Vitamins play an important role in your body, and if you’re not getting enough essential vitamins for hair growth through your diet, you can supplement them to ensure you get the daily amount necessary. Your hair growth can be negatively affected by many factors, but the most common reason is aging. With each passing day, changes in your hair can become more evident because your body’s ability to absorb all the vitamins and nutrients needed to maintain hair health and quality decreases.
Millions of people don’t get the recommended daily value of vitamins and minerals they need from the foods they eat. Supplements are an easy, quick, convenient, and safe way to get the vitamins you need. These key vitamins are essential for healthy hair.
Vitamin A
Hair is the fastest-growing tissue in the human body. All cells need vitamin A, especially your hair, given that it grows at rapid rates. A vitamin A deficiency can slow down hair growth, leading to hair loss and impact its overall quality. Vitamin A also helps your scalp produce sebum through its sebaceous glands, which helps moisturize your hair and keep it in good condition.
Vitamin B
Vitamin B is really a universal term used to refer to the B complex of vitamins as it comes in multiple different forms:
- B1 thiamine
- B2 riboflavin
- B3 niacin
- B5 pantothenic acid
- B6 pyridoxine
- B7 biotin
- B9 folic acid
- B12 cobalamin
Vitamin B helps regulate cell health and the production of new cells. It is a crucial vitamin to have, and several of the B vitamins, particularly niacin, biotin and folic acid, all have direct links to hair health. Deficiencies in important B vitamins like biotin, can contribute to hair loss and other hair-related problems.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C acts as an antioxidant for your body. You may wonder how an antioxidant has anything to do with hair growth, but vitamin C actually plays a big role for your hair. The antioxidant effects of vitamin C absorb something called free radicals in your body. Free radicals can cause damage to your cells, including hair cells if left unchecked. In addition, vitamin C is also necessary for the absorption of iron and the production of collagen. Both are critical for strong and vibrant hair.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D isn’t just for strong bones. Even though the science isn’t exactly clear, many studies have shown that vitamin D helps your body create new follicles where hair can grow. Unfortunately, most people, especially women, don’t get enough vitamin D in general. Vitamin D is unique, however, because your body can also produce it just by being out in the sun.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E is like vitamin C. Both function as critical antioxidants for your body. Recent studies have shown promising results for vitamin E and hair growth. This is because vitamin E can neutralize any oxidative stress you’ve built up that impacts hair growth and the health of your scalp.
The human body needs vitamins to function correctly. Vitamin deficiencies can often cause your body to go through abnormal changes or face serious health issues, including hair loss. While your hair loss could be happening due to various environmental and genetic factors, an often overlooked cause is the lack of vitamins in the body that promote normal hair growth.