While deep conditioning treatments and expensive shampoos can make your hair silky and shiny, they can’t help to manage the health of your hair.

If you’re looking to make sure your hair is healthy from the inside out, or even if you’re just looking for longer, stronger strands of hair, adding in vitamins for hair into your daily lifestyle is a great way to ensure the health of your hair. 

Thankfully, it’s now easier than ever to starting adding vitamins for hair growth in our busy lives.

Are you looking for ways to fight against your becoming thin and brittle? In this guide, we’ll show you how consuming the best vitamins for hair growth will help to improve the color, shine, growth, and thickness of your hair. 

Keep reading to learn about the best vitamins for hair!

Factors That Affect the Health of Your Hair

Are you curious to learn why your hair looks (and feels) so different than other women your age? There are many different factors that can affect the overall health of your hair. 

Here are a few reasons why the health of your hair may be suffering:

Protein Deficiency

Did you know that one of the most common signs that you’re not eating enough protein is hair loss? 

Making sure that you’re eating enough protein is essential to the overall growth and health of your hair. The average adult should eat .36 grams of protein for every pound they weigh; that means if you weigh 140 pounds, you should be consuming 53 grams of protein every day.

Stress Levels

Science has suggested that uncontrolled stress levels contribute to hair loss. The three main types of hair loss that are associated with uncontrolled stress are:

Trichotillomania

Trichotillomania when a person has an irresistible desire to pull hair out of their scalp, eyebrows, and other parts of their body. For many suffering from this condition, pulling out their hair is a way for them to deal with anxiety, stress, frustration, and other uncomfortable feelings. 

Telogen effluvium

Telogen effluvium is caused when a large amount of stress actually causes your hair follicles into a phase of resting. You may notice that your hair is falling out in clumps when you’re washing or brush your hair, which may be a result of this condition.

Alopecia areata

There are many different factors that can contribute to a diagnosis of alopecia, but one of which contributes is an exposure to severe stress levels over an extended period of time. In people with alopecia, their immune systems attack the follicles of their hair, which results in hair loss.

Genetics

Genetics play a large part in why your hair is so different than the other people that you know (that you aren’t related to). If you’ve noticed that your hair is thinning, turning brittle, or you’re starting to lose hair, take a look at your family tree.

Did other people in your family experience the same problem? If so, you have genetics to thank for the difficulties you’re having with your hair. 

Health Conditions

There are several health conditions that can actually alter that health of your hair. Some of these include:

Hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism is when a person has a thyroid gland that’s underactive. The thyroid gland is found in your neck and is responsible for creating the hormones that your metabolism depends on. 

When your thyroid isn’t producing enough hormones, one of the first results you may notice is brittle, dry hair or even hair loss. 

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Polycystic ovary sydrome (aka PCOS) is an imbalance in female and male sex hormones in a woman’s body. Due to the excess of the androgen hormone, women will develop cysts on their ovaries, are at a higher risk of developing diabetes, gain excessive amounts of weight, struggle with infertility, and typically experience hair thinning.

Best Vitamins for Hair 

Looking to start adding more hair healthy vitamins into your diet? Here’s a look at the best vitamins to take for hair health!

Biotin

Biotin, also known as vitamin B7, is a member of the B vitamin family. Your body does not naturally create bitoin, which is why it’s so important that you stay on top of ensuring that you’re consuming enough biotin!

What Is the Function of Biotin? 

Biotin is an essential vitamin and is responsible for many vital functions in your body. Some of the functions that biotin is responsible for include:

  • Maintaining a healthy level of LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol)
  • Metabolizing amino acids, fats, and carbohydrates
  • Regulating healthy blood sugar levels
  • Keeping your skin healthy
  • Fighting against cognitive impairment that’s related to aging
  • Strengthening your hair by working with enzymes to make keratin, one of the amino acids that your hair is made up of

What Are Signs of Biotin Deficiency? 

Biotin deficiency is a common problem, especially because biotin is a water-soluble vitamin. Since it’s a water-soluble vitamin, your body doesn’t have the ability to store it. This means that it’s essential that you consume enough biotin on a regular basis.

The most common signs of biotin deficiency is hair loss. However, other symptoms of biotin deficiency can include:

  • Muscle pain
  • Joint pain
  • Loss of appetite
  • Depression

How Much Biotin Should You Take Every Day?

In order to keep up with your daily biotin intake, an adequate amount to take everyday for an adult over 18 is 30 mcgs. 

However, you don’t have to depend solely on a biotin vitamin to make sure you’re getting a healthy level of biotin! 

Dietary Resources 

If you’re concerned about maintaining a healthy amount of biotin in your body, pairing a biotin vitamin with a healthy diet is a great way to make sure that you’re giving your body enough biotin. 

