Finding A Hair Growth Diet for the Picky Eater

Previously, I discussed how I had been losing my hair to hyperthyroidism and how demoralizing it can be. As part of my general war on baldness, I decided that changing my diet would not just help my quest to regain muscle, but also to get my hair to grow back faster. My thyroid levels are finally normal, so it's time to cut back on the beta blockers and start growing some nicer hair.  The problem is that I'm a very picky eater, and many of the hair menu options are less than appealing.

It's all out there on the internet - all kinds of sites, lists, and blogging advice on what foods will make your hair grow. None of these lists were consistent. Almost all of them contained at least one food that wasn't on any other list, and few even mentioned the importance of B vitamins. 

In the protein category, fish comes up a lot, particularly salmon, oysters and sushi. Salmon is OK, but when I eat too much of it I feel like I start to smell like salmon. If I eat salmon two or  three times a week, I feel like I can't escape the aroma, that it's hovering about me like a fishy cloud. It comes in convenient tear-open envelopes instead of cans now, but that's about all I can say for it.

I might try sushi, since one blogger claimed to have had excellent results eating it daily, but I don't think I can overcome the fact that it's raw fish. Nobody seems to be able to tell me what it's like, either. Is it squishy? Chewy? Salty? Does it taste like chicken? Everyone blathers on about how good it is, but no one can seem to tell me how it tastes. It's like asking your congressman... anything at all. They talk a lot, but you never get any useful information out of them.

Shrimp came up for the zinc as well as protein content. I've had shrimp cocktail before, and it tasted like little rubber balls with a kind of tomato sauce on it. I didn't gag, but it was nothing remarkable. Then I saw live ones in a fish tank. They look like little spiders running about with all these little legs and antennae, and they gazed at me with beady little black eyes like they were going to come for me in my sleep. I should have listened to Grandma and never put such a thing in my mouth.

Oysters? I'm not even going to look at those repulsive, jiggly things. Even the cooked ones look disgusting.

To quote Oscar Wilde, I want my food dead. Not sick, not dying, dead. I was also indoctrinated from a very early age on the nastiness of raw meats, and yes, fish is meat. It's an animal, it used to move, therefore it's meat, and it must be cooked. I have never understood the logic of calling something vegetarian when it contains fish. So unless I try a bite of sushi that just rocks my world, seafood is off the list.

I also crossed off beans and brewer's yeast. It's not that beans are a food that I necessarily avoid; I'm just not into the gas and all the juvenile jokes that go with them. Brewer's yeast was a puzzling one. I don't even know where to get it, let alone how I'm supposed to cook or eat it. If it's what I think it is, that stuff is coming nowhere near me. My dad used to brew his own beer, and we spent a day at Busch Gardens when I was a kid. It smells like rotten green beans and is overpowering.

Silica is another essential ingredient for hair growth. You can get it in potatoes, the skin of red and green peppers, cucumber skin, and bean sprouts. They emphasize that you should eat these veggies raw to get the most out of them. The problem is that raw vegetables... do not agree with me. If you want to have some fun, give me a bag of salad greens or a raw veggie plate, then come back in an hour or so; that's all I'm saying. Also, who eats potatoes raw? What's the best potato-- red, yellow, or Idaho? No one seems to know. I might be able to get away with the bean sprouts. I'll have to try them and see.

Wait just a minute. I was always told that vegetable skins were fiber and you didn't digest them at all. Which is it? 

Iron was another essential nutrient that came up several times. I don't thnk I've ever seen a date, but I have had cherry juice. It's this thick syrupy stuff, and I don't recommend you try to drink it straight up. You'll want to use it as a mixer with... something. It might make a good ice cream topping, but I don't think ice cream was on any of the lists I found. For iron, sites recommended dark leafy green vegetables, raw of course, and we've already discussed that. I abhor raisins. They look like little flies with their wings pulled off, and I bet they taste the same, too. 

If you want to see how B vitamins fit into hair growth, you'll have to specifically search for it. Most hair growth foods articles don't give B vitamins a mention, but I know from experience they're very important. Since I dye my hair, I can see the growth at the roots quite easily. Back in the 90's, I used to take a multivitamin rich in the B complex. I noticed that my regrowth was about twice the rate as it had been before, plus my nails grew so quickly that I had to trim them once a week. 

The other thing about supplements is this: I have to be careful not to take too many of them. B vitamins are water soluble, meaning, the body just gets rid of it in the blood stream through urine. Others like A and zinc can build up to toxic levels, causing hair loss with too much. I ate a lot of mall food when I was taking vitamins, so I probably needed them then. I may need to adjust my supplements to match what I'm now eating.

Where do you get B vitamins in food? You won't find them in sugar or white flour. Whole, unprocessed foods like brewer's yeast, tempeh, lentils, whole grains, nutritional yeast, molasses, kombucha, potatoes, bananas, chili peppers, and beans are sources, along with tuna, liver and turkey. Kombucha? Tempeh? I didn't start this to learn to speak Klingon; I just wanted my hair to grow!

There was a lot more to hair growth diets than what I have here. I just can't list it all. Many sites recommended green tea, while others admonished me to stay away from soda (or any carbonated beverage) and sugar. In fact, most articles did not offer any advice on what to avoid, with a few exceptions noting processed foods, alcohol, caffiene and sugar. 

So what ended up on my list for my hair growth diet?

• Chicken
• Roast Beef
• Eggs
• Almonds
• Almond Milk
• Potatoes
• Bean Sprouts
• Cucumber
• Turkey
• Yogurt
• Cottage Cheese
• Green Tea (decaf)
• A hair growth vitamin supplement

I know the supplements will work well for me; they have in the past, and have already spurred faster hair AND nail growth. Will the foods help with faster hair growth and regrowth? How do I prepare stuff like this into meals? Will I ever have thick, glorious back-length tresses again? How bad is sushi?

Do you have any advice on growing hair back after a prolonged illness? What do you think of my list? WHAT IS SUSHI REALLY LIKE? Post it in the comments section!