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A common cause of poor hair health or hair loss is a deficiency in essential vitamins and minerals. To support hair strength and growth, it's important to ensure you're getting the best vitamins for hair growth. Below, we’ve compiled a list of the top 7 most vital vitamins and minerals that promote healthy hair growth and help prevent hair loss.
A common cause of poor hair health or hair loss is a deficiency in essential vitamins and minerals. To support hair strength and growth, it's important to ensure you're getting the best vitamins for hair growth. Below, we’ve compiled a list of the top 7 most vital vitamins and minerals that promote healthy hair growth and help prevent hair loss.
Biotin is one of the most important vitamins against hair loss. Vitamin B8 is essential for maintaining healthy hair. Biotin contributes to the production of keratin, which is important for the hair, scalp and nails. Additionally, Biotin can prevent the hair from becoming grey. Amongst others, biotin can be found in soy products, nuts (especially almonds and hazelnuts), peanuts, eggs and milk.
To ensure you’re getting sufficient biotin, taking biotin-containing supplements can be beneficial against thinning hair, as the body absorbs these effectively. There’s no need to worry about taking too much vitamin B8, as it’s water-soluble, meaning any excess is naturally flushed out through urine.
Folic acid is essential for cell development, tissue growth and hair growth. Because of this, it is also important for healthy hair follicles and therefore hair growth. Folic acid also ensures better blood circulation, allowing nutrients to reach the scalp easier, this helps with the fight against hair loss. Folic acid is also known as vitamin B11 and is called B9 in France, Germany and the United States. Foods rich in folic acid are green leafy vegetables, sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, citrus fruits and liver.
Selenium is a mineral that plays an important role in maintaining your hair health. A deficiency can contribute to brittle hair and hair loss. Selenium supports hair growth and the body in the processing of proteins. Since hair consists mainly of proteins, sufficient amounts of selenium are essential for hair growth. Selenium is common in many foods, in small quantities. Brazil nuts, fish and shellfish are very rich in selenium.
Just like Selenium, Zinc has the recognized EFSA health claim that it contributes to healthy hair. Zinc ensures a proper construction of proteins and therefore all body tissues, including the hair. Zinc is also involved in the formation of keratin. It is therefore considered as one of the best substances to encourage hair growth. Low zinc values may also increase the chance of more DHT in the body, and a deficiency of zinc can lead to more hairs in the telogen phase (resting phase) and thin and fragile hair. Zinc can be found in oysters, meat, brown bread, legumes and sunflower seeds, amongst others.
Iron is a component of hemoglobin, a substance which carries oxygen through the body. Iron deficiency can lead to brittle hair and hair loss. It can be found in many foods, such as meat, beans, dark green leafy vegetables, pumpkin seeds and seaweed. Iron also contributes to the cellular processes necessary for hair follicle health and function. This includes the synthesis of proteins and enzymes critical for hair production.
Low iron levels, particularly ferritin (the stored form of iron), can lead to hair thinning and loss. Ensuring sufficient iron intake may help prevent or mitigate this issue. With a varied diet, you are most likely to have enough iron in your body. Hair growth supplements that contain iron therefore help with hair regrowth. However, excessive iron intake can also be harmful, so it’s best to consult a healthcare provider before starting supplementation against hair loss.
In addition to the specific B vitamins B8 (Biotin) and B11 (Folic acid), virtually all B vitamins are of great importance for healthy hair. They play an essential role in the metabolism in the cells.
A deficiency of vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) can contribute to hair loss. B2 also provides support in absorbing vitamin B6 and iron, which are both important to promote hair growth. Vitamin B2 can be found in dairy, meat, broccoli, eggs and nuts, amongst others. Niacinamide (or Niacin, vitamin B3) ensures a dilation of the blood vessels, which stimulates the blood flow to the scalp, allowing nutrients to reach the hair follicles and scalp easier. It can also lower cholesterol, which may contribute to a reduction in hair loss. Vitamin B3 can be found in fish, meat, nuts and grains.
It is known that a deficiency in vitamin B5 (Panthothenic acid) can cause hair loss. Vitamin B5 can be found in foods including chicken, milk, grains and salmon. A deficiency in vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin) may contribute to hair loss and the development of grey hair. Vitamin B12 can only be found in animal products, such as meat and dairy.
