Growing a thicker beard can be a challenge for many men for a variety of reasons. The problem for most men is that once the beard reaches a certain point, itchiness can become so out of control that they trim or shave the beard just to retain some sanity. Combine this with a poor diet and improper skin care techniques, the beard looks thin and weak to say the least.

Guys know that the beard is associated with masculinity, power, leadership, and wisdom, the thicker the beard the more respect it commands. Here are some simple tips you can implement today that will grow a thicker beard in less time that you might think.

1. The two week beard rule
It starts roughly two weeks into that decision to finally let loose and grow a beard. You rise one morning only to find your face on fire and you need to scratch. The more you scratch the worse it gets, and finally, it's gone. Beard Gone.. a tale of tragedy. The reason the hair is itching is a combination of two things. The first is poor grooming habits, basically the skin is not being moisturised so it can withstand the hair follicles piercing through. Secondly, as new hairs grow, they cause slight irritation in the skin that will subside in a few days, but most guys can not get to that point.

2. Keep that beast tamedLetting it grow more naturally will earn you some major man points, but grooming helps to give you a more polished appearance. Trimming with scissors and a trimmer are ideal, but consider utilizing a beard oil to help keep the skin below moisturized too. The beard oil will soak into the beard and help it grow thicker.

3. Start Exercising
The first thing you can do to improve the quality of your beard is exercising on a regular basis. This is the solid foundation in which you need to build upon to grow thicker hair, so start by losing some of that excess weight you have. This will in turn increase testosterone, which promotes healthy follicles and hair growth.

The exercise also increases blood circulation which provides all the nutrients the hair needs to grow thicker and stronger. Not the gym type you say? fine! Go for a walk in the wild, take up Geocaching, ride a bike. Make it even more exciting, take the family with you.

4. Reducing Stress
When you are stressing about everything in your life, you increase the cortisol in your body. This will have a negative impact on testosterone development. The stress also can constrict the blood vessel, making it more challenging for the nutrients in the blood to get to the hair follicles.

Start with meditation and let that stress simply melt away. You will be amazed at how much your facial hair will improve after you work at eliminating any stress from your life.

5. Getting Your Rest
In order to increase testosterone in the body, your body simply needs to sleep. Sleeping helps the body to regenerate testosterone, especially if you are getting at least 8 hours sleep a night. If you are getting enough sleep, your stress will decrease, and your facial hair will benefit.

Getting 5 hours of sleep can reduce your testosterone production by a staggering 15%, which in turn can result in those patchy areas throughout your beard that never seem to fill in.

6. Improve Your Diet
A vitamin-rich diet consists of eating more vegetables. These vegetables are packed with all the minerals and vitamins that your body needs to stay healthy. Your hair is a protein filament, so the more protein-rich foods you’re consuming the healthier your beard will look.

Some of the foods you should incorporate into your diet are eggs, nuts, and kale. These will increase testosterone production and give your beard that luxurious thicker appearance.

7. Taking Supplements
Stimulating the growth of facial hair can be as simple as taking supplements in addition to a well-balanced diet. It is important to know that copper, zinc, magnesium, vitamin B, iron, vitamin D, and vitamin E all play crucial roles in growing thicker hair.

The sad truth is most men do not get enough of these in their diet. Incorporating supplements into the diet will have a positive impact on your facial hair, as you will begin to see the quality of the hair improve after changing your diet.