10 Natural Ways To Grow Longer Hair, Fast

These natural remedies provide great ways to grow longer hair, faster. Easy to use, and they don’t cost a fortune, either!

By Arwa Lodhi

Your hair typically grows about a quarter of an inch to a half an inch maximum a month. But that’s only if it’s super-healthy!

While many are eager to buy chemical potions that can help hair growth, few are willing to make lifestyle changes that could help the problem naturally.

If you’re wondering how to grow longer hair fast using natural methods, you’ll need to be dedicated. You might have to make dietary changes. You may need to take supplements, get massages, or even see a doctor. Or perhaps a combination of the above!

If you put in the work, these 10 tips below should help you get mermaid-like locks as fast as possible.

Image below: @hairbyruslan Main image: yourwifeknows.com

How To Grow Longer Hair, Naturally

1. Iron + Ferritin Supplements

The key to good hair is a good diet. Consuming iron-rich foods like lean red meats and dark green veggies contribute to ferritin levels sufficient to increase the hair’s growth cycle. This means it will grow for a greater period of time. Iron also delivers oxygen to hair follicles, which further incites growth. Click here for some iron rich recipes!

Some women who are vegan, vegetarian or who have heavy menstrual flows may want to take an iron supplement. Consult a nutritionist and get your blood tested for iron and its close cousin, ferritin. If you are at all low in these two minerals, you should take a supplement. Just be sure it also contains L-Lysine or you may not be absorbing the minerals properly.

Tip: try a good brand made just for hair like Florisene.

Additionally, there are several foods, such as eggs, nuts and beans, which have been cited as natural ways to grow hair longer. There’s a handy chart for you to check below!

2. Eat More Protein

Since hair is made mostly of protein, and protein deficiency causes hair loss, it stands to reason that adding protein to your diet – plentiful in fish, egg whites, animal products and dairy – will be another of the best natural ways to grow long hair.

Vegans and vegetarians should be consuming plenty of tofu, pulses and nuts for natural protein. But a good protein powder can also help. If you’re not vegan, go for an organic whey based powder. Just make sure there are no toxic sweeteners like Splenda or Aspartame! For vegans, hemp protein is an excellent option.

Just take as suggested. Paradoxically, too much protein may result in baldness. A Goldilocks situation seems to exist in terms of protein and hair growth.

3. Get Enough Omega 3 

Another food ingredient crucial to hair health is omega-3 fatty acids. These facilitate the production and action of hormones and oily lubricants that lead to healthy scalp and follicles and bouncy, shiny hair.

Omega-3 fatty acids are found in fish, shellfish, nuts and seeds and their oils. To get enough, again, vegans and vegetarians should take supplements. There are plenty of vegan-derived options, such as those derived from Inkaberry.

4. Take More Vitamin Supplements

Healthy hair also requires lots of  vitamins. For example:

• A and B-complex vitamins promote vibrant, shiny hair
• B12 can neutralise premature hair loss
• C helps strengthen hair and avoid premature greying
• D facilitates healthy follicular growth
• E helps maintain a healthy, moisturised scalp
• and trace minerals like selenium and magnesium contribute too.

Whole organic cereals, pulses and eating deeply hued organic vegetables (such as carrots, spinach, beets and red peppers) are richest in vitamins. But beware. Even if you eat loads of fruit and veggies, you are likely missing out on vital nutrients because mass-produced produce is often grown in soils that are far from rich in the natural micronutrients they used to be.

So, go organic whenever possible. Get your blood tested for nutrients by a nutritionist and supplement what’s missing. Again, vegans and vegetarians may lack some essential minerals and vitamins from dairy and meat products. So to protect their hair health, they should consider specialised vegan food supplements. These should contain boosts of iron, B vitamin complexes and vitamin D, as well as protein.

5. Try Herbs and Plants

Apart from daily foods, there are herbs that some swear promote hair growth. For example, plenty of anecdotal (and folkloric) evidence supports herb and plant treatments as natural ways to grow hair longer.

These herbs include:

• sage
• rosemary
• gingko biloba
• Indian gooseberry
• beetroot juice
• aloe vera
• liquorice root
• flaxseed
• henna

All these and more have been touted as hair and scalp restorers. However, if you’re looking for natural ways to grow hair longer, one of the most powerful herbs that does seem to work is Saw Palmetto. Native Americans have relied on this  for centuries to promote healthy hair and skin. And today it’s used in tablet form. It has been scientifically proven to block DHT, a metabolite of testosterone that is related to hair loss.

6. Enjoy Oily Massages

Other natural remedies used through the ages that are known as natural ways to grow long hair include using essential oils such as almond or coconut. These stimulate the scalp, especially when used along with a head massage. A few minutes’ massage before a shower can increase circulation to the scalp, keeping the follicles healthy. Just massage your head with a few drops of oil gently but firmly enough to move the scalp, for about 15 minutes a day.

7. Try Onion Juice

I know it sounds weird, but since the time of the Egyptians, many people have sworn by onion or garlic  juice applied topically to the scalp as a natural way to promote hair growth.

A 2002 study published in the Journal of Dermatology seems to confirm those results. In the study, subjects suffering from alopecia areata applied onion juice to their scalp twice a day for two months. Twenty of the 23 subjects experienced hair regrowth in six weeks. According to Health Ambition, with its high sulphur content, onion juice cleanses the scalp. And it’s rich in catalase, too. This is an antioxidant that may help reduce hydrogen peroxide buildup related to thinning, greying hair.

Sure, it may be proven to nourish hair follicles, but there is the issue of, you know, the smell.

8. Spice It Up

Speaking of pungent foods, another of our natural ways to grow long hair is hot pepper. Some evidence exists that capsaicin, the spicy element in hot peppers, may promote hair growth. It does so by attracting blood and nutrients to the scalp, and by promoting the release of histamines that stimulate cell division and hair growth. In fact, one study even noted that a combination of capsaicin and soy isoflavone produces significant hair growth in humans.

9. Try Ozone Therapy

Not many people have heard of ozone therapy as one of the natural ways to grow long hair. But it has widely been acknowledged for its effectiveness in treating hair and scalp problems. These include:

• dandruff
• hair loss
• hair thinning
• other damage that prevents hair from growing long and full.

This is how it works. Infusing the scalp and hair  with ozone helps the formation of peptones on the  hair shaft located in the middle of the strands. On coming in contact  with the roots of the hair strands, ozone rejuvenates and fortifies the hair  follicles to strengthen and nourish the hair and scalp.

This therapy also improves blood circulation and eliminates any microbial infection present in the scalp  and hair that could be deterring hair growth and also treats other problems that can lead to hair  breakage, thinning and loss like  psoriasis, seborrheic dermatitis, and alopecia.

10. Finally, Check Your Hormones

Our final tip for natural ways to grow long hair is simply to be sure your hormones are in check.

Low levels of eostrogen or high levels of testosterone (these are usually related to each other) can lead to thinner, weaker or even lost hair for women. The same could happen as a result of unbalanced thyroid levels. See your GP for a blood test to see if your hormones are all in order.