Healthy Body: Broccoli and Spinach

Yummmmm, veggies! Many of you know that what you feed your body can make a huge difference in the many ways. You hair, skin and nails will either flourish or breakdown depending on the foods you eat--spinach and broccoli are two mean green power foods that will aid in your hair's health. I was sent a pretty cool fun fact today and wanted to share it with you all. Some of you may not be veggie lovers but there are plenty of ways to add green goodness to your diets without it feeling like a chore, for example, smoothies... you can't even taste the spinach when it's blended with delicious fruits. 

Fun Fact: Vegetables like spinach and broccoli help to produce sebum, an oily substance secreted by glands attached to the hair follicle. Sebum conditions and moisturizes hair, helping to prevent it from drying out. Hair follicles are connected to sebaceous glands that produce sebum, or oil, to keep hair and skin healthy and lubricated. (source)

Broccoli

Like beans, broccoli derives much of its caloric content from protein, which is essential for hair health and growth. According to Leonard Bjeldanes, professor of nutritional science at UC Berkeley, and Gary Firestone, professor of molecular biology at UC Berkeley, broccoli is high in an enzyme called indole, or I3C, which is converted to diindolylmethane during digestion. Diindolylmethane has been shown to inhibit the actions of DHT, a well-known metabolite in testosterone that has been linked to male pattern baldness.

Spinach

Spinach is an important vegetable for hair growth because it is high in protein and vitamin A and vitamin C, which the body uses to produce oils in the scalp, which can help increase hair growth. Vitamin A and vitamin C deficiencies can increase hair loss or lead to brittle, thin hair that does not grow as quickly. 

(source)

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