There are two different types of biotin found in food. Protein-bound biotin is found in animal foods that are based off of protein and free biotin is found in plants!

Your body can use both forms of biotin, but your body has an easier time using free biotin rather than protein-bound biotin. 

That’s because in order for your body to be able to use protein-bound biotin, your body has to go through a process called biotin gluconeogenesis. In a generalization, this is the process your body goes through to convert the protein-bound biotin into an easy-to-use amino acid.

Some foods that contain a large amount of free biotin include:

  • Avocados
  • Pecans
  • Green peas
  • Sunflower seeds
  • Walnuts
  • Cauliflower
  • Mushrooms
  • Carrots

Some foods that contain a large amount of protein-bound biotin include:

  • Free-range egg yolks
  • Seafood
  • Orange meats, like heart, liver, kidneys
  • Grass-fed butter
  • Grass-fed cheese
  • Grass-fed milk

Are There Side Effects to Taking Biotin? 

Biotin is excreted in urine, so you don’t have to worry about taking too large of a dose at once. Any biotin your body doesn’t need will be gotten rid of in your urine. 

However, you should be aware that biotin does have the possibility to interact with any lab tests that you have done. If you’re having lab testing done to check your hormone levels, thyroid levels, vitamin D levels, or cardiac troponin levels, make sure to let your doctor know. This is because biotin can cause a misrepresented result in your lab testing, leading to a misdiagnosis!

Vitamin A

Vitamin A is the term used to describe a group of fat-soluble compounds that are essential to maintaining your health. 

They’re involved in many vital functions of the body, some of which include keeping your vision healthy, make sure that your immune system is properly functioning, and is responsible for the healthy functioning of a woman’s reproductive system. 

What Is the Function of Vitamin A?

Vitamin A is responsible for several important functions in your body. They include:

Protecting Your Eyes

Did you know that one of the most common symptoms of a Vitamin A deficiency is night blindness? 

One of the most important functions of vitamin is to make sure that your eyes are able to convert light to an electrical signal that’s sent to your brain. While people with Vitamin A deficiency are able to see during the day, their eyes don’t contain enough of the rhodopsin pigment to be able to pick up on low levels of light in the dark. 

To make sure that you’re still able to see low levels of light in the dark, consuming enough Vitamin A will make sure your eyes produce enough rhodopsin!

Supporting a Healthy Immune System

Vitamin A is also responsible for keeping up with the health of your immune system! This vitamin is responsible for producing a strong enough mucus barrier in your gut, lungs, eyes, and genitals to help trap bacteria.

In addition, Vitamin A is also responsible for making sure that your body produces enough white blood cells. White blood cells are responsible for capturing and clearing bacteria, as well as other infectious particles, from your blood!

Maintaining Healthy Hair

Another essential role of vitamin A is regulating retinoic acid, which helps to keep your scalp moisturized! Retnoic acid is responsible for keeping your scalp moist and free of any irritation. This helps to prevent dandruff and from your hair getting too dry. 

Vitamin A is essential for hair growth as it’s responsible for making sure that when your hair is damaged, it’s repaired. By consuming a healthy amount of Vitamin A, you could potentially notice a large increase in how quickly your hair grows!

Encouraging Healthy Bones

Did you know that recent studies have shown that a diet high in vitamin A can actually reduce your chances of developing bone fractures by more than 6%?

Eating a healthy level of vitamin A can help to protect your bones and even help to reduce your chances of developing a fracture! 

What Are Signs of Vitamin A Deficiency?

Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding are at a high risk of developing a Vitamin A deficiency. Some of the most common signs of vitamin A deficiency are:

Dry Skin

As discussed above, Vitamin A is essential for the development and repair of skin cells. If you’re struggling to manage dry skin, it may be a sign of chronic Vitamin A deficiency. 

Slow Wound Healing

Have you noticed that your wounds heal slowly? Wounds that heal slowly have been linked to low levels of Vitamin A.

Vitamin A is responsible for the production of collagen, which is a complex protein that makes sure your skin is healthy! If you have low levels of Vitamin A, your body won’t be able to produce enough collagen to heal your wounds and minimize scarring. 

How Much Vitamin A Should You Take Every Day? 

It’s recommended that women take around 700 mcg of vitamin A every day. 

Dietary Resources

Vitamin A is found in food that comes from plants and from animals, in the form of provitamin A and preformed vitamin A.

Vitamin A that’s found in animal products is preformed vitamin A, which is an active form of the vitamin. It’s commonly found in fish, dairy, chicken, and meat.

Provitamin A is the inactive form of the vitamin; alpha-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, and beta-carotene are all forms of Vitamin A, which are found in plants. 

When you ingest inactive forms of Vitamin A, your body converts it to an active form for your body to use! 

