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Consuming essential vitamins and minerals, are crucial in maintaining our optimal health. What we put into our body not only makes us feel good, but can actually affect what we look like. From glowing skin, to glossy hair, the long list of alphabet vitamins and essential nutrients, can bare more weight than applying daily skin care cream and hair product.
When it comes to keeping our locks flowing, and scalp nourished, healthy vitamins and minerals are the holy grail of hair maintenance. As it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the supplement world, what if we told you one stood out above the rest. Omega 3!
What is Omega 3?
Otherwise known as an essential fatty acid, Omega 3 is a source rich in the healthy fats needed to run our cell membranes. According to Harvard University, the body does a phenomenal job at maintaining or creating its own fat nourishment. However, this is not the case for Omega 3 or Omega 6 fatty acids. The body needs to absorb these through our diet, in order to enrich our bodies.
Omega 3 is a nutrient available in food sources like: Fish, green/leafy vegetables, flaxseed, vegetable oils, and nuts (in particular walnuts).
Why We Might Not Get Enough Omega 3 in Our Diet?
As our diets may have large (or trace) amounts of Omega 3 rich foods – we still may not be getting the proper dosage needed for our bodies. This poor nourishment, is unfortunately not from our choices as consumers at the produce stand. It comes from the severe inadequate health factors built into most processed and restaurant meals (in particular). These particular dishes come drenched in omega 6 fatty acids – throwing off our internal balance.
Like omega 3, omega 6 is an essential fatty acid. While on its own, omega 6 is a functional fat in our diet, our current omega 6 numbers in the body is a silent disaster. Over consumption of omega 6 can cause inflammation, and lead to decreased hair production or hair loss.
Our ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 fatty acids is at 20:1. The National Institute of Health, recommends that our ratio be brought down 1:1 – yikes!
Why is Omega 3 Great for Hair and Scalp Health?
Before we address the best ways to get in extra omega 3 nutrients into our body, let’s talk about why omega 3 is SO wonderful for our hair! Omega 3 fatty acids, impact the development and maintenance of our endocrine system which controls our hormones. Hormones play an important role in impacting:
– Decreasing inflammation response in the scalp
– Providing moisture and oil to hair follicles to prevent from drying out
– Delivering essential proteins to the hair strand to promote hair growth
Omega 3 Supplement Recommendation
Whether you eat fish (or not), it’s important to get a daily supplement of omega 3 into your nutrition routine. Omega 3, will vastly improve your overall health (not only hair), but increase brain, heart, and even eye health. When taking an omega 3 supplement, you want to make sure the ingredients are comprised of proper and healthy ingredients.
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