Egg is high in protein, essential nutrient to support your hair growth. It is cheap and you can purchase it easily. It is also good source for other essential nutrients (including some minerals and vitamins). And some people use it for a foxy self-care remedy for numerous different health benefits. But when it comes to promoting healthy hair growth, which part of egg you need to use?
The role of protein in promoting healthy hair
Although there are also other nutrients you can get from an egg to boost the health of your hair, but many times its protein content takes attention. In fact, a strand of your hair is mostly composed by protein.
This means protein plays a key role to support your hair growth! The same goes for your nails. Both nails and hair are protein fibers.
Most hairs (about 90 percent) in the scalp are in growing (anagen) phase at any given time. For each of these hairs, the anagen phase can last in years (about 2-4 years or more). Then each hair eventually goes into a resting (telogen) phase, when it stops growing for about a few months before it falls out and replaced by new growth of hair (then another anagen phase starts).
At any given time, about 10 percent of your hairs are in telogen and catagen phase (transition between anagen and telogen). Therefore, it’s perfectly normal to lose about 50-100 hair shafts every day. Typically, you don’t notice this small amount!
Lack of protein can raise the number of hairs that go with resting phase. But the impact doesn’t occur immediately. It may take months before you notice the symptom.
If not getting enough protein is to blame, you can fix it through diet. And egg can be one of your good sources for protein.
Egg white vs. yolk
The body cannot make some essential nutrients on its own, therefore you need to get and eat them through diet. And egg can be one of your healthy choices. It is not only rich in protein but also other valuable nutrients.
Egg-white
It is part where you can find the most liquid content of egg. On average, it contains about 66 percent of the egg’s liquid weight.
The protein content is higher in white than yolk. Here you can also find more egg’s riboflavin, niacin, potassium, sodium, and magnesium.
The calorie content is also lower (only about 17 calories on average), depending on the size of the egg. It is also free of fat and cholesterol.
The white color doesn’t appear until you beat or cook it. As it ages, it releases more CO2 (carbon dioxide). Therefore, fresher eggs are less likely to be transparent than older eggs.
Egg-yolk
The yellow portion, yolk, of egg is part that hosts all of the fat in the egg. It is lower in liquid (it only has 34 percent of the egg’s liquid weight) and higher in calories (the yolk of a large egg can contain about 55 calories, higher than the white).
The yolk is lower in protein. It only contains a little less than half of the total egg’s protein. But it is higher in vitamins and some minerals such as vitamin B12, B6, thiamin, folic acid, and pantothenic acid.
It is good sources for vitamins A, D, E, and K. It also contains higher amount of zinc, selenium, copper, calcium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus – which some are essential to support your hair growth.
So, which part of egg is good for your hair growth?
Egg is great, inexpensive solution to help treat hair problems. Its high protein content is the main reason, but this is not the only one. Here are other reasons why it is good for your hair:
- It provides essential minerals for your hair growth. These include zinc, iodine, selenium, iron, and phosphorus.
- Its vitamins content – especially such as vitamin E and B (including biotin) – can be other ingredients to prevent hair breakage and promote healthy hair.
- Fatty acids in the yolk may have contribution to help improve the health of skin on the scalp, reducing the risk of excess dandruff or flaky scalp.
- Its vitamin A content is also good to help reduce dandruff.
- Lecithin, a kind of fatty protein found in the egg yolk, can help reduce frizz and make your hair smooth.
The use of egg for self-care remedies is quite common. Which part of egg (whether it is egg white or yolk) is good for stimulating hair growth and promoting healthier hair? The answer is dependent on the way of how you use it.
To help promote healthy hair growth, egg can be used in two ways; internally (through diet) and externally (making it as a hair pack that you can apply topically).
