2026 Supplement/Vitamins & Diet Challenge

[larry3344]

I have been wanting to revive the supplement and vitamin challenges that we used to have on this site but with a twist, it is both a supplement and diet combo challenge.

We all know, as the name suggests a vitamin/supplement is supposed to fill the gaps that your diet is not providing, and the combination of the two with a solid hair regimen can skyrocket your hair growth.

Therefore, I decided to revisit the old threads that we used to have on this site to provide a good base to serve as inspiration, and launch a challenge to monitor our supplements, diet & water intake.

First I want to to provide a list of threads to look at, that may be a source of inspiration to put together your diet and supplement Reggie.

Old thread gems
Youtube University
List of Alkaline foods
Okra for Hair growth
I love green smoothies
Green smoothies and weightloss
Green smoothies
High oxalate toxicity
Green smoothie but still hungry
A few savoury smoothies I found
Tasty Green smoothie recipe
Smoothie who drinks them
70 green smoothies
Green Smoothie and Digestion
Salad a day challenge
Homemade salad dressing
Vitamins for hair growth
Eating eggs for hair growth
Knowledge pool: Supplements that help hair growth
My friend's hair has grown like crazy!!!!!.
Growth is due to the vitamins
Those who take L-cysteine
Viviscal blog on hair loss and diet
Hidden gems from the Past
Japanese women secret
sea marine vegetables
share your sea veggies recipe
Irish moss
Hair diet Research
Diatomaceous Earth
Supplements Bonanza
Vermont cocktail
Diet for Healthy Hair Growth
Seven Wonders hair Food Cocktail
MSM Users
Fenugreek
How about taking chlorella
Diatomaceous Earth
Beautiful Bamboo Tea
Natural remedies on Youtube
Vegetables to manage inflammation

Past Diet/supplement challenges
Diet for Hair growth challenge
30 Day green smoothie challenge
14g Gelatine thicker strands
Nutrition, Exercise & Hair growth Challenge
L-cysteine and egg challenge
Ultra thick Hair by Nature's Plus Challenge
Drink your way to waist length
High Protein Diet
Anemic/Slow growers challenge
Carrot juice challenge
Drink your water challenge

External Resources
13 Essential vitamins
Simple Green Smoothies
Inner Glow Collagen Inducer
Trace Minerals and food sources
12 month meal plan
Meal plan for beauty and wellness
Healthy Eating Plate
Healthy cooking methods
Best Hair Vitamins for hai growth...Forbes
9 Hair Growth Vitamins That Dermatologists Say Actually Work...Oprah Daily
sea vegetables
seaweed
Cookbook Recommendations
Attention: These books are mainly focused on cooking technique and reference materials to incorporate in your cooking.

Youtube Channel Recommendations
Hairscripts by Bevy
Curly Proverbz
Heather Fletcher
The 7 healthiest Foods...Dr. Eric Berg
Shredded at 72

 

[larry3344]

The Rules are simple
Use the month of January to put together a supplement/diet plan that you would use in conjunction with your hair reggie, that you must stick to for the entire year. The idea is to provide consistency and hopefully jumpstart this as a permanent lifestyle change. In addition, diet and supplements show the most astounding results in 3, 6 month to 1 year.

Do not feel pressured to follow someone else's routine, stick to something that is attainable for you and that you can maintain throughout the challenge. If something can be incorporated as a food rather than a supplement, I would encourage eating the food source rather than take a supplement to reduce the supplement intake.

Progress pics should be taken after 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and final 12 months:

1. Last week of March 2026
2. Last week of June 2026
3. Last week Sept 2026
4. Last week of Dec 2026

A monthly check-in is highly encouraged to provide reflection, on how well you have done to maintain your diet/supplement routine, what has worked what doesn't and any changes that need to be made for the next month.

An end of year reflection would be to analyze how the entire challenge went and discuss any challenges and successes achieved throughout and any takeaways.

How to monitor progress
1. 2026 Calendar -> 12 month calendar
2. Journal entry of your meals and supplements intake either daily or weekly to track progress
3. Monthly picture progress
4. A solid Hair Reggie

Suggestions
Plan your meals ahead of time and document what you eat
Blood check with your doctor to see if there are any deficiencies
Approach this challenge holistically - incorporating exercise and good mental wellbeing
Use a weekly and monthly meal planner template
Track your water intake

 

[Yvette 2.0]

I'll join!

