There’s nothing fancy about the unassuming avocado; its plain jane appearance would lead you to believe it to be dull, tasteless, and less than helpful in helping make your hair grow faster. Nothing could be further from the truth. The lowly avocado is easily one of the most nutrient-packed, hair-healthy additions to your diet. Using avocado for hair is a fantastic way to encourage quicker hair growth and overall healthier hair.
Native to central Mexico, the avocado is an egg-shaped, mild, oily fruit that ranges in colour from bright green to near black in colour. The best known and healthiest avocados grown domestically come from California and are commonly known as Hass Avocados. Those avocados grown in Florida have a more watery texture and tend to be lower in fat content.
Avocados are incredibly versatile. They are most commonly known for their use in guacamole. Still, because of their high healthy fat content and mild, creamy taste, avocados can be used as a healthy substitute for animal fats such as mayo, butter, or cheese on sandwiches and salads.
Avocados are also easily incorporated into dips and salad dressings and are common in sushi rolls. They can even be grilled to bring out more flavour, although beware–they should be cooked only briefly. Otherwise, chemical reactions within the fruit will leave them inedible.
Avocado For Hair Growth
How can you use avocado for hair growth? Why is it that avocados can help your hair stay healthy and grow more quickly?
Rich in monounsaturated fats
First off, avocados are high in healthy fats that will encourage healthier hair. Most of their calories come in the form of monounsaturated fats, which helps to lessen your LDL cholesterol. There is also some evidence that increasing your intake of monounsaturated fats will help increase your HDL cholesterol, leading to a decreased risk of heart disease.
Monounsaturated fats are also fantastic at helping your body absorb and use fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamins A, D, E and K. These vitamins are vital in assisting you in growing healthy, strong hair. If your body can’t properly absorb and utilise these type of vitamins, it won’t matter how much of them you get; you’ll never be able to make your hair grow faster.
High in fibre
Avocados are also high in fibre, both the soluble and insoluble amount. Not many foods can boost that they deliver both fibre types in healthy amounts! Insoluble fibres act as a “pipe cleaner” for your bowels, making your bowel movements more efficient and helping rid your colon of harmful bacteria.
The healthier your digestive system is, the easier it is for your body to utilise the nutrients you take in. Better utilisation of vitamins and minerals means your hair will be well-fed, healthier, and able to grow more quickly.
Soluble fibres, which your body can break down, help curb your appetite and keep you from overeating. Dietary fibre also helps control the rate at which sugar is absorbed into your bloodstream. You’ll be less likely to become hungry and binge on sweets, unhealthy foods that are bad for your hair and body as a whole.
Packed with vitamins B and E
Avocados are also high in vitamins B and E, both of which are essential for healthy hair. Vitamin E encourages a healthier scalp, leading to increased circulation and blood flow to your hair follicles. It helps with split ends, and it’s been suggested that vitamin E may help with greying hair. Vitamin B helps with keratin production, the primary protein in hair. It also assists in forming new blood cells, leading to your scalp getting more of the nutrients and oxygen it needs to fuel faster hair growth.
Has vitamin K
You’ll also get a healthy dose of vitamin K from avocados, a vitamin that has been linked to overall hair health and growth.
Don’t like the taste of plain avocado but want to add it to your diet to encourage healthier hair? You can easily make your guacamole at home, or if you’re a fan of hummus, you can whip up a batch of avocado hummus in under 15 minutes. These are great tasting ways to incorporate more healthy avocado for hair health. Check out this excellent guacamole recipe below:
There are tons of recipes on the web for both guacamole and avocado hummus, and most are easy to adjust to your tastes, so there’s no reason you shouldn’t be using avocado for hair growth.
Avocado Oil For Hair
More amazingly, even if you don’t enjoy the taste of avocados (but really, who doesn’t?), you can still reap many of their benefits by using them in the form of avocado hair oils and hair products! Using avocado hair oil can help improve the texture and appearance of hair by making your hair softer and better moisturised. Avocado hair oil has been reported to stimulate faster hair growth by many users, and it can help unclog hair follicles.
There are a few ways you can utilise avocado oil for hair. For starters, you can purchase many hair oil products that contain avocado oil, including hair oils, shampoos, and conditioners. These products will often utilise avocado oil to minimise sun damage to your hair and a way to lock in moisture and alleviate dry scalp.
Look for avocado oil hair products that are lightweight and include natural ingredients.
It’s also swift to use avocado and avocado oil to help hair grow faster by making your own hair treatments and masks. If you eat many avocados, this method can be particularly compelling since avocados seem to become overly ripe almost overnight at times. You can save the ones that become too ripe to use in your weekly meal plan by incorporating them into easy to make hair treatments.
Incorporating avocado for hair growth into your weekly hair care routine is dead simple. Don’t overlook this easy method of keeping your hair healthy and growing as fast as possible!
So, is this thing ripe?
This is probably the most common question people face when introducing avocados to their diet. Let’s face it; avocados don’t really look like something you’d eat–they look a bit like what you’d expect a dinosaur to hatch from.
Luckily, it’s really not that hard to tell.
First off, avocados do not ripen on the tree. They ripen after they’ve been harvested. If you place the avocado in your hand and gently squeeze without using your fingertips (which can bruise them), an unripened avocado will have no give. A ripe avocado with give slightly, and an overly ripe avocado will feel almost mushy underneath its skin. Hass Avocados will gradually turn from green to nearly purple/black as they ripen. If you have some that are overly ripe, don’t despair! You can use these in making salad dressings and smoothies.
When left out at room temperature, green avocados will ripen within four to five days. You can hasten this process by either putting them in a sealed paper bag or placing them with other fruit such as bananas.
There are very few food items as versatile as the avocado and even fewer that are as healthy, easy to prepare, and fantastic for your health. If you’re looking for ways to make your hair grow faster or to keep your hair soft, supple, and in excellent health, consider adding avocado to your diet regularly, as well as using avocado for hair as part of your hair care regimen.