is richly packed with protein and vitamin D. It is a one-stop superfood for hair that provides your hair shine with health.
Wild salmon has best opted as compared to normal Salmon to get the biggest omega-3 fatty acid hit.
Salmon is so easy to adjust and work into your diet. You can also try the Thai coconut salmon recipe for an inspiring way to liven up your salmon diet. That Thai-style marinade is most perfect with green vegetables for a light and healthy summer supper.
Frequently asked questions
Which food is bad for hair growth?
Ans: Some foodstuffs like Starchy and spicy kinds of pasta, white slices of bread, and cakes trigger a similar response in the body, known as Wu, which leads to hair thinning.
It is found in some scientific research that the glycemic-index diet increases androgen levels in the body, while a low-glycemic-index diet reduces that. In ultra-high doses of such kinds of food, vitamin A can lead to successive hair loss.
Why Biotin is important For Hair growth?
Ans: Of course yes! In fact, it is essential for hair growth. Biotin not only plays a major role in hair growth but also improves skin and nail health.
Biotin is a type of water-soluble B vitamin known as vitamin B6. Many men and women experience hair loss problems at a very young age. Now the question is, can biotin solve the problem?
Biotin also increases the production of fatty acids and fat metabolism with the growth of cells in the body. It helps in the release of essential biochemical chemicals during aerobic respiration and also removes carbon dioxide.
Why my hair is falling?
Ans: Hair loss is usually due to androgenetic and it is seen in all boys and girls. Androgenic hormones such as testosterone, androsterone, DHT hormones are generally more common in boys and less common in girls. They work on the hair follicles and increase hair fall.
In many cases, hair loss increases due to a lack of nutrition in the diet. Lack of protein in the diet and deficiency of some minerals and vitamins increase hair fall many times over. In many cases, girls may lose their hair after giving birth due to certain hormones or menopause.
What drink makes your hair grow faster?
Ans: Appropriate drinks make your hair grow faster and shinier. Kiwi juice is one among them, it is highly rich in vitamin E, and effectively stimulates hair growth.
By regularly consuming kiwi juice, your mane will be set on faster growth. It’ll even minimize your hair fall by improving your immune system. Kiwi juice is also good to be applied to your scalp.
Lettuce, cucumber, lemon, and honey are other very effective drinks for your hair growth. These are sweet, tangy, and tasty. Lettuce is rich in vitamin E, while cucumber can detoxify your body.
At what age does hair grow fastest?
Ans: Generally, hair grows fastest between the ages of 15 to 30, then after it slows down gradually.
A few of the follicles stop working altogether as a person gets older. This is the cause behind pre-mature balding getting the hair thinner or dull. Good nutrition is crucial for the growth and maintenance of healthy hair on the head.
Which fruit is best for hair growth?
Ans: The best sources among the list of fruits are blueberries, blackcurrants, broccoli, kiwi fruits, guava, strawberries, oranges, papaya, and sweet potatoes. Most of these are highly rich in Vitamin C and it helps in the production of collagen to strengthen the capillaries that supply the hair shafts.
Which Hair oil should I use for longer and healthier hair?
Ans: A good hair oil must be a single solution for multiple hair problems. It must effectively stimulate the hair growth that combats the hair problems like dry scalp and dandruff, damage, and it evens add luster, by nourishing your hair.
Before starting anything, first, understand the type of hair you have and the quality of it, and what remedy you need to adopt. The combinations of the oils as well are also good to try.
Final Words
Whatever you eat has a huge effect on the health of your hair. The lack of the right nutrients which include vitamins A, B, C, D, and E, zinc, iron, protein, biotin, and essential fatty acids leads to slow down hair growth or either causes hair loss. But thankfully, correcting a deficiency of any of these nutrients will definitely help in treating hair loss and promoting the rate of hair growth. If you find you’re lacking any of these nutrients, try to add some of the above foods to your diet. You’ll definitely get good results.
