5 Foods for Healthy Hair: Why Fish, Eggs and Strawberries Can Fight Damage and Stimulate Growth

While there are numerous products one can purchase to help maintain healthier hair, some delicious foods can do the job naturally. Changing your diet can help your locks look lustrous.

Fish

“Fish, particularly fatty fish (e.g., salmon sardines and tuna), are rich in omega-3 fatty acids — [which are] important for your heart health as well as for your hair,” says registered dietitian nutritionist Bonnie Taub-Dix (bonnietaubdix.com), author of Read It Before You Eat It — Taking You From Label to Table. “These fats help to keep your hair supple.”

Eggs

“Eggs are high in biotin, a B vitamin that helps to stimulate hair growth and maintain a healthy scalp,” explains Dr. Robert Glatter, an attending physician in the department of emergency medicine at NYC’s Lenox Hill Hospital. “A deficiency in biotin can lead to hair becoming brittle.”

Avocados

“Avocados contain biotin, too,” point out the experts at GoodRx Health. “But they’re also rich in vitamin E, an antioxidant that helps protect cells in the body from damage. In fact, damage to cells from oxidative stress is linked to scalp and hair damage.”

Strawberries

“Strawberries are an excellent source of vitamin C,” says Keri Gans, registered dietitian and author of the book The Small Change Diet. “Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant with anti-inflammatory properties that may help increase blood flow through our body, including our scalp, and stimulate hair follicles — supporting the growth of our hair.”

Almonds

Per the folks at the Food Network: “Almonds contain protein, which gives your hair strength, and the mineral zinc, which keeps it thick. (Zinc deficiencies can lead to hair loss.) Easy ways to add more almonds to your diet: Snack on trail mix, top salads or oatmeal with almond slivers, or spread almond butter on apples or toast.”