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is a vital nutrient and even in those of us who follow healthy diets, the majority of Americans are deficient in Vitamin D.

Keep reading to learn how this essential vitamin plays a very important role in the health of your hair! 

What Is the Function of Vitamin D?

Often referred to as the ‘sunshine vitamin’, Vitamin D plays a significant role in the health of your brain and body. Some of the functions of Vitamin D include:

Healthy Bones

Vitamin D is essential for making sure that your bones are properly absorbing the calcium you ingest. Not only does Vitamin D help to make sure that your bones strongly form, but it also helps to improve your balance, resulting in a decreased risk of fractures due to falls. 

Weight Loss

This vitamin is also plays a role in weight loss! When your body doesn’t have enough Vitamin D, your body doesn’t produce enough leptin. Leptin is the appetite hormone, which is responsible for telling your brain when your stomach is full.

With healthy levels of Vitamin D in your body, your leptin levels are restored in your body, which will create a feeling of satiety after you’ve finished eating!

What Are the Signs of Vitamin D Deficiency?

Most people don’t always realize that they’re deficient in Vitamin D. Here are a few warning signs that you might be struggling with Vitamin D deficiency:

Hair Loss

Hair loss in women has actually be linked to deficient Vitamin D levels. Long-term exposure to low Vitamin D levels have also been shown to increase a person’s chances of developing alopecia areata. 

Depression

Some studies have suggested that older adults suffering from depression actually have low levels of Vitamin D. Vitamin D helps your brain to regulate emotions and behaviors, so if you notice that you’ve felt depressed, talk to you doctor about a possible Vitamin D deficiency. 

Bone Loss

As discussed earlier, Vitamin D is responsible for how much calcium your body absorbs.  If your doctor has told you that you have a low bone density, it may be a sign of Vitamin D deficiency. 

Making sure that your body has a healthy amount of Vitamin D will help your body to protect your bone density!

How Much Vitamin D Should You Take Every Day? 

There are two forms of Vitamin D that you will find in a diet:

  • Vitamin D2
  • Vitamin D3

Vitamin D2 is found in a select amount of mushrooms, while Vitamin D3 is found in egg yolks and oily fish.

Vitamin D3 is the more powerful vitamin out of the two, as it has the ability to nearly double the blood levels of Vitamin D than Vitamin D2 does.

The United States Institute of Medicine recommends that the average adult consume 15 micrograms of Vitamin D every day. 

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is a fat-soluble antioxidant that’s found in seeds, vegetables, and nuts. Not only does Vitamin E play a part in the responsibility for the health of your hair, but it also has several other important functions in your body!

What Is the Function of Vitamin E?

Vitamin E is responsible for many important functions in the body. Some of which include:

Antioxidants

Vitamin E helps your cells prevent damage from free radicals, which are harmful compounds that are found in your bloodstream. Free radicals are created when your body processes cigarette smoke, pollution, high-stress levels, and highly processed foods. 

Forms Red Blood Cells

In addition, Vitamin E helps your body form red blood cells. With the help of Vitamin E, your body is able to properly use Vitamin K, which is responsible for creating blood clots.

By itself, Vitamin E acts a blood thinner, but when paired with Vitamin K, your body is able to form strong blood clots when you cut yourself!

Healthy Functioning of Cells

Your cells depend on Vitamin E for cell division, cell signaling, and for cells to be able to communicate with one another! In order for your immune system to properly function and heal any damaged part of your body, your cells need to be able to communicate with one another. Vitamin E allows your cells to do that!

What Are the Signs of Vitamin E Deficiency?

Curious to see what the signs of a Vitamin E deficiency are? Here’s a list of the most common symptoms:

Hair Loss

If your body isn’t able to control the free radicals in your body, the oils in your skin cells will become damaged. This could make your body susceptible to hair loss, as a result of unmanaged free radicals!

Weakness of Muscles

A long-term Vitamin E deficiency can cause a shrinkage in your muscle mass and it forces your muscles to become frail. Overtime, your muscles will become weak because the free radicals that are in your body will attack the healthy muscle cells. This will result in a loss of mass in your muscles and strength in the remaining cells. 

Weakened Immune System

If your body isn’t able to fight against free radicals in your body, your immune system will also struggle to fight against bad bacteria. As an end result, this makes your body much more likely to develop infections and have trouble getting over infections. 

How Much Vitamin E Should You Take Every Day? 

The Recommended Dietary Allowance for Vitamin E in the average adult is approximately 15 mg a day.

You can also supplement Vitamin E into your diet by eating some of the following foods:

  • Sunflower oil
  • Peanuts
  • Almonds
  • Asparagus
  • Liver
  • Sunflower seeds
  • Almond
  • Avocado
  • Spinach
  • Sweet potatoes
  • Broccoli

Or you can check out our Vitamin E Patch if you’re looking to get more Vitamin E into your life!