2026 is the year that, together with the help of God and health professionals, I heal my body. (Prior to this summer, I never really felt a day over 25, and barely looked it. Something changed this summer, and I intend to heal my body. )

I love that you are designating the month of January for participants to determine our individual diets and supplements. Brilliant! And thank you for the reminder that change will better be detectable over the long term. That reminds me to stay consistent when no changes are apparent yet.

 

[Yvette 2.0]

I will update my info below soon.

Note: I don't want to hydrate, eat, supplement, and exercise suboptimally for an entire year, so
I will be monitoring my health, weight, and hair condition and making quarterly tweaks as prudent.

Starting Pic and Condition of Hair

Hair has normal porosity and is fine, dense, colored, and Type 4b. Today (Jan. 5th, 2025) it is armpit length. When curly, it feels significantly less dense on the left side. Overall it is much less dense than 10 years ago. (Current) Damage to edges is partly what kicked of my whole transition from relaxed to natural. Whether extremely healthy or needing improvement, I love and enjoy my hair. God has blessed me to see my hair as beautiful and to enjoy caring for it and wearing it.

Overall Plan


Quarter 1 Hydration, Nutrition, and Diet Plan


Quarter 1 Exercise Plan


Quarter 1 Supplements


Quarter 1 Hair Practices and Hair Products


Method(s) of Record Keeping

 

[larry3344]

I'll update my info below:

 

[faithVA]

I'm in. I will update my info by the end of the weekend.

 

[larry3344]

Hi ladies, hope you are all doing well we are midway through the month of January, I hope the new year has treated you all well so far. I just wanted remind you all that you have until the end of this month to post your diet/lifestyle plan and your starting hair picture for this year. The schedule for posting updates will be the following:

Progress pics every 3 months

1. March 28-31
2. June 27-30
3. Sept 26 -30
4. Dec 26 -31 *** can be extended to Jan 3 to accommodate the Holidays ***

Monthly Check-ins

Will be the last week of each month. This is to be used to discussed your routine to see if it helps you. what have you learned, what is working and what isn't. Any general takeaways, if you have fallen off your routine please share it and don't be shy to jump back on it.

1. Jan 25-31 *** include a reflection on your routine how well you think it will do, and why you chose that & hair picture ***
2. Feb 22-28
3. March 27-28
4. April 24-30
5. May 25-31
6. June 24-30
7. July 25 -31
8. August 25-31
9. Sept 24-30
10. Oct 25-31
11. Nov 24-30
12. Dec 25- Jan 3 *** include the reflection off the year and your preparation in the new year***

 

[Yvette 2.0]

Hi ladies, hope you are all doing well we are midway through the month of January, I hope the new year has treated you all well so far. I just wanted remind you all that I have until the end of this month to post your diet/lifestyle plan for this year. The schedule for posting updates will be the following:

Progress pics every 3 months

1. March 28-31
2. June 27-30
3. Sept 26 -30
4. Dec 26 -31 *** can be extended to Jan 3 to accommodate the Holidays ***

Monthly Check-ins

Will be the last week of each month. This is to be used to discussed your routine to see if it helps you. what have you learned, what is working and what isn't. Any general takeaways, if you have fallen off your routine please share it and don't be shy to jump back on it.

1. Jan 25-31 *** include a reflection on your routine how well you think it will do, and why you chose that***
2. Feb 22-28
3. March 27-28
4. April 24-30
5. May 25-31
6. June 24-30
7. July 25 -31
8. August 25-31
9. Sept 24-30
10. Oct 25-31
11. Nov 24-30
12. Dec 25- Jan 3 *** include the reflection off the year and your preparation in the new year***

This is lovely! Thank you for your hard work on this. I'm excited!

 

[VarieYvette]

I am lazy so I'm copying @Yvette 2.0' starting stats structure...

Starting Pic



Condition of Hair
My hair is low porosity, fine, dense, texlaxed, and Type 4. TI am currently at CBL. When I cut of my locs in 2023, my hair seems to be less dense than when I had it loc'ed in 2020, but that may be due to age. My edges are now very delicate, and I am trying to nurse them back to health, as well as keep them healthy.


Quarter 1 Hydration, Nutrition, and Diet Plan
It's currently summer here, so this is the best time for fruit here. My goal is to drink at least 3 litres of water daily. I also get stomach and duodenal ulcer flareups, so I try to manage them through diet as much as possible. This year, I am prioritising whole foods; high vegetable intake (while avoiding my triggers of beans, tomatoes, onions), lots of fruit, yoghurt, eggs, chia seeds, and lean meat. So my aim is high fibre and high protein. I also do a version of intermittent fasting where my last meal is normally at 2pm, and my first meal of the day is at 9am.

