Healthy hair is something that everyone wants to have because the hair is one of the first things people notice and many times the very first impression is based on a person's hair. However there are people who simply can't get a full bodied, shiny, smooth and healthy hair, no matter what they try. In order to keep your mane healthy, you need to know and understand a few basics about it.
Basically hair is a protein filament which consists of 3 parts: the bulb, the root and the hair shaft. The hair fiber is made of keratin which, without going too deep into chemistry, contains many amino acids that are really important for the body. So our strands basically contain amino acids and keratin, which are highly coveted by our body.
In order for our mane to remain healthy at all times, it needs proper nutrients, just like our body needs a proper diet to remain healthy, fit and elastic. If you neglect your diet, you become overweight, will have heart problems and cholesterol problems and many other health related issues. The same goes for your hair, if you neglect its nutrition, it will wither and effectively fade away (becomes brittle and frizzy with split ends).
The hair has really two parts to it, a living part which is under the scalp and a 'dead' part which is made of the strands of hair that are visible to the human eye. It is what we have on our head. The roots are inside the follicles which is getting nutrients from the blood. Many times you might have noticed that your hair gets really bland and lifeless after a serious illness or when a major trauma has happened to you. Also high levels of stress can affect it greatly.
This is one of the reasons why you really need to take care of your overall health. By making sure that you eat the proper nutrients every day, your hair will get its share of them as well and will reward you with a beautiful mane that you can be proud of.
To get down to specifics, a healthy hair really needs the following: lots of vitamin B types, such as B5 which will give its strength and shine while helping to avoid any hair loss; B6 helps with dandruff and it's easy to get enough by eating plenty of cereals, liver and even egg yolks; Vitamin B12 is great for keeping you from hair loss and you will get it if you eat plenty of fish, chicken, milk and eggs. Many times you will get all these vitamins by buying a vitamin B Complex at the local pharmacy or health store near you.