Eating Foods That Contain Vitamin D
Some foods are rich in vitamin D, making them a good natural source of this vitamin. Foods that contain vitamin D include fatty fish, such as tuna, avocado, nuts, salmon or mackerel, cheese, egg yolks, mushrooms and beef liver.Fortified foods may also contain vitamin D. Certain types of milk, yogurt and other dairy products, as well as soy drinks, breakfast cereals and orange juices, may contain added vitamin D. You can often find this information on the products nutrition facts label.
Foods That Can Cause Hair Loss
We are what we eat, and this also applies to our hair. Just like a poor diet can cause problems with various organs through the body, it can do the same to our hair follicles.
While hair loss has a significant genetic component, this is true for most health conditions. For example, heart disease is one of the most easily preventable conditions. At the same time, it also tends to run in families. Nobody would use this as an excuse to not look after their heart in the form of proper diet and exercise.
With that out of the way, lets look at some of the most common, widely available foods that could be compromising your precious follicles.
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Hair Loss And Glycemic Loads
Chronically elevated blood sugar also damages the blood vessels. This is important to our hair because hair follicles are small-scale organs in their own right. This makes them fully dependent on an adequate supply of blood to receive all the necessary nutrients. Without this, problems can develop, including hair loss.
Also, insulin is found in hair follicles. It is possible that it plays a role in the regulation of androgen metabolism, including DHT.
Tellingly, scientists have now established a strong link between male pattern baldness and the risk of heart disease . This data suggests that men with baldness might be damaging their hearts through poor lifestyle choices, of which the most important ones are dietary.
The data also shows that on average, men with pattern baldness tend to weigh more, have larger waists, higher BMIs, and have higher fasting blood sugar levels. All this suggests a possible link between pattern baldness and insulin resistance .
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Other Nutrients And Hair Loss
One vitamin that does pose problems for your hair when taken in excess is vitamin A. Hypervitaminosis A, or excess vitamin A, can cause hair loss when taken in excess of 50,000 international units per day, according to Huntington College of Health Sciences. It would be difficult to get that much from food, but taking megadoses of supplements could put you over the limit. Your problem could result from a deficiency in any number of other vitamins or minerals that support hair growth. Huntington College of Health Sciences notes vitamins C and E and the minerals calcium, selenium, zinc and iodine as being important for healthy hair growth.
- One vitamin that does pose problems for your hair when taken in excess is vitamin A. Hypervitaminosis A, or excess vitamin A, can cause hair loss when taken in excess of 50,000 international units per day, according to Huntington College of Health Sciences.
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- See your doctor to rule out any nutrient deficiencies or excess levels of vitamin A.While hair loss is often hereditary, there are methods to slow hair loss or maintain the hair that you have.
- ( The UMMC recommends being tested for food sensitivities and eating plenty of antioxidant-rich foods such as blueberries, tomatoes and squashes, avoiding refined foods like white bread and pasta, using healthy oils like olive oil in your cooking and reducing your intake of trans fats found in commercial baked goods.
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Can Vitamins Cause Hair Loss
Most vitamins are essential to ones health, but all things should be taken in moderation, including vitamins. While the recommended daily value of vitamins can help to slow down hair loss, too much of a good thing has been proven to be a bad thing.
Vitamin A for example is one vitamin that has been linked to hair loss when excessive amounts are consumed. The RDAs, or recommended dietary allowances, for vitamin A are 900 mcg for adult men, or 700 mcg for adult women . When taken within the recommended values it is actually good for hair growth and maintenance as it aids in the reproduction of cells. However, vitamin A is fat-soluble, so your body stores any excess of the vitamin that you take in. This can lead to toxicity, and one symptom of that includes hair loss.
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Does Vitamin A Cause Hair Loss
Vitamin A is essential for many bodily functions, including healthy hair growth. However, because this vitamin is fat-soluble, your body stores the excess you take in, which can lead to toxicity, and the symptoms of this include hair loss. Along with vitamin A toxicity, many other causes of hair loss are possible. Your doctor can help you determine the specific cause in your case, as well as discuss your vitamin intake.
