Why your hair won’t grow past a certain length…and its not your shampoo!

Hair matters to us. It signals femininity, beauty, self expression and we all want our hair to look and feel good. So, when something starts going wrong with our hair, it can really a ect us.  
I see women in clinic every week, who spend a fortune on shampoos and haircare to try and get long, thick hair or even to try and stop changes like breakage or excessive hair loss. And some of these products can help a little, but the biggest missing piece often nutrition. 

Most people don’t think about hair in this way, but it is a reflection of our health because 
nutrient deficiencies can significantly a ect hair, since hair is not a priority for the body. We might think hair is important, but to the body, it’s not essential to our survival.  

Let’s use the mineral iron as an example, since it’s such an important nutrient for hair health. The iron RDA is 18mg per day. If you are consistently getting lower than that and become iron deficient, the body will prioritise other essential functions of iron such as making red blood cells and oxygen transport over hair. The result is that your hair can really suffer.  

As important as it is, it’s not just iron; hair needs lots of other nutrients to stay healthy.

And plenty of them; the hair follicle is nutrient hungry because it’s so metabolically active – growing and maintaining hair is an energy demanding process, which means that if the follicle doesn’t get the nutrients and energy it needs, it won’t be as effective at growing and maintaining healthy hair.

So what nutrients does hair need? We’ve got to start with protein since the primary building block of hair, keratin, is a protein.  I’ve already mentioned iron, and if you are having problems with hair loss, I recommend getting an iron test. It may also be worth testing your thyroid function if you have seen significant changes in your hair. Vitamin D, Zinc, Biotin, Selenium, Vitamin A and Omega 3 are also important and have different functions for the various hair phases. But instead of obsessing about getting high doses of all those nutrients, focus on a nutrient dense diet and quality supplementation to make sure all your bases are covered, and your body has enough for the essential functions and hair. 

It's worth mentioning that if you think your hair has stopped growing and are wondering why, it’s more likely that it’s breaking. Breakage can be caused by lots of factors; starting with hair health as we’ve already covered. Other factors include over styling with heat like straighteners; chemical treatments like dye, tight hairstyles and sleeping on surfaces that cause friction like cotton. Be gentle with your hair, don’t over style and minimise harsh chemical products.

It also helps if you trim regularly, every 12 weeks or so; deep condition at least once a week to deeply moisturise; sleep on a silk pillowcase; and when you wash your hair, give yourself a lovely firm scalp massage to stimulate circulation. 

Get your nutrients, give your scalp and hair a little TLC, and your hair will thank you.