If you want healthy eyelashes, it is essential to nurture them from the inside out. Check out these 10 superfoods to help grow eyelashes!
The ten best foods to grow eyelashes are:
- Salmon
- Steak (or beef)
- Oysters
- Eggs
- Greek Yoghurt
- Soy beans, lentils and other beans
- Sweet potatoes
- Nuts
- Spinach
- Avocados
Let’s take a look at these foods in more detail.
10 Foods That Can Help Grow Your Eyelashes
No matter what kind of allergies you may have, or whether you’re on a plant-based, vegan, vegetarian, or omnivore diet, there’s plenty of food that you can eat which will make your eyelashes grow.
These are some of the best ones:
For Omnivores
Salmon
Salmon has so many nutritious benefits that it’s hard to narrow them down, but we’ll try.
As well as supporting the health of your heart and helping with weight management and brain function, salmon can help the growth of your eyelashes.
Salmon is plentiful in vitamins D and B, both of which are linked to hair growth.
It also has lots of omega 3 fatty acids, which are known for promoting the health of hair follicles and skin cells by stimulating the production of collagen and elastin fibers.
Salmon’s a super versatile food – you can bake, poach, smoke, grill, or eat it raw as sashimi depending on your preference.
Aim for twice a week in order to see the most benefits.
Steak (or beef)
If you enjoy red meat, eating beef can be a great way to support the growth of your eyelashes.
It’s loaded with zinc and iron, as well as plenty of protein and vitamin B – all of which have been linked to hair growth.
As with salmon, beef is very versatile – it can be grilled or roasted, or even added to casseroles.
Aim to eat it twice a week in order to see the best results for your lashes.
Oysters
Not everyone loves oysters, but if you do, then they’re a great source of vitamins and minerals that will support the growth of your lashes.
They’re also one of the more sustainable foods, too – oyster reefs can protect coastal locations and help with water filtration.
Oysters are very rich in iron, zinc, and vitamin B12, which help to maintain the health of your scalp and hair follicles.
As we grow older, eyelashes can become shorter and get thinner with age. It is therefore very important to eat a nutrient-rich diet.
Eating oysters once per week should do the trick– and if you don’t enjoy oysters, you can always swap them for crab or lobster.
These are alternative seafood that contains just as many nutritious vitamins and minerals for hair growth.
Eggs
Eggs are bursting with protein, B vitamins and iron.
Eyelashes are overwhelmingly made up of the protein keratin (just like any other hair on your body).
When you’re deficient in protein, this will impact your hair growth, so eating foods like eggs that are dense in protein can help to support your body’s natural production.
Eggs are relatively low in fat, so they’re fine to eat regularly, and they’re also very versatile food.
Boil, poach, coddle, bake or fry your eggs – the choice is yours.
Greek Yogurt
Greek yogurt has plenty of vitamin B5, which is essential for your hair’s growth, as well as vitamin D and E, protein, and calcium.
Try to integrate Greek yogurt into your routine on a daily basis, whether you add it to smoothies or eat it as-is.
If you dislike Greek yogurt, look for cottage cheese or skim milk as an alternative.
What’s more, if you like cinnamon, this can add a welcome boost.
Cinnamon supports the blood flow, helping nutrients and oxygen to reach your hair follicles which, in turn, supports hair growth. Sprinkle some on your yogurt in the morning.
Read more about how milk can be good for eyelashes.
For Vegetarians, Vegans And Plant-Based Eaters
Soy beans, lentils and other beans
From kidney beans to black beans, chickpeas to cannellini beans, these are a fantastic source of plant-based protein that can help support the growth of eyelashes.
They’re low calorie but dense in protein, fiber, and amino acids, and contain plentiful vitamins like B, C, zinc, and iron – all of which are essential for hair growth.
Iron is essential for the stimulation of blood around the body, which supports the health of the hair follicle by providing plentiful oxygen.
The amino acids contained in beans also support the body’s production of collagen and keratin – both of which are essential proteins in hair.
Black beans contain lots of folic acid too, which is often used to treat hair loss.
Beans are very versatile and can be used in a number of different ways. Pop them into stews or casseroles, turn them into dips, add them to salads – the choice is yours.
Sweet potatoes
Sweet potatoes are low in calories and rich in beta-carotene and vitamin A.
Vitamin A is essential for your hair’s healthy growth, as it keeps your strands moisturized and therefore minimizes breakage or shedding.
Add sweet potatoes to casseroles, roast them, pop them in a soup, or even treat yourself to sweet potato fries.
Nuts
All nuts are great for supporting hair growth. Choose from almonds, walnuts, brazil nuts, macadamia nuts, cashews, hazelnuts – whatever you can find.
They’re full of omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin E and B, and an amino acid called L-arginine which supports and restores the walls of your arteries.
This ensures that your blood flow is regular, which means that oxygen is transported to your hair follicles.
You only need one cup of nuts a day – that contains all of the biotin that your hair needs.
Try to incorporate nuts into your diet every day, whether you’re snacking on them, adding them to soups and salads, or enjoying a delicious nut butter in a protein smoothie.
Spinach
You’ll likely know that spinach is full of iron, but it also contains various other essential vitamins, including B, C, and E, as well as potassium, calcium, magnesium, folic acid, and omega 3 fatty acids.
Folic acid works to replace old cells in your body with new ones, which maintains the overall integrity of your cell structure, and contributes to hair growth.
Potassium ensures the maintenance of your body’s hydration levels, which is essential to keep the integrity of your lashes.
Add spinach to juices and smoothies, use it as a base green leaf for your salads, or sautee it as a green addition to your dinner.
Avocados
Full of essential fatty acids, vitamins B and E, avocados are really a wonder food for the growth of eyelashes.
Vitamin B supports the metabolism of your cells and vitamin E repairs any damage.
Avocados also contain biotin, a protein of which eyelashes are comprised, and many antioxidants which keep free radicals from your body.
In turn, this fights stress levels – and stress is linked to hair loss.
Add avocados to your toast instead of butter, cut them onto a salad, or use them in a breakfast shake.
Try not to overload on them, as they’re high in (good) fat – so a couple of avocadoes a week should be fine.
Can Fish Oil Make Your Eyelashes Grow?
When you want to make your eyelashes grow, look for foods with fatty acids – particularly omega 3. Fish oil and fish itself are rich in this ingredient, which will nourish and hydrate your lashes from the inside out, supporting their growth.
If you enjoy eating fish, then mackerel, salmon, and tuna are some of the best for fatty acids and omega-3.
If you don’t, then taking fish oil supplements will ensure you’re still getting the benefits of this food without having to actually eat it.
What Vitamins Are Good For Eyelashes?
If you’re looking to support the growth of your eyelashes from the inside out, it’s key to ensure that you get the vitamins that you need.
The essential vitamins that are good for eyelash growth are vitamin A, biotin (or vitamin H), vitamin C, vitamin D, and vitamin E. Zinc and iron are also fantastic.
Most of the foods above contain these ingredients in their spades, so be sure to integrate them into your diet if you’re looking for food that makes your eyelashes grow.
Don’t forget that you can also help to make your lashes look longer by aesthetic means.
Mascara, for example, can lengthen and thicken lashes, and there are also plenty of growth serums on the market that will nurture and condition.
Alternatively, you can use natural oils like coconut or olive oil overnight – just take care to wash them off properly the following morning.