How To Get Healthier Hair

As a fitness specialist most of my days are spent doing things like developing workout programs and dishing out diet advice on my website and YouTube channel. In addition to the many fitness-related questions I receive like, “What’s the best workout to lose these extra 10 pounds of post-baby weight?” I also receive many compliments and questions like, “I love your hair! How do you take care of it?”

Now when it comes to my hair, first and foremost I practice a regimen based in simple, holistic principles like maintaining a healthy diet, getting regular exercise and practicing good clean livin’. And I do all these things because I know from both personal and professional experience that healthy living makes for a healthy, beautiful mane.

So today, I want to share four of my favorite holistic hair care tips that many women may not know, but every woman should follow. Also, the brilliance of these four tips is that they are so incredibly easy to follow and can fit into any woman’s lifestyle – especially if you’re very active like me. Bottom line, make these tips a regular part of your hair care regimen, and I guarantee you will see a significant improvement in the health and beauty of your hair!

1. Nix the tight hairstyles.

You want to avoid tight hairstyles because they are notorious for putting tension on the hair follicle and hair shaft – a big no bueno because tension is a leading factor in hair loss, and more specifically, a leading factor in traction alopecia (which is the medical term for pathological hair loss). FYI, traction alopecia is very commonly seen in Black women along their hairline and this type of hair loss is also totally avoidable when you nix tight hairstyling and choose looser hairstyles. I know some tight hairstyles may look fly for the moment, but they can and will murder your edges in the long haul. So as a general rule, if you feel any degree of pain whatsoever after getting your hair done, then your hairstyle is too tight and you need to loosen up! Plain and simple.

2. Skip the sulfate shampoo and co-wash with conditioner instead.

How often you wash your hair is a personal choice, and generally I think active women are fine washing hair twice a week.  That said, no matter how often you choose to wash your hair, I recommend you avoid washing with shampoos that contain sulfates because they can strip hair of moisture, ultimately leading to dryness and breakage. So when cleansing your hair you have two choices:  1) use a sulfate-free shampoo, or 2) forgo shampoo altogether and practice co-washing, which is simply washing hair with conditioner instead of shampoo. Personally, I’m a big fan of cowashing, and when I do fancy shampoo, I usually whip out one of my favorite sulfate-free shampoos or shampoo bars. For more detailed tips on how to select the healthiest products for your hair, check out my bestselling hair care book, If You Love It, It Will Grow.

3. Nix the heat and air-dry instead.

Remember this always: Blow dryers, flat-irons and other heat styling tools all come at a price − damaged hair. And the more often you use these types of heat styling tools, the more damage you’ll do. This is why I suggest keeping heat styling to a minimum and air drying your hair as often as possible. And trust me, I totally feel your pain when it comes to giving up heat because I used to be a habitual heat-styler before I went natural. But once I saw how quickly and significantly my hair’s health improved with zero-heat styling, I had no problem permanently retiring my blow dryer. Either way you slice it, by keeping heat styling to a minimum you’ll go a long way in improving the overall health of your hair. And if you simply can’t bear the thought of totally giving up your flat iron or blow dryer, then at the very least apply a heat protectant to your hair before styling.

4. Feed your hair with proper nutrition.

When it comes to growing healthy hair, just heed this mantra and you’ll never go wrong: “Health first, and hair will follow.”

Many women don’t realize this, but hair is over 95% protein, and your scalp lubricates and protects itself with a substance called sebum (which is made from fat). So in terms of hair growth and scalp health, it’s very important to eat a balanced diet that contains ample protein and healthy fats. Also, regular exercise can further promote hair growth because it stimulates blood flow to the hair follicle and hormone regulation. This is all to say that a healthy diet and lifestyle are key. If you do these two simple things, you will be setting the foundation for hair that grows healthy, strong and beautiful from root to tip!

Dr. Phoenyx Austin, M.D. is a Sports Medicine Specialist, Bestselling author, Communications Consultant, and founder of the “FitBeauty” movement for women who love natural beauty, fitness, and healthy living. Find Dr. Phoenyx on her website, YouTube , and Instagram. 

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