There are many vitamins that can help your hair, but vitamin A is one of the most important. It’s a fat-soluble vitamin and has a number of benefits for your hair, including helping to prevent hair loss, boosting your immune system, and improving overall cell function.
You might be wondering why there’s an article about vitamin A for hair on [website name]. That’s because we’ve done our research—and we know that vitamin A can be used to treat baldness in both women and men. In this article, we’ll discuss some of the ways you can use vitamin A to treat baldness and help you grow new hair.
Benefits Of Vitamin A For Hair
Beautify your hair with food? Everyone talks about it, but it’s often difficult to get started… It’s only natural! With the flood of information available to us, it’s hard to take stock and know how to proceed. Madam President, I will summarize this for you. And today, we start with the benefits of vitamin A on hair. Take your notes!
Vitamin A: its specificities
Vitamin A was the first vitamin to be discovered! It was found in the retina in 1913, earning it the sweet name of retinol. Later, it was also found in bones, mucous membranes and liver… So vitamin A is everywhere! But what is she really?
Vitamin A, beta-carotene, provitamin A, retinol… What is the difference?
Vitamin A exists in two forms: beta-carotene (or provitamin A), which is generally found in plant foods, and retinol, which is consumed mainly in animal foods. Each of these forms has specific actions, which we will detail later.
How to consume it?
Vitamin A (like vitamins D, E and K) is a fat-soluble vitamin: that is, it is soluble in fat. This is why it is found in various organs, including the liver, where it can be stored for up to several months. These reserves make vitamin A deficiency quite rare in European countries.
However, an excess of vitamin A can be harmful: this is why you should avoid taking two courses of food supplements at the same time. But don’t panic, with a normal diet and a single treatment at a time, there is no risk of intoxication! For reference, the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A is 800 micrograms for men and 600 micrograms for women.
On the other hand, too much vitamin A in pregnant women can cause fetal malformations. That’s why Madame President designed
Mama
Mama, which does not contain vitamin A, to gently care for the hair of pregnant and nursing women… But you already knew that 😉
The benefits of vitamin A on the body
The benefits of vitamin A on the body are numerous… and what if we were to take a quick look at them?
Antioxidant and healing, for a new youth
As you may know, beta-carotene is primarily a powerful antioxidant. To put it simply: goodbye wrinkles, hello peachy skin! Its healing action soothes the skin and reduces signs of aging, scars and acne… In short, everything we would like to see disappear.
Explanation for those who are curious: our body secretes free radicals, which have an oxidizing effect and are the basis of the body’s aging process. Antioxidants limit this action, thus fighting against this inconvenience, but also against certain cancers.
An eagle eye
The name may have tipped you off: retinol is great for your eyesight. It plays an essential role in triggering nerve impulses to the optic nerves (in simple terms: an essential role for vision). Vitamin A is essential for night vision, for the adaptation of the eye to darkness: you won’t have the vision of a cat, but it can’t hurt!
Vitamin A: a multifunctional vitamin
We would like to be exhaustive, but it would take us hours: immune system, growth, cell and tissue renewal, protection against skin aggressions… Vitamin A is everything! As you can see, it is essential for good health.
The benefits of vitamin A on hair
As you have noted, we have not yet talked about our heads. Do the benefits of vitamin A extend to the hair? … The answer is a big YES! Zoom in on these benefits.
First of all, vitamin A will be your best ally for more beautiful and stronger hair. The antioxidant properties of beta-carotene contribute to the suppleness and shine of the hair. Vitamin A stimulates the production of sebum, which nourishes and protects the hair fibre. Goodbye to breakage! Your hair will be sheathed and better hydrated… All naturally. Isn’t life beautiful?
But vitamin A will also help cleanse your scalp! As you can see, it has a protective, healing, moisturizing and regenerating effect on the skin… And the scalp is no exception. Better still, the anti-infectious action of vitamin A helps fight dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis. In fact, it helps limit the abnormal multiplication of the skin’s surface layers: no more itching and irritation!
Where to find vitamin A?
Did all this information make you want to take advantage of the benefits of vitamin A on your hair and body? We understand you! But you still need to know where to find them. So we’ve put together a little recap for you, and you’ll see: it’s easier to access than you might think.
Beta-carotene is found in plant foods. Here are the richest vegetables:
- sweet potato,
- carrot,
- pumpkin,
- pumpkin,
- romaine salad,
- spinach,
- lettuce…
Ideal for winter meals! You will also find some on the fruit side:
- apricot,
- mango,
- melon,
- nectarine…
Rather for the summer, we agree… And therefore ideal to turn all year round on foods rich in beta-carotene!
