Hair Growth Supplements – What Are They?

Must-haves for your Hair Loss Arsenal

With age, and especially with the disruptions to your hormones that come with menopause, your hair can take a real hit. It can grow dull and lifeless. Even worse, you can begin losing more than the typical 50-100 hairs a day.

A LOT more!

How much money have you spent on products that promise to put a halt to your shedding hair and regrow your long-lamented, disappearing locks? And how many of them have failed to stop still more hair from being whooshed down the drain?

The answer just might lie in treating the problem from the inside. Certain hair growth supplements have specific properties that can tackle the causes of hair loss at the site of the problem. In addition, hair care products made with natural ingredients rather than harsh chemicals can give your hair the nurturing it needs and deserves.

Vitamin C: Not Only to Keep Colds at Bay

It’s wisdom that’s been passed down through generations: Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, can help prevent colds. Today, however. vitamin C is gaining in reputation as an amazing anti-ageing ingredient in advanced skincare formulations.

 

But in supplement form, it’s equally potent as a defender against hair loss ― and for one of the same reasons: collagen.

Collagen: Vitamin C is one of the most effective ways to boost your production of collagen, an antioxidant and protein that is equally important to a full, healthy head of hair it as it is to smooth, firm skin.

In the 1700s, it was discovered that citrus fruits could help prevent scurvy. It wasn’t known why at the time, but the magic ingredient was eventually identified as vitamin C. Scurvy is actually caused by a vitamin C deficiency that disrupts the body’s ability to manufacture collagen and connective tissues in the skin.

Hair loss is a proven sign of vitamin C deficiency. Supplementing with vitamin C supports the production of collagen, which is a hair-building protein.

Tyrosine: Vitamin C is needed for the production of tyrosine, an amino acid essential to coping with stress as well as maintaining the structural integrity of your hair follicles and the hair strands they produce. Tyrosine is a precursor of epinephrine (adrenaline), a stress hormone that helps prevent three types of stress-induced hair loss: alopecia areata (hair falls out in round patches), telogen effluvium (excessive, diffuse thinning of hair) and trichotillomania (compulsive hair-pulling).

Antioxidant properties: Free radicals ― unstable molecules that attack and mutate healthy cells, causing destructive inflammation ― are created in the process of producing energy from food. Vitamin C combats free radicals and helps prevent them from damaging your hair.

DHT Inhibition: DHT (dihydrotestosterone), which is produced from the male hormone testosterone, is the chief cause of androgenic alopecia (diffuse thinning), a common cause of hair loss. DHT produces a specific protein that blocks the reception and activation of papilla cells, which transport nutrients to cells in hair follicles. Blocking papilla cells effectively ‘starves’ hair follicles and prevents hair growth.

Studies have shown that vitamin C not only inhibits this destructive protein ― it also increases a growth factor in papilla cells that can lead to a reversal of hair loss.

Vitamin E: Antioxidant Heavyweight

Vitamin E’s greatest claim to fame is as an antioxidant, cleaning up the damage caused by free radicals’ attacks on other molecules and preventing propagation of more free radicals. This protects the hair, along with other tissues and organs, from further mayhem.

Because free radical damage is ongoing, vitamin E (e.g., Vitamin E – Hi Gamma Formula or Vitamin E Complex) is an ongoing need.

Specifically, supplementing with vitamin E helps to stabilize the structure of hair follicles and lower the rate of hair loss. It also increases capillary growth, aids in transporting nutrients to hair follicle cells, and promotes accelerated hair growth and repair of damaged hair shafts.

Two More Ways to Get Your Collagen

Colladivine by Natural Energy is a high-powered collagen hair growth supplement, providing three types of bioactive collagen, plus zinc citrate, another important hair nutrient.

 

Collagen is an important catalyst for the repair and growth of hair, as well tissue throughout your body. It strengthens not only your hair but your skin, helping to prevent skin aging, minimizing fine lines and improving skin texture.

Original Silica by Eurohealth is a component of collagen that’s everywhere in your body ― in your skin, your nails, your muscles, your bones and, yes, in every hair on your head.

 

One major way that silica helps with hair loss is its ability to help re-balance your sex hormones. An imbalance in the hormones, such as occurs with menopause, is a major cause of hair loss and thinning hair.

Another factor is silica’s alkalizing properties, which help ensure mineral nourishment of hair follicles, which your hair needs to grow and thrive. It improves hair texture and helps prevent breakage.

TLC for Your Thinning Hair

The importance of feeding your hair with restorative nutrients that strengthen it and promote growth can’t be overstated. But tender loving care is important, too. Most shampoos and conditioners ― including many marketed as hair-healthy ― are loaded with ingredients ranging from those that actually harm your hair to those that endanger your health.

Just because a product is labeled ‘organic’ or ‘natural,’ don’t automatically believe it. Read the fine print!

There are too many culprits to name here, but for starters, don’t buy anything made with:

• Sulphates (sodium lauryl sulphate or sodium laureth sulphate), which are linked to cancer
• Parabens, a hormone disruptor linked to breast cancer and premature puberty in girls
• Phthalates/Fragrance, also a hormone disruptor, linked to early onset puberty, asthma and possibly cancer.

These and other chemicals can strip away natural oils from the scalp and damage hair follicles. They can make the scalp dry and itchy, and even cause or exacerbate hair loss.

Look for ingredients that come from sources found in nature ― for example, those used in chemical-free shampoos and conditioners such as Tabitha James Kraan’s Amber Rose and Golden Citrus Organic Hair Cleansers.

 

These use no chemical detergents, are anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal and they don’t strip away your natural oils. They moisturize, restore and protect your hair, leaving it with beautiful body and shine.

There’s no question ― saving your hair from unbalanced hormones, rampant DHT, out-of-control stress, or just plain age can be a real battle. But attacking it with the right hair growth supplements and natural hair care products can put you on the winning side, restoring your hair to its former fullness and vitality.

SOURCES:

Daya, S. The Best Kept Secret For Healthy Hair, Radiant Skin and Strong Nails. Victoria Health.
Harriman, D. L-Tyrosine and Hair Loss. LIVESTRONG.com
Hourglass, PJ. Who Discovered How to Prevent Scurvy? The Pharmaceutical Journal. Mar. 30, 2011.
Shampoo: What to Look For, What to Avoid. Ecology Center. June 6, 2012.
Vitamin C for Hair Loss ― How It Helps. Progressive Health.