Whats The Best Hair Loss Treatment
Treatment for hair loss depends on the cause, Peters states. There are many treatments for hair loss, though the best treatments for you will be those that address the root cause of your hair loss. For example, if nutritional deficiencies contribute to your hair loss, an ideal treatment would be taking supplements or making changes to your diet.
Your doctor may recommend minoxidil or finasteride for hair regrowth or hair transplant surgery to treat permanent hair loss. Laser therapy may also be an option if you are experiencing permanent hair loss. Your doctor can discuss all your available treatment options based on the cause of hair loss.
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What Vitamin Deficiency Causes Hair Loss: 4 Vitamins Linked To Hair Loss
Experiencing hair loss from chemotherapy or alopecia is jarring and frustrating. But what do you do when you’re experiencing hair loss and you have no idea why? If you find yourself pulling way more hair out of your hair brush than normal or find that you have to unclog your shower drain every morning, you may have a vitamin deficiency. In some instances, vitamin deficiency causes hair loss, among other baffling side effects.
To get this hairy situation under control, weve included details regarding how certain vitamins can affect your body differently, especially when it comes to your luscious locks.
How Much Is Too Much
For an adult over 19 years of age, 4300 International Units of Vitamin A per day is considered sufficient for the proper functioning of the organism. These are normally ensured by a balanced diet, with little need for supplementation in a healthy person.
In order to overdose on Vitamin A, you would have to consume around double your recommended daily intake. According to government guidelines, the upper threshold to which excess intake of Vitamin A is tolerated by your body is 10,000 IU. Exceeding this threshold over a prolonged period of time will lead to overdosing and Vitamin A Toxicity, with severe effects for your health.
If you are planning on taking any Vitamin A supplements, it is advised that you speak to your doctor first. It is relatively difficult to overdose on Vitamin A purely by eating the foods in which it is found.
Vitamin A can be ingested under two forms: retinol and beta-carotene .
However, as the same study cited above points out, Vitamin A toxicity does not occur from the ingestion of beta-carotene, regardless of the dosage. It is only reported when overdosing on retinol. This can only happen through supplementation, as the doses normally ingested through diet even in large portions, are far too small to do real harm.
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Why Does Hair Shed Anyway
In order to properly treat hair shedding, its crucial to understand all of the culprits that could be driving this changeand there are more possibilities than you might think.
Healthy hair undergoes three stages during the life cycle, including a growing stage , a short preparation stage, and a few months of resting, explains Dr. Erica Walters, an aesthetic medicine practitioner and medical director at Park Avenue Skin Solutions and Tribeca Wellness Collective. When the resting stage is over, hair sheds normally and the cycle repeats itself. Walters notes that one of the most common causes of excess hair shedding is stress, especially in younger womenwhich may explain why youre losing hair before age 30 and years before menopausebut stress may not be the sole factor.
Other common causes include hormone imbalances , extreme dieting, anemia, thyroid dysfunction, and certain vitamin deficiencies, Walters says. Genetics and auto-immune disease can also cause hair loss and thinning. For all ages, I gather a detailed medical history including diet, exercise, life events and stressors, medication or drug use, and even patterns of hair styling and coloring. Basic lab work would include hormone and thyroid testing, vitamin levels, electrolytes, and a complete blood count to rule out any abnormalities.
One solution you likely wont encounter at Walters office? You guessed it: biotin.
Too Much Vitamin D3 Tricks The Body Into Thinking Its Warmer Than It Really Is
To cool down, the body lowers adipose tissue metabolism.
Vitamin D3 reduces the fat-burning rate of these cells:
In this study, they used two main types of mice.
One group was just your standard mouse breed .
The other group of mice was the same breed but with one modification They had DNA-encoded human vitamin D receptors injected into them when they were embryos .
So the modified mice produced much more vitamin D receptor than the WT mice.
