Egg Yolk for Hair

Applying egg yolk to your scalp may provide several benefits. These might include preventing hair loss or brittle hair, or helping your hair grow faster.

Egg yolk is the yellow ball suspended in the white of an egg when you crack it open. Egg yolk is densely packed with nutrition and proteins, such as biotin, folate, vitamin A, and vitamin D.

The nutrients that are naturally contained in an egg yolk are the same ones that are in healthy, glossy hair. Some people apply egg yolk to their scalp as a treatment for hair loss, brittle hair, or to try to make their hair grow faster.

What are the benefits?

To understand the way that egg yolk helps your hair, we first have to discuss what contributes to common hair problems. A poor diet, excessive chemical treatments, oxidative stress from your environment, and heat styling can all strip your hair shaft of its proteins.

Egg yolk may help your hair resist damageEgg yolk is rich in the vitamins that may make hair more resistant to damage. The yolk may be especially useful to moisturize hair that appears dry.

Egg yolk can be superfood for your hair due to the unique combination of vitamins found inside. Vitamins A and E, biotin, and folate are just some of the nutrients that researchers have linkedTrusted Source to hair growth and healthy hair.

The most commonTrusted Source nutritional deficiency in the world is iron. Iron is important for your body’s production of new cells. Each egg yolk contains a small, but significant, amount of iron.

Egg yolk may help your hair grow fasterApplying egg yolk topically to your scalp can infuse the root of your hair with vitamins. This means that the new hair will grow out stronger and be less prone to breakage and shedding. When your hair doesn’t fall out as much, it becomes fuller. It can even seem like it’s growing in faster.

How to use egg yolk for your hair

Hair maskYou can make a hair mask using egg yolk and olive oil to get the benefits of egg yolk for your hair. You can also just use an entire raw egg without mixing it with anything else as a deep moisturizing treatment.

Simply stir the egg or egg and oil mixture. Using gloves, apply the mask to your hair using your fingers. Make sure to coat the top of your scalp and the ends of your hair. Let the treatment sit on your hair for about an hour before rinsing it out with cold water.

DietaryYou can also try incorporating more eggs in your diet as a way to get healthier hair. Eating eggs for breakfast can improve your nutrition by giving you protein, B vitamins, and folate. The better you nourish your body, the better your hair will look.

SupplementsThere are pills on the market that are distilled versions of egg yolk proteins. You can try these supplements to get access to the rich nutrition inside of egg yolks without eating egg yolks or using an egg yolk hair mask. But evidence into using these supplements to improve your hair growth and appearance is anecdotal.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also doesn’t monitor the purity or quality of supplements. Talk with your doctor before you begin taking them.

Potential risks and side effects

Using egg yolk for your hair is a fairly low-risk treatment. There are a few potential side effects, though. If you have an egg allergy, don’t use egg yolk on your head, even as a topical treatment.

If you’re consuming egg yolk in large quantities, remember that egg yolk is a food that’s high in cholesterol. While eating an egg a day won’t harm your health, eating large quantities may if you’re at high risk for heart disease or already have heart disease or diabetes.

The takeaway

Using egg yolk for your hair may require several weeks of consistent treatment to see results. While using egg yolk to improve the appearance and health of your hair won’t work for everyone, it’s a low-cost and simple way to treat hair that might be worth trying out.

Last medically reviewed on September 24, 2023