Vitamins, minerals, supplements, and nutrients have been touted to help with hair health for MANY years. But do any of them actually work? Let’s check out if certain nutrients help hair health (whether it’s hair growth, lustrous hair, etc).
Biotin
This is the big one. Biotin, or vitamin B7. If you hav ever been on a hair growth journey, you likely turned to biotin at some point as a supplement for hair health. Guess what? The studies that have been done on hair growth and biotin do not transfer to the larger population.
What I mean by that, is the research supports hair growth with biotin supplementation for individuals who already have a deficiency in biotin, or had a condition in which hair loss was a side effect (like uncombable hair syndrome and brittle nail syndrome) (1, 2).
Yeah, so biotin may not be the best option for hair growth if you don’t have a biotin deficiency, or underlying condition that affects your hair!
And, fun fact, a symptom of biotin deficiency is hair loss. Deficiency is not common as the bacteria in the intestine can produce biotin, but those on anti-epileptic medication, or antibiotics, or with a genetic form to induce deficiency may experience low biotin levels (3).
Collagen
Collagen is a protein found in structural tissue, and this supplement I have heard A LOT of buzz about hair growth in last few years. A recent study in 2022 found that fish collagen, administered to cell cultures and orally to living mice, promoted hair growth (4). Now, the dose was at 500mg/kg and 1000mg/kg. That is HIGH. A lot of studies use nutrients in unrealistically high amounts, and this is another example. A women who ways 55kg would have to ingest 27500mg-55000mg/day! That is a lot of collagen.
This collagen right here that I’ve used before has 12g of collagen (or 12000mg) at a serving size of 2 scoops. You would have to ingest 10 scoops per day, and look into any risks of ingesting this much collagen daily.
Collagen certainly has potential to be in the discussion of hair health and growth, but much more research is needed as there is not much out there right now.
vitamin C
Now, what about vitamin C? A powerful antioxidant and helper of collagen, it may help in hair loss. There is not a ton of research on vitamin C and hair health specifically, but vitamin C’s role in neutralising reactive oxygen species (ROS) and preventing oxidative stress could be helpful in hair growth. Those with oxidative stress have been known to have hair loss (2, 3).
vitamin a
Vitamin A definitely has an effect on hair growth… but also hair loss. Deficiency results in hair loss, but so does toxicity (2, 3, 5).
omega-3 & -6
Omega 3&6 could be helpful in preventing hair loss and bettering hair density (3, 6). A study done with 120 healthy females found this information, and also noted better hair density (6). The supplements did have to be taken for 6 months in order for the participants to report these beneficial effects.
vitamin D
Those with vitamin D deficiency can experience hair loss, so supplementation may help (7). But, it has again, been specifically looked at in conditions with hair loss (2, 3). Vitamin D is involved in follicle cycling, so achieving normal levels and intakes is still important, for a number of health reasons.
vitamin E
Vitamin E can increase hair numbers in those with hair loss (8). The volunteers had 100mg a day for 8 months, and noticed a difference. The researchers attribute this to the antioxidant activity (and proposed reduced oxidative stress), since vitamin E is considered an antioxidant.
There are limited studies on vitamin E and hair growth, however there is one study that showed participants who took 30 times the daily recommended dose for 28 days actually had adverse effects on hair (2, 3)! They also had a significant decrease in thyroid hormone levels, and a descriptive study showed that disruptions in thyroid hormones had an effect on hair loss (9).
zinc
Zinc has mixed results in the research. Some studies show it helps hair growth, others say it does nothing for hair (10). In those with zinc deficiency is where the benefits were seen (2, 3).
**On a personal note, I see improvement in my hair when I take zinc, and have never seen any benefit from biotin or collagen.**
protein
Interestingly, ingested keratin (which what hair is made of) does not help hair growth, as it cannot be broken down and absorbed (11), but other amino acids are important for optimal hair health. L-cysteine and methionine may be helpful in part due to their sulfur contents’ action on keratin (12, 13, 14).
calories/eating enough
There is ALWAYS something to be said for eating enough. If the body does not get the nutrients it needs (including calories), it cannot perform normal functions, like hair growth. Time and again, limited protein intakes, limited carbohydrate intakes, and malnutrition and restrictive eating, hair loss, and adverse hair health is seen (2, 3).
So eat enough food!
bottom line
This review has been So interesting, since biotin may not actually help healthy people achieve #hairgoals, yet that is the supplement that every company touts for hair growth.
Collagen is showing some promise, but it has to be fish collagen specifically. More research is needed, especially at other does, since the current research supports ingesting an astronomically high amount of it daily.
And of course, getting nutrition in general will always help with your #hairgoals. Don’t restrict your food intakes to the point where you are starving yourself, and be sure to eat a variety of foods to optimise how much and how many nutrients you receive.
References:
(1) Patel, Deepa P., Shane M. Swink, and Leslie Castelo-Soccio. “A review of the use of biotin for hair loss.” Skin appendage disorders 3.3 (2017): 166-169.
(2) Almohanna, Hind M., et al. “The role of vitamins and minerals in hair loss: a review.” Dermatology and therapy 9.1 (2019): 51-70.
(3) Guo, Emily L., and Rajani Katta. “Diet and hair loss: effects of nutrient deficiency and supplement use.” Dermatology practical & conceptual 7.1 (2017): 1.
(4) Hwang, Su Bin, Hyeon Ju Park, and Bog-Hieu Lee. “Hair-growth-promoting effects of the fish collagen peptide in human dermal papilla cells and C57BL/6 mice modulating Wnt/β-Catenin and BMP signaling pathways.” International Journal of Molecular Sciences 23.19 (2022): 11904.
(5) VanBuren, Christine A., and Helen B. Everts. “Vitamin A in skin and hair: An update.” Nutrients 14.14 (2022): 2952.
(6) Le Floc’h, Caroline, et al. “Effect of a nutritional supplement on hair loss in women.” Journal of cosmetic dermatology 14.1 (2015): 76-82.
(7) Saini, Kriteeka, and Venkataram Mysore. “Role of vitamin D in hair loss: A short review.” Journal of cosmetic dermatology 20.11 (2021): 3407-3414.
(8) Beoy, Lim Ai, Wong Jia Woei, and Yuen Kah Hay. “Effects of tocotrienol supplementation on hair growth in human volunteers.” Tropical life sciences research 21.2 (2010): 91.
(9) Vincent, Maya, and Krishnan Yogiraj. “A descriptive study of alopecia patterns and their relation to thyroid dysfunction.” International journal of trichology 5.1 (2013): 57.
(10) Park, Hoon, et al. “The therapeutic effect and the changed serum zinc level after zinc supplementation in alopecia areata patients who had a low serum zinc level.” Annals of dermatology 21.2 (2009): 142-146.
(11) Trüeb, Ralph M. ““Let food be thy medicine”: value of nutritional treatment for hair loss.” International Journal of Trichology 13.6 (2021): 1.
(12) Riegel, Kristina, et al. “L-cystine-containing hair-growth formulation supports protection, viability, and proliferation of keratinocytes.” Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology (2020): 499-510.
(13) Zhu, Yanli, et al. “Methionine promotes the development of hair follicles via the Wnt/β‐catenin signalling pathway in Rex rabbits.” Journal of animal physiology and animal nutrition 104.1 (2020): 379-384.
(14) Townsend, Danyelle M., Kenneth D. Tew, and Haim Tapiero. “Sulfur containing amino acids and human disease.” Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy 58.1 (2004): 47-55.