Biotin

Stronger and Healthier Hair and Nails

Having weak hair and nails can ultimately lead to loss of the same. Biotin has been known to be one of the best hair, skin, and, nail vitamins.

Although there is little evidence to show that biotin helps with increased hair growth, multiple studies show that a deficiency of the vitamin can lead to hair loss.

Biotin deficiencies are rare, to be honest, and only people with a deficiency will benefit greatly from taking supplements. Hair loss is one of the indicator signs for a biotin deficiency.

Many hair companies have now turned to use biotin as one of the ingredients in their products. However, research indicates that taking oral biotin supplements is more likely to generate the desired results.

Biotin is also responsible for strengthening nail cuticles, which, in turn, prevents them from breaking.

Macronutrient Metabolism

Another important role that biotin plays is being a co-enzyme. This means that the vitamin plays a vital role in the breakdown of certain other foods. It’s particularly pivotal in the metabolism of carbs, proteins, and fats.

When paired with chromium picolinate, the metabolism becomes faster.

Biotin has also been linked with faster resting metabolism. When taking biotin, research has shown that food is broken down faster, accelerating weight loss.

But it’s not recommended that you use biotin as a weight loss pill. You will still need to hit the gym 

and watch what you eat.

Fetal Development

Besides alcoholics and chronic smokers, pregnant women are more susceptible to rare biotin deficiency.

During pregnancy, the breakdown of biotin in the body is much faster. This is what may lead to a deficiency of the vitamin in 50% of pregnant women.

Biotin helps in fetal development. As such, pregnant women who have deficiencies should take supplements to prevent any congenital disabilities.

Lactating mothers are also at high risk for the deficiency and should take supplements.

However, it’s important to note that too much biotin is dangerous to a fetus. As a result, it’s advisable that you talk to your physician first before opting to go for supplements. 

Healthier Skin

You have probably heard of the saying that you are what you eat. This is especially true when it comes to the health of your skin. The recommended intake is 5 mcg per day in infants and 30 mcg in adults. 

The effect of biotin on the skin is not well understood. However, it’s known that deficiencies can lead to red, scaly, and itchy skin. It can also lead to other skin conditions such as acne and rashes.

Lower Cholesterol

High levels of cholesterol have been associated with heart disease and strokes. Thanks to the unhealthy lifestyles that we now lead, such cases are on the rise each day.

Biotin has been known to have some benefits when it comes to lowering the levels of cholesterol. It inhibits LDL, commonly known as ‘bad cholesterol,’ reducing the amount in the body.

Regulating the Amount of Sugar in the Blood

People suffering from Type 2 diabetes usually have to deal with high blood sugar levels. Because the disease affects metabolism, people who suffer from it can benefit from biotin supplements.

Research has shown that biotin, paired with chromium, can help to lower the glucose levels in the body.

Because people suffering from Type 2 diabetes are likely to have biotin deficiencies, we recommend that they take biotin supplements under the guidance of their doctor.

Common Sources of Biotin

Now that you are all informed on why you should be taking some more biotin, do you know where to get it from?

Luckily, biotin is found in a wide range of foods. It’s for this reason that a biotin deficiency is rare.

Want to boost the biotin levels in your body? Have a look at what you need to include in your diet.

Liver and Other Organ Meats

Most of the biotin is usually stored in the liver, making it one of the richest sources of the vitamin. Meats from other organs, such as the kidneys, are also rich sources of biotin.

Although other kinds of meat may not contain as much biotin as organ meats, they are still a relatively good source for the vitamin.

Egg Yolk

Egg yolks also contain high amounts of biotin. To maximize these amounts, it’s recommended that you cook the eggs before eating them.

Raw eggs usually contain a protein called dietary avidin. The protein binds itself to biotin, which makes it difficult for the body to absorb the vitamin.

Leafy Green Vegetables

Of course, where else would you get all the vitamins you need if not from green leafy vegetables?

When it comes to biotin, spinach is the best contender. It’s especially advisable that you use fresh spinach as it tends to be more packed with both nutrients and fiber.

Having Healthy Hair Again

Thankfully, it’s now easier than ever to make sure you’re consuming the right vitamins for hair growth and health. If you’re concerned about the health of your hair, make sure to visit your doctor to make sure you don’t have any underlying health conditions. 

Many of the causes of hair loss are easily treatable! It’s never too early to start making sure you’re giving your body the vitamins it needs for healthy hair. 

Adding in vitamin for hair doesn’t have to be a struggle with your busy lifestyle! Check out our Biotin Plus patch if you’re looking to start making sure your body is getting enough biotin.

  • Learn more about the benefits and uses of Alpha-Lipoic Acid in our comprehensive guide to this powerful antioxidant.

 

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