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Eating a well-balanced diet everyday can be harder than expected. Unfortunately, your hair may suffer if you fail to do so. Luckily, supplements are available to lend a helping hand.
The Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, found a certain deficiency is linked to hair loss.
“Micronutrients are major elements in the normal hair follicle cycle,” the researchers noted.
They play a role in “cellular turnover – a frequent occurrence in the matrix cells in the follicle bulb that are rapidly dividing”.
A deficiency in micronutrients, such as vitamin D, “may represent a modifiable risk factor” for hair loss.
Thus, hair loss “may be improved with vitamin supplementation”, as prior studies have shown vitamin D supplementation can help.
The NHS recommends taking 10mcg (400IU) of vitamin D daily between October and early March.
This is because vitamin D is created in the body when the sun’s rays land on skin.
However, during autumn and winter there is less sunshine throughout the day and more people are covered up to keep themselves warm.
The national health body admits it’s “difficult for people to get enough vitamin D from food alone”.
Research from the Centre for Dermatology and Hair Diseases, in Switzerland, investigated women suffering from hair loss.
They examined biotin (vitamin B7) deficiency in participants and the effects of supplementation.
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In 38 percent of the women experiencing hair loss, they had a biotin deficiency.
This amounted to 541 females in the study, who were found to benefit from biotin supplementation.
The NHS explained biotin is needed “to help the body make fatty acids”.
It’s advised to take no more than 0.9mg of biotin supplements daily, or else it could be harmful.
The School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, in Malaysia, has linked low levels of antioxidants with hair loss.
Vitamin E, an antioxidant, was supplemented to 21 volunteers suffering from hair loss.
There were 38 participants in total – all of whom suffered from hair loss – with 17 volunteers randomly assigned placebos.
Each participant was either given 100mg of vitamin E supplementation or a placebo daily for eight months.
The volunteers were monitored for the number of hairs in a pre-determined scalp area.
In addition, the weight of 20 strands of 1cm length hair clippings were taken before supplementation, four months into the investigation and at eight months.
The number off hairs in the vitamin E supplementation group “increased significantly compared to the placebo group”.
To be specific, vitamin E supplementation lead to a 34.5 percent increase in hair growth (at month eight) compared to 0.1 percent decrease in the placebo group at the same time.
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