The 411 On Taking Vitamins For Hair Loss

Let’s face it, hair loss can be downright devastating no matter what the circumstance. When you are faced with it you might find yourself frantically searching the internet for some quick fix before heading to your doctor. When we lose our hair the first thing we have to figure out is why, is it hereditary? Is there something that changed in our lifestyle to cause excessive shedding? What can I do to turn things around?

Researching hair loss and finding the perfect solution for your situation might not be as easy as you think, there is a ton of information out there along with vitamin cocktails that claim that they can help you. You can’t try them all so your dilemma is finding the right solution for you.

The first thing you have to do when making your decision is figuring out the source of the hair loss. If you are losing your hair around the hairline, it could be something that you are physically doing that is causing excessive stress on that area. For example, tight ponytails and buns that pull and tug at the hairline essentially causing loss.

Hair loss can be hereditary, as a matter of fact, the number one cause of male pattern baldness is genetics and it involves changing hormone levels that can be treated with medication. Women can suffer from the same thing, especially if the bald gene is prominent in the family.

Stress also causes hair loss, so if you have suffered a great loss or you are going through a stressful situation, you can lose your hair as your body reacts to your emotions and stress level.

Medication also cannot be overlooked. Many lose their hair due to side effects of certain medication, or medical treatments such as chemotherapy.

It is important to do some form preliminary diagnosis before purchasing a supplement or getting medication to treat hair loss and this can be done on your own or preferably with your doctor which can make all the difference in what direction you decide to take.

Dr Jerry Shapiro, MD the worlds leading specialist in hair loss and hair disorders stated:

 “If you’re losing hair, supplements can help stop or slow the shedding, but only if you have a deficiency in certain vitamins.”

These days, however, due mainly to our diets with reliance on convenience processed and fast foods, many if not most of us will have a deficiency in one vitamin or other.

With that said if you do think you have a deficiency in certain vitamins, doing a simple blood test will with your medical practitioner to determine specifically what you need and how to improve vitamin levels is highly recommended.

It is worth it to mention that there are a large number of people diagnosed with vitamin D deficiencies yearly and that number is growing substantially causing concern among doctors. Doctors are now testing patients specifically for deficiencies in vitamin D to see if they can catch the issue early.

Medical News Today reported that the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey found alarming rates of Vitamin D deficiencies:

“We expected the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency would be high, but the magnitude of the problem nationwide was shocking,” says lead author Juhi Kumar, M.D., M.P.H., a fellow in pediatrics at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center, The University Hospital and Academic Medical Center for Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

On the other hand doctors such as Dr Shapiro who is working with patients suffering from hair loss and thinning hair do not bother to test for biotin deficiencies but rather focus their attention on Vitamin D and other issues that are not quickly detected.

Vitamin D however, does not work all that well on it’s own, you also need vitamin K in order to get the best benefits. And it’s not just those two, vitamins tend to work in concert with one other so you will find that a multivitamin may be more beneficial than a single vitamin to correct and treat any deficiencies that you may have.

How effective is your diet 

Diet is extremely important when you are trying to improve your overall health and battling hair loss. We cannot stress enough that if you are trying to stop shedding, then there are certain things you must eat to improve your condition.

For instance getting a healthy dose of Iron will ensure that oxygen is taken to the hair follicles to improve hair growth. Food high in iron include liver, eggs, chicken, kale and spinach.

Vitamin A stimulates the hair follicle and can literally jump starts hair growth. Foods rich in vitamin A include carrots, dark green leafy vegetables and red vegetables. Vitamin E is also great for growth and can be found in dark green leafy vegetables sunflower seed and almonds.

We cannot deny that there are two sides to the debate, some might focus their attention on getting in all the right foods and not bother to supplement others might want to ensure that they supplement so that they can improve an existing condition such as hair loss without any second-guessing.

We say check with your doctor first to see if you have deficiencies, choose the right supplement for you and always maintain a healthy diet and get plenty of exercise for overall health and well being.