Before you start losing sleep over hair loss and book appointments with trichologists, take a closer look at what you're eating. Chances are that even slight modifications made to what you eat by incorporating ingredients that aid hair growth and health will have a drastic impact. While genes and lifestyle will always have the upper hand, here's what you could eat to help curb that receding hairline.

Carrots

It's not just the eyes, Vitamin A-rich carrots provide excellent nourishment for the scalp. A healthy scalp ensures shiny, well-conditioned hair that is strengthened and moisturised. An overall balanced diet of lean proteins, fruits, and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, fatty fish like the Indian salmon and low-fat dairy are great boosters for healthy hair.

Prunes

If your hair suffers from dryness, thinning, stiffness, discolouration or hair fall, depleting reserves of iron might be the culprit. Prunes are known to be great sources of iron and greatly help improve the quality of hair. Also ensure you get plenty of green vegetables and beetroots in your diet in addition to prunes.

Green peas

Although green peas are not rich in antioxidants or any specific vitamin or mineral, they contain a well-balanced amount of vitamins and minerals such as iron, zinc and B group vitamins. These are essential for maintaining healthy hair.

Oats

Not only are oats loaded with fiber that helps maintain a healthy heart and bowels, they also contain a high concentration of other essential nutrients such as zinc, iron and omega-6 fatty acids. Together, these are also knows as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Omega-6 fatty acids in particular are essential to maintain normal skin, hair growth and development. Since this essential ingredient is only obtained through the diet, make sure your breakfast includes a bowl of oatmeal every few days in the week.

Shrimp

While red meats are best avoided in excess, finding an appropriate substitute for proteins might be a little difficult for those looking to build muscle etc. Alternatively, of the wide variety of sea food available, shrimps are a great substitute. They not only go excellently well in a number of curries and pastas, their potent concentration of Vitamin B12, iron, zinc contain all the necessary nourishment to prevent hair loss.

Walnuts

Not to be outdone by the oats, walnuts are one of the most hairfriendly nuts in the category. Not only do walnuts have more omega-6 fatty acids than any other food, but they're also full of zinc, iron, B vitamins (B1, B6 and B9), and plenty of protein. However, a word of caution, walnuts also contain a small trace of selenium, a mineral known to cause hair loss in people who are selenium-deficient or have way too much in their system. So a handful of nuts over the week should tide you over without much trouble.

Eggs

For a head full of healthy hair, the egg is probably one of your best friends. It's loaded with essential nutrients such as proteins, Vitamin B12, iron, zinc and Omega 6 fatty acids in large amounts. Being deficient in any of these vitamins and minerals is known to result in poor quality of hair. In addition it's also a good source for biotin (Vitamin B7) which is a great aid to fight hair loss.

Try the following easy tips at home and see how effective they are in reducing hair loss!

1. Hot oil treatments: Take any natural oil - olive, coconut, canola - and heat it up so that it is warm, but not too hot. Massage it gently into your scalp. Put on a shower cap and leave it on for an hour, then shampoo your hair.

2. Natural juices: You can rub your scalp with either garlic juice, onion juice or ginger juice. Leave it on overnight and wash it thoroughly in the morning.

3. Get a head massage: Massaging your scalp for a few minutes daily will help stimulate circulation. Good circulation in the scalp keeps hair follicles active. Circulation may be improved through massage by using a few drops of lavender or bay essential oil in an almond or sesame oil base.

4. Antioxidants: Apply warm green tea (two bags brewed in one cup of water) on your scalp and leave this mixture on for an hour and then rinse. Green tea contains antioxidants which prevent hair loss and boost hair growth.

5. Practice meditation: Believe it or not, most of the times, the root cause for hair loss is stress and tension. Meditation can help in reducing that and restore hormonal balance.

You don't have to acquire a taste for olive oil, seaweed or soya to maintain a low-fat, healthy diet. Indian cuisine can be healthy too, if it's cooked with oil and ingredients that take care of your heart and health. Ayurveda suggests you include all tastes — sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent — in at least one meal each day, to help balance unnatural cravings. Here are 12 foods that can help you lose weight and gain health:

Turmeric : Curcumin, the active component of turmeric, is an object of research owing to its properties that suggest they may help to turn off certain genes that cause scarring and enlargement of the heart. Regular intake may help reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or bad cholesterol and high blood pressure, increase blood circulation and prevent blood clotting, helping to prevent heart attack.

Cardamom : This is a thermogenic herb that increases metabolism and helps burn body fat. Cardamom is considered one of the best digestive aids and is believed to soothe the digestive system and help the body process other foods more efficiently.

Chillies : Foods containing chillies are said to be as foods that burn fat. Chillies contain capsaicin that helps in increasing the metabolism. Capsaicin is a thermogenic food, so it causes the body to burn calories for 20 minutes after you eat the chillies.

Curry leaves : Incorporating curry leaves into your daily diet can help you lose weight. These leaves flush out fat and toxins, reducing fat deposits that are stored in the body, as well as reducing bad cholesterol levels. If you are overweight, incorporate eight to 10 curry leaves into your diet daily. Chop them finely and mix them into a drink, or sprinkle them over a meal.

Garlic : An effective fat-burning food, garlic contains the sulphur compound allicin which has anti-bacterial effects and helps reduce cholesterol and unhealthy fats.

Mustard oil : This has low saturated fat compared to other cooking oils. It has fatty acid, oleic acid, erucic acid and linoleic acid. It contains antioxidants, essential vitamins and reduces cholesterol, which is good for the heart.

Cabbage : Raw or cooked cabbage inhibits the conversion of sugar and other carbohydrates into fat. Hence, it is of great value in weight reduction.

Moong dal : The bean sprouts are rich in Vitamin A, B, C and E and many minerals, such as calcium, iron and potassium. It is recommended as a food replacement in many slimming programmes, as it has a very low fat content. It is a rich source of protein and fibre, which helps lower blood cholesterol level. The high fibre content yields complex carbohydrates, which aid digestion, are effective in stabilising blood sugar and prevent its rapid rise after meal consumption.

Honey : It is a home remedy for obesity. It mobilises the extra fat deposits in the body allowing it to be utilised as energy for normal functions. One should start with about 10 grams or a tablespoon, taken with hot water early in the morning.

Buttermilk : It is the somewhat sour, residual fluid that is left after butter is churned. The probiotic food contains just 2.2 grams of fat and about 99 calories, as compared to whole milk that contains 8.9 grams fat and 157 calories. Regular intake provides the body with all essential nutrients and does not add fats and calories to the body. It is thus helpful in weight loss.

Millets : Fibre-rich foods such as millets - jowar, bajra, ragi, etc - absorb cholesterol and help increase the secretion of the bile that emulsifies fats.

Cinnamon and cloves: Used extensively in Indian cooking, the spices have been found to improve the function of insulin and to lower glucose, total cholesterol, LDL and triglycerides in people with type 2 diabetes.