7 Natural ways to help your beard grow longer or thicker and keep them healthy.
How fast your beard grows depends on your genes. To a certain extent, it depends on your testosterone levels and lifestyle. Although you cannot change your genes, you can work to follow a healthy dietary pattern and increase your testosterone levels.
No testosterone supplement has been proven to increase your testosterone levels. Here are some natural ways to help your beard grow longer or thicker and keep them healthy.
Improve your vitamin D levels:
Vitamin D can reactivate the dormant follicles that no longer grow hair. You can improve vitamin D levels by exposing yourself to 15 minutes of sunlight every day. When sunlight is not available during winters, you need to obtain vitamin D from food sources such as
- Fatty fish (salmons, sardines, and mackerel)
- Eggs
- Vitamin D-fortified plant-based milk such as soy milk
Have plentiful of foods that contain vitamin B:
Vitamin B such as biotin and B12 play some role in promoting healthy hair growth. Good sources of vitamin B include
- Whole grain bread
- Dairy
- Nuts
- Meats
- Fish
Exercise daily:
Exercise can boost testosterone levels in the body and help stimulate beard growth. Moreover, it can help you fight obesity. Obesity is also known to reduce testosterone levels in your body.
Have adequate and restful sleep:
Lack of sleep and decreased sleep quality can affect your testosterone levels. Aim to get seven to eight hours of sleep daily to enhance your testosterone levels.
Quit smoking:
Smoking has been associated with hair loss. It causes inflammation in the blood vessels and damages them. This can reduce blood flow to your beard and slow its growth or cause hair loss. If you find it difficult to kick off your addiction, work with your doctor to find out ways to do so.
Moisturize your beard:
Although moisturizing does not boost beard growth, it helps your beard stay healthy and shiny. After washing your beard, you can apply olive oil or coconut oil.
If you are unable to find any results in your beard growth, your skin specialist may recommend you a cosmetic treatment known as micro-needling.
Microneedling (or microdermabrasion):
It involves pricking the beard region with a small instrument known as dermaroller that contains multiple tiny needles. This method stimulates blood flow toward the beard region and can help boost beard growth.
What are the conditions that affect the beard region?
Some conditions can affect the beard and cause patchy loss of a beard. This can result from conditions that include
- Alopecia areata: This is an autoimmune condition that causes loss of hair from any part of the body, most commonly from the scalp. If it affects the beard, the condition is known as alopecia barbae.
- Fungal infection: Ringworm of the beard is known as tinea barbae.
- Chemotherapy: It is a type of cancer therapy that involves the use of anticancer medications. It usually causes hair loss from all parts of the body, including the scalp and beard.
Medically Reviewed on 5/14/2021
References
Obesity: Unhealthy and unmanly. https://www.health.harvard.edu/mens-health/obesity-unhealthy-and-unmanly
Male hypogonadism. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/male-hypogonadism/symptoms-causes/syc-20354881