Facts About Vitamins

Vitamins for Hair Growth

There are a number of vitamins and minerals that play a part in the growing and maintaining a healthy head of hair. Lack of these nutrients can lead to thinning and even premature baldness in the most extreme cases, though this is highly unusual. The condition of your hair can say a lot about the overall condition of the body and the two are inescapably linked. Extra vitamins are likely to be necessary if someone is ill or malnourished; the hair will be more easily damaged and may even stop growing under these conditions.

 

The important vitamins for hair growth and health are B6, biotin, inositol and folic acid. The best way to ensure you are getting the required daily allowance of these vitamins is to take them as vitamin supplements. As well as vitamins several minerals are essential to hair growth including zinc, magnesium and sulphur and silica, these too can be taken as supplements to ensure that you again are not deficient in these minerals.

 

Another essential vitamin for healthy hair is vitamin A, though it is better to supplement you diet with beta-carotene instead of directly with vitamin A supplements, as these can be toxic if taken in too large a quantity. Beta-carotene is converted into vitamin A by the body and has no such toxic properties. Once it has been produced it can get to work improving your hairs condition. Vitamin A has a whole host of other functions not just promoting healthy hair, including the growth of bones, nails, skin and the protective coating of nerve fibres.

 

Protein is also essential for healthy hair; hair is itself a protein called keratin. The level of protein in your diet can directly affect hair growth. If you have plenty of the right proteins in your diet then you body will have the raw material necessary to grow repair and replace hair. If on the other hand the raw materials aren’t available because they are lacking in your diet then hair cannot grow or be repaired once damaged.

 

It is not just nutrients and diet that affect hair but your overall condition can to. Research has shown that illness, stress, lack of sleep can all cause your hair to suffer. If this is the case then nutritional supplements may not help to improve you hairs condition. One of the best ways to look after your hair and ensure it remains healthy is to look after yourself.