What are the Best Foods for Hair Growth and Thickness?

When it comes to haircare, it’s natural to think of the best shampoos and conditioners that keep your locks long and luscious. 

But did you know that there are certain foods that promote hair growth and thicker locks? Just by implementing a few of these ‘hair foods’, you can support your haircare routine from within!

Made up of amino acids, protein is the key component of these foods for healthy hair. And for the most part, our body takes care of that on its own, producing the majority of those essential amino acids – all except for 8. And that’s where our hair foods come in, providing the following essential amino acids:

• Histidine
• Leucine
• Lysine
• Methionine
• Phenylalanine
• Threonine
• Tryptophan
• Valine

Don’t worry though, you won’t need to trawl the supermarket for those complicated-sounding names – you just need to eat more of the following foods for healthy hair:

1. Beef

Whether in a hearty shepherd’s pie or a lovely ragu, beef is an amazing source of protein – and one of the best foods for hair growth support.

In addition to al those amino acids we mentioned earlier, beef also contains high levels of iron, magnesium, and calcium, as well as essential vitamins, such as vitamin D, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12. All of those components make beef a great food for healthy hair.

You can even pair beef with the vitamin C from veggies to support the optimum uptake of iron – which is key to the hair growing and shedding cycle.

2. Poultry

The star attraction of your Christmas dinner or your favourite order at Nando’s, poultry is another food that promotes hair growth and thickness.

Whether you prefer chicken or turkey, poultry contains many of the same hair food components as beef: iron, magnesium, calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12. This is in addition to the essential amino acids that our bodies can’t produce on its own.

Again, to maximise the iron found in poultry, be sure to eat plenty of vitamin C-loaded veggies alongside your chicken or turkey!

3. Fish

Here at Absolute Collagen, we love to talk up the benefits of fish in our marine collagen – and the same goes for haircare!

So, in terms of foods for healthy hair, fish contains the essential amino acids our locks need, as well as iron, magnesium, potassium, calcium, vitamin C, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12. That’s a lot of goodness to pack into one fishy dish!

And if you’re not the biggest fan of this hair food, consider trying our marine collagen supplements. Not only do you get the benefits of fish, but you also get a daily dose of vitamin C* in one convenient package!

*Each sachet of Absolute Collagen contains 60 mg of Vitamin C, which is 75% of your daily Nutrient Reference Value. Enjoy a daily dose of Absolute Collagen as part of a balanced, healthy diet and active lifestyle.

4. Eggs

Scrambled with a sprinkling of pepper or served sunny side up, eggs are one of the best foods for hair growth and thickness, containing those essential amino acids.

What’s more, eggs contain iron, iodine, selenium, and are packed full of hair food vitamins. We’re talking vitamin A, D, and all the B’s! So, if you’re looking for breakfast ideas, you can’t go wrong with a veggie omelette, giving you that vitamin C support you need to support your hair cycle. 

5. Quinoa

Known as one of the healthiest foods in the world, it’s little surprise that quinoa is another great food for hair growth and thickness. 

Of course, you’ve got those essential amino acids that qualify quinoa as a proper ‘hair food’ in the first place. And then quinoa also contains manganese, phosphorous, copper, folate, iron, magnesium, and zinc – all important vitamins and minerals required for healthy hair growth!

Plant-based foods for healthy hair

While quinoa is a vegan favourite, most of the other foods for healthy hair in this article are not suitable for a plant-based diet.

In most other cases, nuts are a great protein-packed alternative. However, nuts do not contain vitamin B12 – which is essential for healthy hair growth and thickness. 

As such, if you do follow a plant-based diet, and want to reap the rewards of hair foods, you will need to take vitamin B12, vitamin D, and iron supplements as a minimum. That’s because plant-based diets don’t contain much vitamin B12 and vitamin D, and any iron included is very tightly bound and difficult to absorb. 

Absolute Collagen and haircare

With all this talk of the essential amino acids in hair foods, we’d be remiss to not talk about our own Absolute Collagen supplement, which delivers 6 essential amino acids.

Our Absoluters certainly love using collagen for their hair! In our clinical trials, 77% of participants said their hair felt smoother after 12 weeks of taking our collagen, while 65% reported ‘stronger-feeling’ hair.
In addition to our liquid collagen supplement, we also offer a hair-thickening collagen shampoo and conditioner duo that can really make your haircare routine sing!

To find out more on how Absolute Collagen can support your haircare routine, head over to our blog or read our collagen success stories.