A complete diet chart incorporates six basic nutrients and two essential non-nutrient components, listed below:

Six basic nutrients:

1. Carbohydrates
2. Fats
3. Proteins
4. Vitamins
5. Minerals
6. Trace Elements

Two essential non-nutrient components:

1. Fiber
2. Water

Generally, most of the edible stuff contains these nutrients in a varying ratio; however, a balanced diet consists of all of them in well maintained proportions, as demanded by our body. Unbalanced percentages of nutrients greatly affect the metabolic activities and hence undesirable results, like loss of hair.

Yes, poor metabolism is one of the prime reasons for the thinning of hair, their brittleness, color loss and any other kind of hair loss. If you are suffering from any such symptoms, try looking at your diet before assuming the worst; as a well balanced diet can help you restore and regain the health of your hair.

We will be concentrating on vitamins here, and we'll see the role played by each.

Vitamin A - An antioxidant that helps in producing health sebum in scalp. Its deficiency causes hair to get dry as well as causing rough skin. Food Sources: Fish oil, meat, milk eggs, carrots, apricots, etc.

Vitamin B - Vitamin B can further be sub-divided in to various categories, the most important of which have been described below:

1. Para Amino Benzoic Acid: An unpopular vitamin B complex, chiefly responsible for the color of hair. It is mainly found in liver, kidney, whole grain, etc.

2. Inositol: Yet another vitamin B group member meant to keep the hair follicles stay healthy at the cellular level. A deficiency of this vitamin can result in complete baldness. However, the opposite of this holds true equally. The chief sources of inositol are whole grains, brewer's yeast and citrus foods.

3. Biotin: Often known as Vitamin H, this complex of vitamin B plays chief role in hair growth and prevents excessive hair loss. Chief sources: Egg yolk, liver, rice, milk and brewer's yeast.

4. Vitamin B6: This vitamin basically helps in maintaining hair color and texture, thereby preventing any kind of hair loss. It can be easily found in cereals, yeast, organ meats and egg yolks.

Vitamin C - primarily serves as an antioxidant and helps in maintaining scalp circulation. This is because the proper care of capillaries that carry blood to the follicles is very important. Vitamin C can be found in all citrus foods, and fruits like strawberries, kiwi, pineapple and dark green vegetables.

Vitamin E - This vitamin helps in maintaining healthy hair by increasing the oxygen uptake thereby enhancing scalp circulation. Food items like cold preserved vegetable oils, soybeans, nuts, dried beans and leafy green vegetable items are considered as rich sources of this vitamin.