I get a lot of emails asking me which vitamins a person should take if they have thinning hair and want to regrow some of it because they want a healthy and cosmetically appealing head of hair again. Some common questions are things like: "would vitamins help with my hair loss or thinning hair or are they just a waste of money?" or "which vitamins are best for my type of hair loss?" I"ll address these questions, and this subject in general, in the following article.
Taking Vitamins Does Little To Address The Most Common Causes Of Hair Loss: First of all, you really need to know exactly why your hair is thinning. Because only correctly addressing and then fixing that specific problem is going to stop it in it's tracks. Talking lots of biotin or sulfur isn't going to do a whole lot of good if your shedding is due to hormonal changes or a bacterial infection. You must address these things directly.
Vitamins And Health
There are a few causes of hair loss that you should rule out before you begin thinking about vitamins. The most common is genetics and androgenic alopecia (AGA.) It's said that almost ninety percent of all hair issues have this as an underlying component. In this case, the hair and the follicles are being negatively affected by androgens, DHT, and / or inflammation.
Many assume that AGA is a man's disease. This is absolutely not true. Women suffer from this type of loss is rising and alarming numbers. And, often, women affected by genetic loss don't just have to worry about androgens, they also have to worry about diminishing sex hormones like estrogen and progesterone, or about thyroid and adrenal hormones.
Still, vitamins or herbs meant to replace or change your hormones aren't just aren't all that effective and if you are suffering this type of loss, you may well be what is called "hormonally vulnerable." This means that changes in hormones will often put you in telogen effluvium (shedding.) So taking herbs or vitamins that can alter your hormones can be a very bad idea because it could actually make your problem worse.
If hormones are the problem, of course, this needs to be addressed. But don't just guess or experiment. Get the help of a doctor who is using blood work as a guide.
As I mentioned before TE or telogen effluvium is another common cause of hair loss. This will typically happen due to changes to or stress on the body. Common causes of TE are giving birth, having surgery, being under a great deal of stress, starting new medications, and illness. Until you address the "trigger" of the shedding (or just let time take it's course in the example of giving birth), then it's highly unlikely that just taking vitamins will make it stop.
Other issues like scalp conditions, yeast, or infections can cause hair thinning as well. Again, vitamins aren't going to cure these things, but getting the proper treatment for them often will.
If You Have A Vitamin Deficiency As The Cause Of Your Hair Thinning: The exception of course would be if the cause of your hair loss is the fact that you have some vitamin deficiency. I have seen cases of people with a B or D vitamin deficiency or people who are low in iron suffer more hair loss, but over all, this is pretty rare. Typically it has to be a very severe deficiency which rarely happens with our current diets. However, a doctor would see these type of issues with blood work and then help you to correct them. (And you don't want to self treat a perceived iron deficiency. Having too much can be not only very dangerous, but it can be as bad for your hair as not having enough.)
Some Vitamins That May Be Good For Your Hair: With these things said, there are some vitamins that can support the health of the hair that you do have or are regrowing. This isn't likely to give you a full head of hair if you are not addressing the underlying cause of your loss, but it doesn't hurt to address the overall health of your hair in general.
The following are things that have been known to be good for hair: biotin and the B vitamins, horsetail, sulfur, silica, vitamin E, zinc, selenium, magnesium, iodine, iron, chromium, inositol, potassium, and copper. In general, a multi vitamin will often do the trick. Taking excess amounts of vitamins is often a waste of money because the excess is only going to be secreted in your urine anyway (in the case of water soluble vitamins.)
Christmas Sales NOW Foods Vitamin D3 5000 Iu, 240 Softgels, 201
Dec 14, 2011 20:28:03
Click for larger image and other views
Christmas Sales NOW Foods Vitamin D3 5000 Iu, 240 Softgels, Feature
- Structural Support - 5,000 IU Highest Potency
- Helps Maintain Strong Bones
- Supports Dental Health*
Christmas Sales NOW Foods Vitamin D3 5000 Iu, 240 Softgels, Overview
NOW® Vitamin D softgels supply this key vitamin in a highly absorbable liquid softgel form. Vitamin D is normally obtained from the diet or produced by the skin from the ultraviolet energy of the sun. However, it is not abundant in food. As more people avoid sun exposure, Vitamin D supplementation becomes even more necessary to ensure that your body receives an adequate supply.SAVE NOW on Christmas Sales Offers below!
Available In Stock. |
| This Christmas NOW Foods Vitamin D3 5000 Iu, 240 Softgels, ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. |
Price : Click to Check Update Prices Please. |
