Last week Bree at The Blog Stylist wrote that the the subject of hair is a hot topic right now. I have to agree. I love hair! I’m very particular about my hair and I am fortunate enough to have co-operative hair most of the time. Bree knows about these things. She was the beauty and website editor at Cosmo, during her career has tested and tried all kinds of products – many I’m sure were hair products. I have no doubt that to some degree most beauty products do something to the state of hair and skin, but I’m also here to tell you that you can slather, brush and comb products through your hair until the end of the day – but if you’re not putting the right foods into your body – any result from product will only be short lived.

From a Chinese Medicine perspective – good hair is dependent on good blood flow to the scalp. This may not occur if a person is blood deficient or jing deficient (a term we use to describe our ‘essence’ or ‘youth’). When we are deficient of these properties we can see poor quality hair, premature greying and dry, broken hair. So using foods that assist in supplementing this will work well – and probably iron our a few other creases along the way. What’s more, this ‘jing’ that I speak off is also associated to our fertility – as we get older this diminishes and whilst for the purpose of this blog post it’s all about hair, know that these same foods will also do wonders for a more fertile you.

With this all in mind – today I’m sharing my Top 10 shiny hair super foods.

1. Wild Salmon
Salmon is hard to beat when it comes to a ‘beauty superfood.’ This is one food you can’t go past for top condition hair. It’s full of omega 3, fatty acids, high quality protein, B12 & iron. These essentials are great for a healthy scalp. Make sure your fish isn’t farmed – farmed fish is nasty and substantially lacks nutrients. Fresh deep sea fish is always the best choice.

2. Dark Green Veg
Full of anti oxidents, Vitamins C & A, dark green leafy veg is necessary to assist your hair follicles to produce sebum. It’s said that sebum (hair oil) is the hair’s natural conditioner.

3. Oysters
These decadent treats are a perfect package of nutrients and Zinc. Zinc is hair food.

4. Tomatoes
They are in season and are oh-so-delicious at the moment. Tomatoes are packed of lycopene – a natural anti-aging anti-oxident. Cooking tomato actually heightens your body’s ability to absorb it.

5. Walnuts
It is no secret that I love walnuts – a lot. Again – these are full of omega 3 essentials. They also contain Vitamin E – wonderful for healthy shiny hair.

6. Yoghurt
Again – I am a huge fan. For me it must be greek yoghurt – they know how to make good yoghurt! High in calcium as well as a pro-biotics, yoghurt is good for strong healthy hair, nails and bones. For many of you who are lactose intolerant, yoghurt is something that can often be digested because of it’s ability to work on the gut.

7. Eggs
Eggs are high in protein and provide the body with essential vitamins including iron and zinc – both important for healthy, shiny hair as well as vitamin B & biotin.

8. Beans
Again a veg that is high in protein and essential vitamins and mineral including zinc, iron and rare biotin – all important to assist in preventing split ends and dryness.

9. Brown Rice
Brown rice provides carbohydrates and is one of the best superfoods for your hair.

10. Water
Where would our bodies be without water? We need water to be well hydrated which contributes to healthy, shiny hair. Hair which doesn’t get oily quickly – oily hair can be a sign of toxic build up.

I get excited when I look at this list of foods because they are all super delicious, chocker block with nutrients foods – which will not only make your hair great but make all of your body ooze healthfulness!