Are you fed up with hair loss? Do you know the reasons behind an excess of hair loss? No? Hair loss could have numerous causes.
You might be losing hair because of hormonal disbalance or medicinal side effects, unhealthy lifestyle, stress, nutrition deficiency, or genetic reasons.
And this article will mainly focus on nutrition deficiency, as it is the most common reason behind hair loss. Specifically, we will dive deeper into five vitamin deficiencies causing hair loss.
Nutrients for hair
Nutrients other than vitamins essential for hair and scalp are zinc, selenium, iron, fatty acids, niacin, folic acid, antioxidants, amino acids, and protein. If you are not receiving enough of these vitamins and minerals from your daily diet, it can lead to serious health issues like anemia.
Therefore, you must intake the required amount of these essential nutrients to stay healthy and prevent hair loss. Now, what food items provide you with which Vitamin? Read on to know!
5 Vitamin deficiencies that can cause hair loss
What vitamins are necessary to include in the diet? Our body needs vitamins A, B, C, D, E, K, and some of them are already present in our body. We need vitamins for cells’ function, growth, and development.
Vitamins produce red blood cells, and these red blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs and circulate it to all the other parts of the body. Also, they shore up bones, heal wounds, boost your immune system, provide you energy by converting food into energy, and repair cellular damages.
But, let us see and focus on how and which vitamin deficiency causes hair loss. And how you will overcome your hair loss by fulfilling the vitamin needs in your body.
1. Vitamin B
Vitamin B is one of the classes of Vitamins that plays a vital role in cell metabolism and synthesis of red blood cells. There are 8 Vitamin B in total, namely, B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B5 (pantothenic acid), B6 (pyridoxine), B7 (biotin), B9 (folic acid), and B12 (cobalamin). Out of these eight types of Vitamin B, our hair needs mainly five of them.
What are they? They are B5, B6, B7, B9, and B12. Vitamin B7 that is, biotin, is already present in our body. Still, to fulfill the needs of other Vitamin B types, we must consume Vitamin B rich food like milk, cheese, seafood, liver, and kidney of chicken and meat, dark green vegetables, beet, avocado, potato, whole grains, cereals, beans, citrus fruits, banana, watermelon, soy products, molasses, wheat germ, and nutritional yeast.
Vitamin B5 adds volume and sheen to your hair and prevents thinning, and Vitamin B6 is known for increasing protein metabolism by promoting healthy hair growth. Biotin or B7 thickens hair, B9 promotes healthy scalp cell growth, and B12 feeds oxygen-rich blood cells to hair follicles, preventing hair loss.
2. Vitamin E
The second foremost Vitamin required by our hair is Vitamin E. Vitamin E is necessary as it acts as an antioxidant by reducing and fighting the free radicals to protect cells from damages. It is a fat-soluble vitamin and has many parts like Vitamin B, but our body only needs one of the types of Vitamin E, alpha-tocopherol.
The natural sources of Vitamin E could be vegetable oils, sunflower seeds, almonds, peanuts, pumpkin, peanut butter, green vegetables, red bell pepper, asparagus, mango, and avocado. These nutrient sources are rich in Vitamin E and are excellent to prevent hair loss.
Oxidative stress is considered one of the reasons for hair loss in some people. And the antioxidant properties of Vitamin E help reduce oxidative stress in your scalps. This reduction prevents hair loss and promotes healthy hair growth.
3. Vitamin A
Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin essential for your vision, immune system, and reproductive system. It helps various organs like the heart, lungs, and kidneys to function properly. And to fulfill the requirement of Vitamin A in your body, you can eat cheese, eggs, oily fish, milk, yogurt, and liver.
Vitamin A keeps your scalp moisturized by increasing the production of oily substances in glands called sebum. It is known as the fastest-growing tissue in the human body and not only for hair growth, but all the cells of your body require Vitamin A for growth. So, if you have dry, dull, and frizzy hair, it might be because of Vitamin A deficiency.