This helped the scientists make certain distinctions and confirmations in analyzing their results
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The 5 Best Vitamins For Hair Growth
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Many people view healthy-looking hair as a sign of health or beauty. Like any other part of your body, hair needs a variety of nutrients to be healthy and grow . In fact, many nutritional deficiencies are linked to hair loss.
While factors such as age, genetics and hormones also affect hair growth, optimal nutrient intake is key. Below are 5 vitamins and 3 other nutrients that may be important for hair growth.
If Biotin Doesn’t Really Work Then What Does
The modern wellness movement, though trendy in a way that raises some eyebrows and is undoubtedly imperfect , could also serve as a bridge that takes us from the biotin hair loss solution that rarely works to innovative procedures and herbal treatments that really, truly can help hair shedding and encourage regrowth.
One such product that is slowly gaining recognition, though its still far from enjoying the celeb status of biotin, is Nutrafol, a drug-free hair growth supplement that is formulated with a wide variety of natural ingredients that include ashwagandha, hydrolyzed marine collagen, saw palmetto, and biocurcumin. For the sake of full disclosure, after experiencing stress-related hair shedding, I began taking Nutrafol for women . My hair shedding nearly completely stopped after about three months of daily usage this was after I had tried several other supplements prior to Nutrafol, including ingestible and topical biotin.
In other words, all natural hair-loss supplements are not created equal, no matter what buzz you hear about a star ingredient. Its important to address cortisol levels that contribute to stress-related hair loss, as well as any underlying inflammation that can weaken hair follicles.
Inflammation interferes with signaling molecules that control the biological clock of the hair growth cycle, pushing follicles into the resting phase, telogen, Peralta says.
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When To See Your Doctor
If youre concerned your hair loss may be abnormal, take a trip to the doctor .
Many of the health issues that cause hair lossand the resulting hair loss itselfare treatable, but its important to be evaluated as quickly as possible, since changing patterns in hair loss and growth can take months.
My approach to hair loss is to first do a detailed physical exam, and then order bloodwork, says Ploch, who typically tests for iron deficiency and anemia, vitamin D deficiency, thyroid abnormalities, and autoimmune issues right off the bat. A registered dietitian can also help you identify connections between your current eating habits and hair health.
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What Is Vitamin D
According to the National Institutes of Health, Vitamin D is an essential, fat-soluble vitamin that plays a role in numerous biological processes within your body.
Unlike most vitamins, vitamin D isnt commonly found in foods. While some foods, such as milk, soy and certain types of fish, contain vitamin D, most vitamin D is produced endogenously when UV rays from sunlight come into contact with your skin.
In its natural form, vitamin D is biologically inert. To use vitamin D, your body needs to convert it into a usable form using the liver and kidneys.
This complex, multi-step process is referred to as hydroxylation, and allows your body to use vitamin D for a variety of important processes.
Vitamin D plays a role in countless biological processes within your body. Its responsible for:
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Promoting calcium absorption
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Ensuring healthy bone growth and remodeling
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Modulating cell growth
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Reducing inflammation
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Maintaining a healthy immune system
Vitamin D also plays a key role in preventing certain diseases. People with low levels of vitamin D have an increased risk of developing rickets and osteomalacia two diseases that can affect the health and integrity of your bones.
Low levels of vitamin D are also linked to certain forms of hair loss a topic weve discussed in more detail below.
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Do Hair Vitamins Really Work
On this topic, Consumer Reports noted that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not tightly regulate vitamins and nutritional supplements or all of the claims made about them. So, while Consumer Reports did agree that vitamins and nutrients, such as Vitamin B complex, Vitamin A, etc., can reverse hair loss from a vitamin deficiency, they also caution that it wont correct hair loss from other causes and that some labels do not properly reflect the contents. One example the magazine cites is a brand of multivitamin that had 200 times the amount of selenium than the label listed. While selenium is essential for good hair growth, excessive selenium can cause hair loss.