|  | Diet Nutrition | Nutrition

Use of Magnesium in Hair Growth

If you want long, lovely hair, think about your diet first. Things like getting a good night's sleep and lowering your stress level matter too, but diet is perhaps the most important place to start. Getting enough of certain vitamins such as the B complex vitamins and vitamin E is important, but minerals such as magnesium are important as well. Many of us do not get enough magnesium in our diets, but with a little care and attention, it is not difficult to add magnesium into your lifestyle.

  1. Magnesium Deficiency

    • According to Dr. Patricia Braun, the United States government has shown that the average American only gets 40 percent of the recommended daily allowance of magnesium in his diet. This deficiency can happen because of an imbalance of minerals in the body or because the average American does not consume enough magnesium. It is also possible to be deficient due to mineral depletion from sweating or a high intake of white sugar.

    Significance

    • Magnesium is essential to our health. It is the fourth most common element in the body, and is necessary for muscle health as well as helping to regulate the heart. In fact, it is involved in more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body. About 50 percent of magnesium is found in our bones, and only 1 percent is in our blood. Magnesium can be taken as a supplement, usually in combination with calcium, or eaten in foods. Magnesium can be found in many nuts, such as almonds, cashews, and peanuts. It is also found in halibut, and in green leafy vegetables.

    Mineral Baths

    • Magnesium is also found in both Dead Sea salts and Epsom salts. These mineral salts are sold in health foods stores for use in bathing. Bathing in either of these mineral salts will aid in the absorption of the minerals. Epsom salts and Dead Sea salts contain not only magnesium, but also sulfur, another important mineral for hair health.

    Benefits

    • Another benefit to magnesium is that, in combination with calcium, it can promote restful sleep. This is also important to hair health because getting a proper amount of sleep, along with reducing stress levels, is essential to good hair growth and health, according to the Proctor and Gamble website.

    Facts

    • According to the Proctor and Gamble website, a hair folicle grows for about three to seven years. Hair grows at an average rate of one half inch per month for through that time, but some people are able to grow their hair longer than others. Hair growth slows when we age, and so a person who used to have waist long hair when young, may have much shorter hair as she ages.

    Considerations

    • Because many Americans are deficient in magnesium, and because it is important to hair growth, taking a magnesium supplement, trying to eat more magnesium-rich foods, or even taking a weekly Epsom salts bath are all good ways to improve hair growth.

Nutrition - Related Articles