Diet for Dandruff

You may notice little white specks on your black shirt and wonder where they came from. These may be dandruff or dry skin flakes from your head. Dandruff is often caused by a fungal infection or dry skin (caused by shampoo). If there isn't a medical reason you suffer from dandruff, consider changing your diet to help relieve it.

Types

• There are two types of dandruff: internal and external. Causes of external dandruff include cold weather, dry heating, stress, inadequate rinsing of the hair, using hair curlers too often and for too long, and using a lot of hair spray or gel and hair-coloring products. Internal dandruff problems are caused by poor health, hygiene, allergies to dairy, nuts or even chocolate, lack of sleep, imbalance of hormones and eating too much sugar or fatty foods.

Fruits

• Focus your diet on fresh fruit. These fruits should include apples, melons and pineapples. Avoid fruit that is canned because the nutrients have been essentially drained from them through the canning process. Also avoid citrus fruit, such as oranges, and bananas.

Vegetables

• Vegetables are important to include in your diet for dandruff relief. It is best to eat raw vegetables. When you cook vegetables you drain the nutrients that are found in them. These nutrients are essential to keep your scalp healthy and prevent fungus buildup on your head.

Meat

• When eating meat, it is best to chose organic products. Animals that aren't organically raised are often fed food that has chemicals added to it. These chemicals can make the cow sick and more susceptible to health issues. These same chemicals are ingested when you eat the meat and make you more prone to have skin problems and make your hormones out of balance.

Caffeine

• Consider giving up caffeine. Caffeine-filled products dehydrate the body. This dehydration makes the skin more susceptible to dandruff and can cause it to dry out. Try to cut down on caffeine or stop consuming it completely if possible.

Sugar

• Cutting down on your sugar intake can also help reduce dandruff. Sugar is included in a lot of products. Sugar may appear on the label as sucrose, fructose, glucose, lactose, corn syrup, sorghum, syrup or maltose.