For retinol, you will have to turn more to foods of animal origin :
- cod liver oil,
- liver (poultry, veal…),
- butter,
- fresh cream,
- cheese (parmesan, roquefort, emmental…),
- eggs…
In short, you have the choice… To your ovens!
Eating vitamin A: our recipe ideas
You don’t have time to think, let alone cook? Spending hours in front of your pots and pans is not for you? We’ve got it covered: here are our two ideas for recipes rich in vitamin A. Pleasure guaranteed without the headache!
Pumpkin stuffed with cheese
Preparation time: 15 minutes. For 2 persons :
- 1 pumpkin
- 25 cl of fresh cream
- 1 Saint-Félicien (or any other creamy cheese, depending on your preference)
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 onion
- the herbs of your choice: herbes de Provence, thyme, rosemary, …
- salt and pepper
How to do it:
- Preheat your oven to 180°.
- Cut your pumpkin in half, vertically, and core it.
- Cut the cheese into pieces.
- Peel and chop the garlic and onion.
- Mix the cheese, garlic, onion, cream and herbs.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Stuff each pumpkin half with the mixture.
- And off to the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour!
Madam President’s advice: you can also decide to make this delicious mixture into a good soup… To do this, cut up and cook the pumpkin before blending and mixing. Enjoy your meal!
Goat cheese and spinach lasagne
Preparation time: 20 minutes. For 2 persons :
- 600 g spinach
- 6 sheets of lasagne
- 200 g fresh goat cheese
- grated emmental cheese
- 30 g of butter
- 30 g milk
- 10 g flour
- pepper, salt, nutmeg
How to do it:
- Preheat your oven to 180°.
- Make a béchamel sauce with the butter, flour and milk. If you don’t know how to do it, here is a great
tuto
! Don’t forget to add salt, pepper, and a touch of nutmeg! - In a frying pan or sauté pan, sauté the spinach with the cheese for 5 minutes over low heat.
- Your preparations are ready, all that remains is to shape the lasagne:
- Start with the lasagne sheets at the bottom of the dish, then alternate: lasagne, spinach, béchamel, lasagne, spinach, béchamel, …
- Finish with a layer of béchamel sauce, on which you can add some grated Emmental cheese for the finish.
- 30 minutes in the oven, and it’s ready!
With this, you are ready for 100% vitamin A meals!
In summary: the benefits of vitamin A on hair are numerous. But it also benefits your eyesight, your skin, your immune system: in short, everything is boosted by this super-vitamin, which is quite easily found in our food. Are you fascinated by the subject and want to know more about vitamin A?
vitamins that cause hair loss
Vitamin deficiencies can cause hair loss, or make existing hair loss worse. Here’s what you need to know.
Hair loss is a common challenge that can affect a person’s self-esteem along with their appearance. Androgenetic alopecia, also referred to as male or female pattern baldness, is the most common cause of hair loss.
According to findings published in a 2016 Anais Brasileiros de Dermatologia study, 67.1 percent of men and 23.9 percent of women are affected by hair loss. Hair loss can also signal other health problems occurring in the body. Certain vitamin deficiencies can cause hair loss, but correcting the deficiency may actually fix the problem.
What Vitamin Deficiency Causes Hair Loss?
“Iron Deficiency in pre-menopausal women is one the main causes of hair loss and could indicate an underlying medical condition,” Abraham Armani, MD, a hair restoration surgeon and hair loss expert in Dallas, Texas, tells WebMD Connect to Care.
Iron contributes to hemoglobin production, which helps deliver nutrients and oxygen to hair follicles. Without enough iron, the hair won’t grow, causing progressively thinner hair. Women with heavy periods may also develop iron deficiency anemia. Some other potential causes of iron deficiency include:
- Not eating enough iron-rich foods, such as red meat, seafood, and beans
- Blood loss from ulcers
- Certain cancers, such as colon cancer
According to Armani, some other vitamin deficiencies that can cause hair loss include:
- Vitamin D: When vitamin D is low, the hair may thin or stop growing.
- Zinc: Zinc deficiency can cause similar hair loss to iron and may also damage any remaining hair, causing it to break.
- Selenium: Armani cautions that selenium deficiency is rare. When it occurs, it may disrupt thyroid functioning, which can cause hypothyroidism and hair loss.
People with vitamin-related hair loss may lose more than just the hair on their heads. Damage to hair follicles can also cause the eyebrows and lashes to shed.
Treating Hair Loss and Vitamin Deficiency
People who think they have hair loss related to a vitamin deficiency should not self-diagnose. A doctor can test for vitamin deficiencies, make diet and supplement recommendations, and potentially recommend other forms of treatment. It may also be possible to have multiple types of hair loss at once, so it’s important to get an accurate diagnosis.