Basic rules of gardening are fairly straightforward: nutritious soil, water and sunlight. What that means for each plant is unique but the recipe can be spelled out that way for the most part. For each plant to thrive it needs the right type of soil and enough contact with it so that the roots are able to develop and absorb the nutrients from the earth. Water is needed so the nutrients can be transported and to keep the plant from drying out. Sunlight is needed to convert the nutrients and carbon dioxide (CO₂) into sugar or glucose. Altogether and when done in the right proportion they allow plants to grow well and abundantly.

What does this have to do with hair? It’s similar. Hair needs nutrients too.

Nutrients are delivered to hair from the blood stream and from treatments put on it. The soil that hair lives on it your skin essentially and the bloodstream is the system with which those nutrients get delivered. In order to keep your “soil” healthy for you hair you need to keep the blood healthy. This can be done by eating healthier diet (deep leafy greens, protein, etc). Minimizing on the junk lets your blood deliver more useful things to your skin.

Water is needed to the hair stays moist and doesn’t dry out. Two ways this is done is again by consuming water and water rich food and by applying treatments to the hair. It’s as simple as applying some oil or creams. Some people have drier hair than others and there are so many blogs on what to do for your hair type but at the root it is all the same. The drier your hair the more moisture you need, no matter your hair pattern or anything else.

Your hair pattern is determined genetically and chemically. This is not something to “fix”, it’s just part of you. What causes straight hair is a lack of phosphate bridges in the hair and the cause of curly hair is the increase in them. Heating your hair (to a very high temperature) breaks these bonds temporarily and using chemical treatments (relaxing or perm) permanently breaks them (until it grows again). That being said it doesn’t have an effect on improving the quality of your hair. Whether you straighten or not, it doesn’t make it any healthier just changes the look and damages it.

How much damage? Depends on how dry your hair is to start with. The more moisture you have in your hair to start, the more likely the hair can withstand this damage a bit better from a heat source. But, if you heat it constantly, that eventually runs out and you will just have dry hair craving moisture (amount of time and heat will vary for everyone).

Sunlight. Yes, your hair needs sunlight in a healthy amount.

The sun allows our bodies to generate vitamin D, which helps with hair growth and even hair loss. I could link you to other blogs but that’s not useful so check out a science article on pubmed or here. Not to say that this is 100% true for all people but it does show what some people experience (that vitamin D deficiency can cause hair to thin or weaken in growth). Anyway, sunlight gives us vitamin D however, hair can dry out from the sun due to the strong heat. So regular amounts are important but too much is going to work against you.

Just like growing any plant, you have to pay attention and have a lifestyle that works for you. Some people have to work a little harder than others to get the results they want but it pays off in the end if you are patient.