Vitamin A is an antioxidant which improves the general health of the scalp. It stimulates the production of sebum. Sebum protects the hair from drying out. Ensure you are getting enough of this vitamin, but not too much: too much of this vitamin can actually stimulate hair loss. A shortage of this vitamin can lead to dry hair and a dry scalp. Vitamin A can be found in many foods, such as milk, broccoli, spinach, carrot and cabbages and with a varied diet, you should be getting enough of it.
For a healthy scalp and hair growth, vitamins C and E are important to get enough of.
Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that is important to maintain and build up collagen in the skin and around the hair follicle. Vitamin C also helps the body absorb iron. Vitamin C can be found in citrus fruits, strawberries, kiwi, tomatoes and green vegetables.
Vitamin E stimulates the blood flow in the scalp, so that the hair follicles receive the proper nutrients for optimal hair growth. A shortage of vitamin E may lead to hair loss and dandruff. Vitamin E is found in eggs, sunflower seeds, leafy vegetables and asparagus, amongst others.
With a varied diet including plenty of fruits and vegetables, if necessary supplemented by a multivitamin tablet, you will get a lot of the necessary vitamins. To support hair growth, some vitamins are so important that a higher dosage gives a much better result.
For other vitamins, it goes that a too high dosage may be damaging, both for hair growth and general health. Therefore, it is important to get the right amounts and proportions. The safest, easiest and most effective solution to get all vitamins necessary against hair loss is by taking a supplement specially formulated for hair growth.
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The Hair Growth Specialist has multiple nutritional supplements in its range:
Apart from vitamins and minerals, effective nutritional supplements to stimulate hair growth also contain plant extracts with DHT inhibiting-properties, such as Saw Palmetto (with the active ingredient Beta-sitosterol) and Stinging Nettle. Additionally, a number of amino acids are proven to be effective, such as Taurine. These ingredients can be found in the Neofollics tablets.
Compared to the Foligain hair growth caplets, the Neofollics Tablets contain a number of extra ingredients which inhibit the formation of DHT and promote hair growth, such as red clover extract, EGCG (green tea extract), isoflavone complex and the amino acids L-carnitine and L-cysteine. The most complete supplement that is currently on the market are therefore the Neofllics hair growth supporting tablets. With this product, you will give your body everything it needs in one go in order to allow your hair to grow healthily and vitally from the inside out.
What the best vitamins for hair growth are, is difficult to say. Everyone's needs are different. It also depends on what the cause of your hair loss is. Most men that lose their hair have a genetic predisposition to hair loss. This is called androgenetic alopecia, or more commonly known as male pattern hair loss. When it comes to women and hair loss, the situation is a bit different.
Women can also suffer from genetic hair loss, then referred to as female pattern hair loss, but hormonal imbalances play a larger role in thinning hair here. Maintaining hair health is therefore more important. The female body changes over time with puberty, pregnancy and the menopause. These changes have different effects on the body and the hair and require different vitamins. So what the best vitamins for hair growth are, needs to be determined by yourself.
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Supplements can help hair regrow if hair loss is due to nutrient deficiencies. In other forms of hair loss (e.g. androgenetic alopecia), vitamins and minerals alone may not make hair grow back, but they can support the overall health of the scalp and follicles.
Yes, excessive intake of vitamins, especially vitamin A, selenium and iron, can lead to toxicity and worsen hair loss. Always follow the recommended daily amounts or consult a doctor before taking supplements.
Women often benefit from supplements targeting iron, zinc, biotin and vitamin D, especially if hair loss is related to deficiencies caused by menstruation, pregnancy or menopause. Some women may also need omega-3 fatty acids to hydrate the scalp.
A balanced diet of nutrient-rich foods is usually sufficient for healthy hair. The most important foods are leafy vegetables (iron), nuts and seeds (zinc and vitamin E), oily fish (omega-3 and vitamin D) and eggs (biotin and protein). However, supplements may be needed in case of deficiencies.
Hair grows slowly, so it may take 3-6 months for vitamins and minerals to give a noticeable improvement. Persistence is key and addressing deficiencies immediately can yield better results.
