Vitamins Essential to Hair Growth
Nutrition plays a major role in keeping your tresses healthy and vibrant. Without proper diet and nutrition, you may experience hair and scalp problems. Hair loss, falling hair, thinning hair, itchy/inflamed scalp, excessive dandruff and other scalp disorders are some of the most common problems.
To ensure you keep your hair and scalp in top condition, it helps to keep in mind to eat the right kinds of food that contain vitamins and minerals essential to hair growth. Your hair will be naturally radiant from inside out.
Although there are a host of vitamins that may benefit the hair, there are a few worth mentioning.
Below are the most essential hair growth vitamins and minerals and why:
| Vitamin Type | How it Helps |
|---|---|
| Vitamin B Complex | Of all vitamins, this one is the most essential for healthy hair growth. Most of its attributes contribute to keeping hair youthful looking and scale free. It can even help convert premature gray and white hair back to its original color. B12 for example helps absorb iron, a mineral which if not absorbed will result to hair loss. B3 helps in blood circulation to the scalp, an important aspect in avoiding thinning of hair. B5 and B6 helps prevent hair loss |
| Iron | If your body is unable to absorb or process iron, hair loss and anemia may result. |
| Zinc | A natural mineral in many food types. If not absorbed by the body, this may lead to hair loss, dandruff or scaling of the scalp and skin problems |
| Vitamin A | This vitamin keeps the scalp healthy and aids in the production of sebum in the scalp |
| Vitamin C | This antioxidant aids in absorption of essential minerals to keep hair healthy and vibrant |
| Vitamin E | This vitamin slows down the aging process and keeps hair looking youthful and shiny. It also inhibits Vitamin A in the body to prematurely oxidize and become useless |
| Biotin | Prevents disorders in the scalp. It also aids the body's production of keratin which makes hair grow faster |
| Calcium | Aids in healthy growth of hair, bones and nails |
| Lecithin | Another B complex vitamin, it contains Choline and Inositol which keep hair follicles healthy |
These vitamins are abundant in many natural and unprocessed foods. Here are some of the food sources you can get plenty of these vitamins from:
| Vitamin Type | Sources |
|---|---|
| Vitamin B Complex | whole unprocessed foods, bananas, Brewer's yeast, chili peppers, green vegetables, Kombucha (tea based beverage), lentils, liver, meat products, potatoes, Tempeh (soy product), tuna, turkey, whole grains |
| Iron | breakfast cereals, broccoli, dried beans, fish, flour, kale (form of cabbage), leafy vegetables, lentils, meat, pasta, peas, pistachios, poultry, tofu |
| Zinc | almonds, beef, cheddar cheese, chicken, chickpeas, cocoa powder, crab, dark chocolate, green peas, kidney beans, lamb (mutton), lobster, low fat roast beef, milk, mozzarella, oysters, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, squash seeds, Tahini (sesame butter commonly found in Hummus), toasted wheat germ, Veal liver, watermelon seeds |
| Vitamin A | liver (including cod liver oil), apricot, broccolli, butter, cantaloupe melon, carrot, cheese, egg, Kale (form of cabbage), mango, milk, papaya, pea, pumpkin, red pepper, spinach, sweet potato, yogurt |
| Vitamin C | broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, garlic, grapefruit, green chili pepper, guava, kiwi fruit, lemon, liver (calf, beef, lam, chicken, pork), Lychee, mango, melon, milk, orange, oysters, papaya, parsley, red pepper, Rose Hip, strawberry |
| Vitamin E | almonds, asparagus, avocados, broccoli, fortified cereals, green leafy vegetables, hazelnuts, kiwi fruit, mango, papaya, pumpkin, safflower oil, sunflower oil, sweet potato, tomato, wheat germ oil, whole grains |
| Biotin | liver, nuts, peanuts, raw egg yolk, Swiss chard, vegetables, whole wheat bread |
| Calcium | almonds, broccolli, cheese, fortified soy beverage, milk, oats, okra, salmon, sardines, seaweed, soymilk, tofu, tuna, yogurt |
| Lecithin | dairy products, eggs, liver, meats, soy, whole milk with cream |
Although these vitamins and trace minerals are abundant in foods as stated above, it is still good to take in supplements and multivitamins that contain them to make sure you retain your hair’s shine, elasticity and thickness. These vitamins and minerals are available as dietary supplements in tablet form and are commercially available without any prescription. Make sure you take in only the prescribed dosage as stated in the label or ask your physician or trichologist on the optimum intake amount.
Remember, too much or too little of these vitamins may both contribute to hair loss.