Nutritional therapy is an important part of hair care treatment. The best way to do this is balancing all nutrients in everyday diet. Hair needs protein, vitamins, minerals, good fats and antioxidants to grow in a optimal way.
When there are additional nutritional needs – recovering from fever, surgery or injury, general body development in teenagers, long term illnesses – the body diverts nutrient supply from hair. Even when blood levels are normal, it may not be enough to reach hair. And when blood levels itself are less, then there is gross deficiency.
What are the most important nutrients for hair?
Literally all. Vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and proteins. Balanced levels are more important than any single nutrient. But some play a more direct role in influencing hair growth than others. Let’s focus on those.
Biotin
Biotin has become synonymous to hair care vitamin (though it does much more than that). It has to be regularly consumed as it is not stored in the body. Biotin deficiency directly manifests with poor hair growth, hair shedding or weak hair shaft. In genetic diseases with inability to utilise biotin, patients have fragile or falling hair which gets corrected when they are supplemented with high dose biotin.
So, it is proven that adequate biotin reserve is necessary for healthy hair growth and it’s routinely included in hair supplements. In normal people though, biotin deficiency is rare.
The daily requirement for biotin is low (about 30 microgram per day) and it is present in many common foods like egg yolk, nuts, bananas, legumes etc. Importantly, they are also produced by healthy gut flora. But in recent times the gut microbiome is poor/damaged in many people due to high processed food intake, strict fad diets and stress.
Frequent or improper use of antibiotics, intestinal problems and chronic illnesses which leads to persistent inflammation in body can affect gut flora too, leading to poor production of biotin. Consuming raw eggs can prevent the biotin in egg from getting absorbed. These are unnoticed and hence healthy people can be deficient too.
A concentration as low as few micrograms to 1mg is sufficient for routine use. Self – medicating with solo biotin tablets (5 to 10mg) to prevent hair fall is not useful. Higher doses help only in people with proven biotin deficiency. Excess is not needed and not stored.
Vitamin B12 and Folic acid
These are vitamins which are needed in cells which are rapidly dividing. The hair roots especially in growth phase have cells in active state and hence need an abundant supply of B12 and folic acid. Meat, egg and dairy products are chief sources. Vegans should compensate with soy or fortified foods or supplements.
Vitamin D
A sunshine vitamin. Produced by our own skin with sun exposure. Previously used to be abundant in people in our part of the continent due to outdoor work and sun exposure. In recent times due to shift in lifestyle the vitamin is found to be in very low levels even in otherwise healthy people.
In our skin clinic in Madurai our skin doctor who specialises in hair fall treatment routinely checks them . And we find in ur results that about 80%, especially women, have astonishingly low levels. It can affect general health in many ways including hair health.
In addition to brisk outdoor walks, it can also be taken in the form of supplements. Routine hair supplements do not have adequate doses for those who are deficient. Hence, they have to be prescribed separately.
A word of caution here. Don’t take separate vitamin D supplements unless proven to have very low blood levels and prescribed by doctor. Unlike B vitamins, excess gets stored and they can cause toxicity.
Vitamin B5 or pantothenic acid
Deficiency is rare. But it is not stored in body and should be supplied regularly to keep blood levels optimal. It helps in keeping skin and hair moisturised and intact. It is included in hair care serums and shampoos as D panthenol for softness and hydration of hair and scalp.
Minerals
Like vitamins, minerals also assist in many vital cellular functions. The most important minerals with respect to hair are iron and zinc. And in India, girls are almost always iron deficient.
Iron is stored in body. So, for some time the needs are compensated from body stores. But with regular monthly losses through menses and developmental needs it starts getting deficient.
In teenagers with hair loss and thin lusterless hair, the cause is almost always iron plus protein deficiency. It’s important to identify it early and correct it. Our Indian cuisine has so many iron rich foods like spinach, greens, curry leaves, jaggery, dates and such.
Zinc impacts hair health directly too. Nuts, seeds, meat, legumes and eggs are rich in zinc. Other minerals like magnesium, selenium, copper help in supporting hair growth by activating certain cellular processes
Protein
Hair is 95% protein (keratin). Amino acids in protein especially sulphur rich AA like cysteine are the building blocks of hair. Without them hair would be frizzy, fragile and weak. The break easily while stressed during combing and washing. There can be split ends. Adequate protein in diet makes hair shaft stronger, smoother and healthier.
Protein is a macronutrient and can be easily balanced in everyday diet with an extra cup of soaked and cooked pulses, legumes, milk, egg and meat. Supplements are not needed except for those with sudden loss following an illness or those doing vigorous muscle building workouts.
High protein powders in a normal person can stress out kidneys and cause stones. And commercial protein powders are loaded with sugars to make them tasty. So, the best way to consume them is through proper diet.
Antioxidants
As much as we focus on vitamins and macro nutrients, we forget the role of anti- oxidants. And hair is something which is exposed to external oxidants like smoking, pollution and environment and internal oxidants like stress. Anti-oxidants neutralise these damaging free radicals and gives a good environment for hair to grow. They also protect from early greying of hair.
It’s easy to include antioxidants daily. Just look for colourful variety of fruits and veggies to be consumed alternatively every day. Pomegranates, papaya, berries, melons, capsicums, beetroot and other richly coloured foods are naturally loaded with antioxidants. Nuts, seeds, vitamin C rich amlas are other sources.
How long to take hair nutrient supplements?
Hair supplements with multiple hair nourishing ingredients like vitamins, minerals and antioxidants are very important in the first six months of therapy. That period is needed to correct insufficiency and to replenish body stores. Another newer approach is cyclical nutrition therapy, where instead of taking nutrient tablets in a fixed dose everyday which may be in excess of what we need, the antioxidants, nutrients and extracts are phased in such a way it is nature identical like a food source.
A good diet maintains the gains from taking supplements.
The benefits of nutrition correction will be apparent only after the already stunted or dead hairs are shed, newer healthier hairs are stimulated with good nutrients and they grow long enough above scalp to be visible. This takes anywhere between 3 to 9 months depending on an individual.
Also check with a qualified dermatologist for detailed scalp and hair analysis to find the cause for hair shedding and hair loss before trying out remedies and discarding them. Some may need more than just a good diet and supplements.