My beverage intake is restricted to mostly water, herbal tea and milk, though I will have coffee, juice, energy drinks and alcohol on a few occasions. I am also trying to cut down my sugar intake, but I think I will be serious about this in February (I have a candy stash I need to finish consuming )


Quarter 1 Exercise Plan
Like any other parent, my exercise plan is mainly playing with my kids. I will try to do 30 minutes daily of some sort of activitity, be it walking, yoga, pilates, stationary bike or zumba), and this will be logged through my Galaxy watch on Samsung Health.


Quarter 1 Supplements
I take a multivitamin daily, and that's it. Just any regular degular women's multivitamin that I can find.

Quarter 1 Hair Practices and Hair Products
My motto for this year is KISS. Just a weekly wash, DC, and protective style with a little M&S during the week. My hair definitely thrives when I use this routine. I am also avoiding braids with extensions this year. I plan to touch up my relaxer in December.

Method(s) of Record Keeping
I will log my meals in the LoseIt app daily, activity, sleep and water intake using my phone and watch on Samsung Health.

 

[larry3344]

Glad to have you onboard @VarieYvette, ya I didn’t provide a template because it’s a new challenge I started so I left it open for everyone to structure their info. In 2027, I’ll provide a template.

 

[faithVA]

First Quarter

Diet
--The focus of my diet will be heavily plant based, with carbs and protein taking a secondary position to vegetables.
--First quarter will focus on 1/2 my plate being vegetables and limiting my carbs and protein to the other half of the plate.
--Focus on vegetables, fiber and protein

Supplements
--Will take a daily multi-vitamin
--Will supplement with vitamin D during the Fall and Winter
--Will supplement my magnesium when I have long workouts
--Will reset my electrolytes and/or drink ecodrink vitamin drink when having extended workouts

Fitness
--Strength training 2x to 3x a week
--Cardio 2x to 3x a week
--One extended cardio (walking, cycling) once a week of an hour or more
--Track body composition (fat, muscle, etc.) over just weight

Hair
--Reset every 4 to 7 days
--Focus primary on hydrating products
--Midweek moisturizing
--Ayurvedic oil + scalp massages 2x a week
--Stick with flat twist/twist until APL

My hair was at its longest 12/2017 - flat ironed hair. This will be my comparison picture.


This is my hair as of 1/12/26 - blow dried. I will take my monthly pictures like this each month for comparison.

 

[Chicoro]

I like this! I’m going to try to get my information together.

I’ll be back.

 

[faithVA]

This week:
Diet - check;
Supplements - need to remember my Vitamin D
Exercise - strength training was great; missed my 2nd day of cardio. Will set things up to get it in next week
Hair - reset on Monday and kept it up and out of the way; Didn't moisturize mid-week; Will oil and massage today.

 

[hhair2025]

Ok I'm taking things seriously this year. I'll be starting in a few days. Tired of slow growth plus I just big chopped my hair into a TWA. My hair is probably an inch long. Hopefully this works. I'm excited! Will come back with starting pictures in a few days.

Here's my supplement stack:
Beef Organs blend capsules (beef liver, beef heart, beef kidney, beef panreas & beef spleen)
Boron
Collagen
Vitamin D3/K2
Glycine
Iodine
L-Proline
Magnesium Bisglycinate
MSM
Omega 3
Pumpkin Seed Oil
Silica (Biosil liquid)
Vitamin C

Diet:
High protein diet- 200 grams of protein daily (carnivore diet: 2 lbs of meat daily, 2 boiled eggs yolks daily, 1 can of sardines every other day, butter and beef tallow)

Scalp massage
1 hr total daily split into 3 sessions a day.

Exercise
45 minutes of cardio 4 days a week

Water
2.5 liters of water a day

Sleep
At least 8 hrs of sleep every night.

 

[larry3344]

Welcome @hhair2025 happy to have you here!

 

[IDareT'sHair]

I'm in!

 

[snoop]

I'll need a bit more time to get myself together , but I'm in.

 

[Yvette 2.0]

I haven't forgotten about this challenge. I'm still in. I'm just still determining my eating plan.

I'm super excited: I've only been lightly implementing a random plan, and already I've lost weight and inches and my fingernails are stronger.

 

[larry3344]

Thanks everyone, I will be posting my Reggie and reflection later today. I will also add all of our official challengers in the OP on the last day of the month. I am so excited

 

[Yvette 2.0]

Greetings, all!

I'm so hype about this challenge! Let's goooooooooo!