Just remember not to consume a high amount of Vitamin A. But, why? Too much Vitamin A is harmful because it is stored in fat tissues or the liver when you eat it, and too much Vitamin A can become toxic. What can it cause? It may cause dizziness, nausea, headaches, and even severe conditions like a coma. And for hair, high intakes may lead to complete hair loss.
4. Vitamin D
Vitamin D is one of the essential vitamins our body requires, and you get it naturally through sunlight. It regulates the amount of calcium and phosphate in your body, which keeps your bones, muscles, teeth, and hair healthy. And deficiency of Vitamin D may cause bone deformities, body pains, and hair loss.
Therefore, to consume the necessary amount of Vitamin D regularly, you must gain sunshine in the morning and evening for one hour from sunrise to one hour till sunset, meaning around 5 am to 7 am and 4 pm to 5 pm. Other than sun gazing, you must include oily fish, red meat, egg yolks, and liver in your daily diet to gain the required amount of Vitamin D.
For hair, Vitamin D stimulates both new and old hair follicles. And its deficiency may stunt new hair growth, cause patchy and unpredictable hair loss.
5. Vitamin C
Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is a water-soluble vitamin, same as Vitamin B. The body can not store it as it gets dissolved in your body’s water when you consume it. Therefore you must eat food enriched with Vitamin C daily. And how is it beneficial for your body? Vitamin C reduces the risk of chronic and heart diseases, manages high blood pressure, helps reduce uric acid levels, prevents iron deficiency, and boosts immunity.
And for hair, Vitamin C is a necessary property. Why? Because it helps increase collagen production and promotes healthy hair by reducing hair loss and improving hair growth. And its deficiency may cause hair loss, split ends, or dry hair.
To fulfill the Vitamin C requirement in your body, eat citrus fruits like oranges and their juice, strawberries, blackcurrants, broccoli, potatoes, sprouts, guavas, acerola cherries, Kakadu plums, rose hips, sweet yellow peppers, chili peppers, thyme, parsley, mustard spinach, kale, kiwis, lemons, lychees, and papayas.
FAQs
1. What could be a balanced diet that includes all the required nutrients for hair?
To keep your hair healthy, you can include eggs, seeds, nuts, avocado, and sweet potatoes in breakfast. And then you can have meat, oysters, and shrimp at lunch. Then spinach, soybeans, and beans for dinner. You can eat berries, oily fish at any time of the meal. This balanced diet may help you fulfill your scalp and hair’s requirement of Vitamins.
2. Can you consume Vitamin supplements in powder or capsule form to prevent hair loss?
Yes, you can consume Vitamin capsules and powders but the natural ones. Like you can get biotin capsules when you face Vitamin B7 deficiency in your body, or you can buy Vitamin C tablets or a common tablet having a mix of all the required vitamins.
3. Which among all the vitamins is the most prominent requirement of hair to prevent hair loss?
Biotin, B7, is the essential Vitamin among all the necessary ones as it plays a crucial role in keeping your hair healthy and is one of the nutrients naturally produced in your body.
Bottom Line
Your body needs numerous nutrient sources to fulfill hair requirements to maintain healthy hair growth. And one of the essential components is Vitamins. The deficiency of several Vitamins may cause hair loss.
Your body needs Vitamin A, B, C, D, E, K, but mainly Vitamin B, A, D, and E are required to prevent hair loss. To fulfill the necessity, include vitamin-rich food items into your daily diet. Some vitamins, like Vitamin B7 (biotin) and Vitamin K, are produced naturally in your body. But, you need to consume Vitamin-rich fruits, nuts, vegetables, and food to gain other vitamins. Otherwise, their deficiency may cause hair loss, dry, dull, curly hair, and other bodily diseases.
We hope you found this article helpful, and we are sure that from now on you, will include essential nutrients required by your body to prevent excessive hair loss. Do share your experience of reading this article in the comment section below.
