What Vitamins & Minerals Help With Hair Loss?

All though it’s a popular expression that kids can make you pull your hair out, hair loss in females isn’t much of a laughing matter. A sink full probably means you have more going on than stress. Plus, busy moms don’t always have time to try to hide missing patches of hair. Since hair loss can be the result of a nutrient or mineral deficiency, a simple change to your diet may correct the issue.

Pump Up Your Energy Levels With B Vitamins

B vitamins help your body break down glucose, creating energy. Adding 150 mg niacin (B3), 300 mg pantothenic acid (B5) and 150 mg pyridoxine (B6) to your daily diet may not only reduce your hair loss but may help your hair grow faster. Eating leafy green vegetables can increase the amount of B vitamins you get in a day. Moms on the go might want to add B complex, a supplement combining several B vitamins into one pill, or a supplement of biotin to their morning routine. The whole family can enjoy foods rich in B vitamins like cauliflower, nuts, eggs, carrots, beans or peas.

Improve Your Circulation

Healthy hair often begins at the scalp. One way for you to help stop hair loss is to promote circulation. A dose of 3,000 to 10,000 mg of vitamin C each day can help the blood flow to capillaries, increasing circulation. Vitamin E helps increase the amount of oxygen in the blood and can help strengthen your immune system. Adding 400 IU of vitamin E each day can stimulate hair growth while helping to increase your circulation. A multivitamin will usually have both C and E, or you can add oranges, lemons, sunflower seeds or kiwi to your diet.

Give Your Cells a Boost With Magnesium

The National Institutes of Health reports magnesium to be the fourth-most abundant mineral in the human body, with 50 percent of it appearing in the bones. The remaining 50 percent helps cells, making it an important component to having healthy hair. Spinach, nuts, seeds, halibut, shredded wheat, potatoes and avocados are all sources with 8 to 20 percent of the recommended daily amount of magnesium you should have in your diet. If you happen to have a sweet tooth, consider grabbing a 4-oz portion of chocolate pudding, which has 24 mg of magnesium.

Increase Shine With Sulfur

As a mineral, sulfur helps lubricate joints and cells. It also helps manufacture the proteins your body needs to grow hair. Natural sources of sulfur include cabbage, garlic, dairy products, horseradish, fish, poultry and meats. If you’re looking for a sulfur supplement, you may find it under names like cysteine, chondroitin, lysine, glucosamine sulfate or MSM.

Help Over 100 Enzymes with Zinc

Unlike other minerals, the body can’t store zinc, which means you need to add it to your diet on a daily basis. Zinc is an important mineral for your body because it interacts with approximately 100 enzymes to promote health. The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies’ Food and Nutrition Board recommends 8 to 11 mg of zinc per day. Foods including oysters, Swiss cheese, lobster, beef shanks, flounder and pork tenderloin contain zinc.