Starting Pic and Condition of Hair

View attachment 507524​

Hair details:​

• Porosity: normal
• Strand width: fine
• Density: I'd say normal.
  The density has definitely decreased over the years. It feels significantly less dense on the left side than the right side. That is a new feeling for me! I feel a tad concerned about that. I feel like this is a result of the way my hair was detangled at the most recent salon I attended. I went there 3 times, I believe. They rip through the hair.
• Type: 4b
  Details: 4b with some heat damage from my duration as a straight-haired natural. I got a major for shaping that removed a lot of the damage. I am satisfied to let the rest of it gradually grow out. I wear my hair mainly curly now, except for rare occasions.
• Length: armpit-length
  Details: layered to make the shape work in its curly state; longest layers are probably a little past armpit-length; shortest layers are probably slightly above collar-bone length???
• Other: Over a decade ago, damage to my edges and overall extreme thinness are what kicked of my whole transition from relaxed to natural. I've been on an amazing hair journey since then, having a blast. Whether extremely healthy or needing improvement, I love and enjoy my hair. God has blessed me to see my hair as beautiful and to enjoy caring for it and wearing it.

Quarter 1 Plan​

Summary
My priorities are to

• reduce inflammation
• become lean
• live hydrated
• rely mainly on food for my nutrients
• grow back out my hair and retain as much length as prudent (after a major, much-needed cut that shaped it for wearing it curly)
• use supplements very intentionally and healthily, keeping it very simple and streamlined to (1) increase the probability of consistency and (2) to avoid overdosage, problematic interactions, etc.

Hydration, Nutrition, and Diet
Start out drinking a minimum of 50 ounces of water a day from my calibrated stay-at-work water jug (the ideal amount is about 80 ounce)
Eat according to the Svelte Metaboost eating plan
Fast every Thursday

Exercise and Sleep
Do strength training at least 3x a week
Do a cardio workout at least 2x a week
Do my evening routine at 9PM to be in bed journaling or sleeping by 10 PM

Supplements
5 days on/ 2 days off, so
Monday - Friday:

• Mary Ruth's Liquid Morning Multivitamin + Hair Growth (Peach Mango was all they had)
• Green Vibrance by Vibrant Health
  
  
  
  When to take each:
  
  

Hair Practices, Products, and Tools

I will let my hair tell me how often to wash and restyle. Typically every 3 to 7 days, just depending on the longevity of the style.​

Main styles: ​

• Wash-and-go with a cement level hold (via Jello Shot gel) to prevent tangling.
  
  These wngs last for days and days, and my hair does not MOVE. It feels miraculous!
  This reduces the need for detangling, which reduces mechanical weathering and breakage, resulting in increased length retention.
• Twist out or flexi rod set on curly hair (when I sometimes need a break from the wash-and-go)
• Twist out or braid out on stretched hair (will stretch using the Rev Air)

Main products and tools:​

• I plan to trial some AG Hair care products for washing and conditioning.
• I plan to style with Jello Shot gel, alone or under The Doux Crazy Sexy Curl foam or The Doux Chief Rocka mousse
• CLUTCH PRODUCT & TOOL: Derma E Curl Repair Deep Treatment as my detangler and the Unbrush Plus as my detangling tool

Method(s) of Record Keeping

• Notion habit tracker (once I can get it built!)
• Hair diary kept in my 2026 OneNote Life Organizer digital binder

It's great to have all of this thought out and written down in black and white! I feel REALLY good about it all. It's peace-instilling! I'm excited. Godspeed all around, everyone!

 

[faithVA]

January Update - Picture update by Monday evening

Diet
--Over the month moved to increasing my vegetable intake and doubling up at dinner.
--At the end of January, started tracking my fiber to prepare for 30 days of 30 grams of fiber in February.
--Have tried/cooked several new vegetable recipes to add in rotation.


Supplements
--Daily intake of multi-vitamin + vitamin D
--Need to remember to supplement my magnesium when I have long workouts
--When the snow passes, will buy tart cherry juice and coconut water to make an electrolyte drink

Training 2x to 3x a week
--Achieved (1) 10+ mile weekly walk
--Increased my strength training from 2x a week to 3x a week
--Improved my recovery time after my walks and strength training
--Slowly increased my lifting weight
--Slowly added in mid-week walks
--Increased my muscle mass and reduced my fat mass

Hair
--Reset every 4 to 7 days and focusing on hydration.
--Tracking whether stretching my hair with hit works for me. Will track through February
--Oiled and massaged a day or two before wash day


In every area, I am starting February better than I did in January. Building a good foundation.