Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston explains that as you age, your hair will grow slower. Although it is often women who want to grow their grow longer and faster, the issue is also important to men because most men will experience some degree of hair loss. The American Hair Loss Association reports that 66 percent of men by age 35 will experience some amount of hair loss. If you want to encourage your hair to grow longer and faster, you should be familiar with the lifestyle changes that can benefit you.
Step 1
Make sure you are consuming enough protein. Hair is made of both keratin protein and dietary protein. The Mayo Clinic reports that at least 35 percent of your daily calories should come from protein. Vanderbilt University reports that vegetarians are especially susceptible to protein deficiencies.
Step 2
Stop smoking. Aside from being damaging to your health, smoking is also bad for your hair. Nicotine, a chemical found in cigarettes, causes poor circulation by constricting your blood vessels, which slows hair growth. Nicotine also depletes your body of valuable nutrients mandatory for hair growth. The US Journal of Dermatology and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor state that smoking causes premature hair loss in many people.
Step 3
Decrease the amount of physical and psychological stress in your life. High stress levels, according to Columbia University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, will cause your hair to end its growth cycle and to shed prematurely. During periods of high stress, as a defense mechanism, the body redirects energy and resources elsewhere, forcing hair follicles into their telogen, or resting, phase. These hair follicles will regrow hairs after two or three months.
Step 4
Drink water and stay hydrated. Water not only cleanses your body of toxins and impurities but it also transports nutrients to cells. The Mayo Clinic suggests that you consume at least 8 cups of water a day.
Step 5
Consider using a shampoo that has caffeine as one of its ingredients. Although you will want to avoid consuming high amounts of caffeine because caffeine can dehydrate you and constrict blood vessels, which can prevent nutrients from reaching hair follicles, caffeine applied to your scalp via shampoo can help your hair grow faster. A 2006 German university study determined that "caffeine [applied to the scalp] led to a significant stimulation of hair follicle growth."
Tips and Warnings
- Drink pure water; don't count coffee or diet soda toward your water intake. These lifestyle changes will optimize your hair's growing potential. It is impossible to grow your hair several inches overnight, but over the course of several months, these changes can be significant.
- Please note these steps are not meant to treat hair loss or male pattern baldness; they are to increase your hair's growth rate. If you are experiencing androgenic alopecia (pattern baldness), please consult your doctor.
Things You'll Need
- Multivitamin
References
- Vanderbilt University: Vegetarianism: the Pros and Cons of a Meatless Diet
- "Dermatology"; Association Between Smoking and Hair Loss; R.M. Trueb; 2003
- MayoClinic.com: Water: How Much Should You Drink Every Day?
- Columbia University: Stress Leads to Hair Loss?
- Massachusetts General Hospital: Hair Loss
- University of Michigan Health System: Quit Smoking, and Your Whole Body Will Thank You
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