Getting the right vitamins and minerals for hair growth is important for the overall health of your hair. Running a deficiency in any of the following vitamins and minerals creates the potential for less than optimal hair growth. Here is our list of the top 11 essential vitamins and minerals you need to keep your hair looking its best and growing just as fast as it possibly can. Our bodies can not make essential vitamins and minerals so we must take them in through our diet or supplementation.
1. Vitamin C
Most of us are aware of how important Vitamin C is for the immune system, and as an antioxidant in the body. But it is also used in plenty of hair care products for a good reason. It is one of the most important vitamins you can use to get the results you seek. You can use products that are infused with it, and also make sure that you’re getting enough Vitamin C of it each day so your hair looks its best. Whole foods work best but you can also take a quality supplement if you feel like you are not maintaining the right levels.
2. B Vitamins
The B Vitamins are typically grouped together because there’s so many of them and you’ll want to be sure to cover them all. You can eat foods that are rich in these vitamins, take a B complex Vitamin, or buy shampoos and conditioners that contain them. Signs of not getting enough of the B Vitamins include feeling weak or tired, and easily bruising, and you’ll also notice it because your hair won’t grow as fast as it used to. Be sure to look for a B-vitamin complex that uses activated B vitamins. Activated B vitamins may side step the chemical changes that traditional forms of vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid must undergo to be utilized by the body, thus potentially improving their availability to the body.Vitamin B12 is the most important of the B Vitamins, but for best results try to include them all in your daily plan.
3. Vitamin E
Vitamin E is one of the most overlooked vitamins, but is essential in keep your hair growing healthy. You can get enough Vitamin E by eating foods that are full of it, or by taking a whole food multivitamin that contains it. If you’ve been running low on it, you should see an improvement in how your hair looks, feels, and grows. Vitamin E, when combined with the other vitamins on this list provides a healthy scalp that encourages rather than discourages hair growth. You can also find this in many hair care items, but if you haven’t seen any results through those, trying taking the strategy of getting enough on the inside.
4. Vitamin A
Vitamin A is a powerful antioxidant in the body and has many health properties that make it a vitamin worth keeping a mindful eye on. You can go to the doctor and have all of your vitamin levels checked to see where you rank and see which ones you need more of. It is possible to get too much Vitamin A which is going to be counterproductive to your hair growth efforts, so it’s best to eat foods containing Vitamin A rather than taking supplements with larger-than-needed amounts. Some symptoms of not getting enough Vitamin A include vision problems and skin problems.
5. Vitamin D
Vitamin D promotes healthy follicle growth so you don’t want to run a shortage on it. In order to top up on it you’ll want to schedule regular and brief outings outdoors so you can get some exposure to the sun. You don’t need much in order to keep your body synthesizing its own Vitamin D, but hermitting yourself indoors during the winter months can lead to a deficiency. There are also Vitamin D supplements and hair products that contain it, but they don’t compare to having your body generate its own supply
Iron is an important mineral that your body needs adequate supplies of in order to function at its best in several areas, including growing hair. You may realize that beef is rich in iron, but there are plenty of other foods that are high in iron that you can eat without having to rely on red meat. A quality multivitamin with iron or multi-mineral supplement can help bring up your iron levels along with vitamin c which helps with iron absorption. Once you’re making sure that you’re getting enough iron and the other vitamins and minerals, you can seek out hair products that contain iron in order to see greater improvement.
7. Magnesium
Another mineral that your body needs is Magnesium. It’s best to look at your hair as a cumulative problem that involves your entire lifestyle, from the foods you eat to how much sleep you’re getting. Eating a diet rich in foods with Magnesium in them is one way to make sure that you’re giving your scalp what it needs to growth strong and healthy hair. It’s one of those minerals that you won’t really notice you’re not getting enough of until it becomes a chronic condition, and then you’ll benefit greatly from righting the imbalance. magnesium being better absorbed in segmented doses of 100-200 mg at a time, may make a combination of dietary and supplemental modifications the best option.
8. Protein
Protein may not be a vitamin, but if you want stronger hair that grows thick you’ll want to make sure that you’re consuming enough protein, or using protein treatments to help your hair. You’ll see products out there that are focused primarily on protein, but you’ll also benefit by eating enough of it in your diet. Vegans and vegetarians need not fret, there are plenty of plant based sources of protein, like quinoa, spinach, broccoli, and more. Protein helps the hair grow strong, and also helps the speed at which it grows. If you’ve noticed sluggish growth, first check your protein intake. Protein shakes are an excellent way to up your intake of protein.
9. Niacin
Niacin is in the B Vitamin family but deserves its own recognition for its role in helping to nourish the scalp, promoting healthy hair growth. Without adequate amounts of niacin, your hair stands the chance of becoming brittle, lifeless, and may even fall out. Not getting enough Niacin is a real condition, and the scientific name is pellagra. As a key component in basic nutrition, niacin is often included as part of a daily multivitamin. Most times it doesn’t become this serious, but correcting a Niacin shortage often yields several results. Be sure not to stop there, as you’ll want to make sure that you’re getting enough of each of the items on this page for your best hair possible.
10. Biotin
If you want longer, healthier hair don’t forget the Biotin. This is quickly becoming one of the most used and effective supplements for hair. Biotin is a B Vitamin, but plays such a key role that it needed its own spot. While most people get enough Biotin from the foods they eat each day, it is a water soluble vitamin which means your body can’t retain it, so you need to get enough of it each day or you’ll run a deficit. If you suffer from a Biotin deficiency, you will typically experience hair loss and brittle nails, and taking supplements of this vitamin may help to halt this process. Many hair care products now contain Biotin in them to try and take an outside in approach, but a combination of both an internal and external supply seems to work best.
11. Zinc
They say to cover your vitamins from A to Zinc and this is one instance where they’re right. You might not have given much thought to your Zinc levels before, but they could be playing a part in lackluster hair growth if you don’t have enough. The good news is that it’s not too hard to keep up with your zinc requirements, and most standard diets keep it covered. But you may have trouble absorbing the Zinc you are getting, at which point you may need additional supplements or hair products that contain added Zinc.
By taking a comprehensive approach to helping your hair grow you’ll be doing everything in your power to give it the best chance. Also consider making lifestyle changes to accommodate your hair, including changing the number of times you wash and condition it, how you style it, and how often you get it cut. All of this plays into how healthy your hair is on a day to day basis. Everyone’s hair is a little different, and responds differently to different treatment, so it requires a bit of trial and error to see where you happy hair place is.
