Healthy hair depends on a healthy diet, one that includes a daily intake of essential vitamins and other nutrients. When lacking nourishment, hair is likely to be brittle and dry. The growth cycle can be disrupted, resulting in a failure to achieve the typical half inch per month growth and contributing to hair thinning. Vitamins to promote healthy black hair growth can have a positive impact not just on hair, but also on overall health and well being.
Vitamin D
Researchers are learning more about the importance of vitamin D every day, as noted by Daniel Raiten of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, according to a 2004 "Washington Post" article. The article cited a "federal study of women nationwide found that perhaps nearly half of African American women of childbearing age may be vitamin D deficient." An April 2006 article in the "Journal of Nutrition" explains that African Americans are more likely to suffer from vitamin D deficiency because their darker "pigmentation reduces vitamin D production in the skin." Vitamin D affects more than just bones. Animal testing has shown a connection between vitamin D and hair growth, according to a study published by "Endocrinology" in 2002, available via the U.S. National Library of Medicine. In 2007, researchers from the Endocrine Unit of the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School published the results of their studies, demonstrating the relationship between vitamin D receptors and, thus, vitamin D and hair follicle biology.
Vitamin B Complex
The importance of the vitamin B complex to healthy black hair growth is noted by the University of Maryland Medical Center, and with good reason. Deficiencies in certain B vitamins can affect hair quality, as well as lead to hair loss. Other B vitamins, such as B-12 and B-6, play a vital role in transporting nutrients and oxygen throughout the body, including to the scalp to support hair growth and health. Red blood cell production and the processes by which hemoglobin is able to pick up and release oxygen require B-12 and B-6, as explained by Oregon State University's Linus Pauling Institute. Supplement these vitamins with care, however. They are powerful nutrients, and too much can be as detrimental to overall health as can too little.
Vitamins A, C and E
The powerful antioxidant vitamins A, C and E are necessary to healthy black hair growth in a variety of ways. According to the American Pregnancy Association, antioxidants are important to hair growth because they "may provide protection for the hair follicles and encourage hair growth." Each of these nutrients also has a role in hormone production and regulation, another factor in hair health and even growth cycles. Vitamin C is essential to the processes by which collagen is formed. Collagen is a vital part of the structure of blood vessels and capillaries, the path by which the nourishment and oxygen necessary to hair growth and health reach the scalp.
References
- "Washington Post": Vitamin D Deficiency Called Major Health Risk
- "The Journal of Nutrition": Vitamin D and African Americans
- "Endocrinology": Vitamin D3 Analogs Stimulate Hair Growth in Nude Mice
- National Institutes of Health: Role of the Vitamin D Receptacle in Hair Follicle Biology
- American Pregnancy Association: Pregnancy and Hair Loss
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