Can Collagen Help With Hair Loss

Female Baldness: Can I Stop My Hair From Thinning

I am 48 years old and going through menopause. My hair is changing from thick and curly to thin and not-so-curly. Is it okay to take collagen? If so, what are the risks?

Andrew Weil, M.D. | May 2, 2011

Menopause is perhaps best viewed as the natural progression to the next stage of life. Unfortunately, the hormonal changes involved may lead to female pattern baldness, characterized by thinning hair all over the head without a receding front hairline. You may simply be genetically predisposed to this problem, but other possible causes to investigate include severe stress, damaging effects of hair care treatments or styling, and habitual twisting or pulling your hair. Some prescription drugs can cause excessive hair shedding, including blood thinners and drugs used to treat gout, arthritis, depression, heart problems, and high blood pressure. If you take medication for any of these conditions, check to see if hair loss is a side effect. You also might ask your doctor to test you for thyroid disease, which is common in your age range and can also cause the problem. If this is the case, treatment should result in hair regrowth.

Andrew Weil, M.D.

Common Hair Loss Treatment Options

Some women who experience hair loss decide to cover up their thin hair or bald spots by changing their hairstyle or wearing hats. Before resorting to these solutions, however, you may be happy to find out that many people are able to reverse their hair loss.

There are a few thinning hair remedies and lifestyle changes that can improve hair loss. These treatments can improve the look of thin hair and help grow new hair by promoting proper scalp health. If youre looking for help with thinning hair, weve put together a few of the most common hair loss treatment options recommended by health experts and medical professionals.

Can Collagen Help With Hair Loss

Collagen is the most abundant protein that makes up the structures in your body, such as the tendons, ligaments, joints, skin, and other fibrous tissues. As collagen builds your skin, it also holds the dermal layer and hair follicles together. Without collagen, your hair loses its volume and natural moisture.

So can additional collagen help men and women combat hair loss? The answer is yes. Collagen plays an essential role against free radicals that cause hair shedding and thinning. It also provides extra amino acids which act as building blocks for the hair. In addition to these benefits, more collagen in the skin cells of the scalp can help boost hair growth.

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How Does Collagen Help Hair

Collagen contains numerous properties that can help improve the overall health of your hair. Consistent use can even reveal longer, stronger, glossier, thicker, and more luscious hair! Collagen provides a combination of amino acids and proteins that can boost keratin production, provide antioxidants that fight free-radical damage, and increase blood circulation to not only create new hair follicles, but repair and strengthen damaged or thinning hair. But, no matter what benefits youre hoping to achieve by taking collagen for hair, its important that youre using the right type of collagen in order to get the job done.

How To Include More Biotin And Collagen In Your Diet

One of the most common causes of alopecia is poor nutrition. Health issues and nutrient deficiencies can arise if people dont have enough protein, essential vitamins, and carbohydrates in their body that make hair-growth hormones. Making sure youre eating a complete diet full of nutrients, proteins, and minerals can go a long way for your hair.

Biotin can easily be added to your diet as it is found in many common foods. However, collagen can be tricky since hydrolyzed collagen can only be found as peptides in powders, capsules, and chewable supplements. Fortunately, more and more collagen products are becoming widely available in the market today due to a high demand. You can also try adding more food with collagen-building blocks and amino acids into your diet.

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Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides

Youve probably spotted Vital Proteins products being promoted by various influencers on your Instagram feed, the brand has a wide range of collagen peptides products that aid in promoting cell regeneration in your hair, skin and nails. Their original collagen peptides unflavored powder is their best seller and can be added to your favorite protein shake, smoothie, coffee or really any recipe of your choosing. The peptides are sourced from grass-fed, pasture-raised bovine hides and like its counterparts, after about a month of use skin is hydrated and glowing and youll notice stronger strands.

What Other Supplements Help For Hair Growth

The best supplement for hair growth is definitely Collagen, but other supplements are also effective. Biotin, which is also known as vitamin B7, is one of the best. Proper usage of Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Iron, Zinc pyrithione, Minoxidil, selenium, Omega-3 fatty acids etc substances can also elevate hair growth. At your local market, you will find a variety of supplements made with these ingredients.

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Collagen Promotes Healthy Hair Roots

While collagen is actively defending and rebuilding the outer layers of our skin, it can also improve the health of deeper layers.

The middle layer of our skin, the dermis, is what holds our hair in place. So, if our dermis or our scalp isnt healthy, it is harder for our hair to stay in place. As we lose out on necessary collagen to build up and repair our skin, it becomes easier for hair loss to begin.

The dermis that is holding the roots of our hairs in place is made up of 70% collagen. No wonder hair loss and balding increase as we age, because our collagen production is decreasing.

While collagen is contributing to the elasticity of your dermis, it is also replenishing dead or damaged cells. The continually supported structure of the dermis keeps hair roots in place, making it possible that an increase in collagen could prevent age-related hair thinning.

Hair Loss: Seven Available Treatments And Preventions

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Hair loss could be prevented with collagen. Collagen is a protein in the body that help make up tendons, ligaments and skin. While the body produces collagen, its also available as a supplement and from certain foods like bone broth. There are a number of ways collagen has been proven to improve hair.

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Does Collagen Help Hair Growth

Much like biotin and daily scalp massages, collagen is a buzzword you may have seen thrown around with hair growth. “Collagen is a natural antioxidant that regenerates the hair follicle,” explains Dr. Renee Moran, Owner of Dr. Renee Moran Medical Aesthetic. “Free radicals can damage hair follicles, which can lead to hair loss.” Guess what helps neutralize these free radicals? Thats right, collagen. “This then allows the hair to grow,” she says.

Collagen helps with hair growth in other ways. “Collagen is broken down into amino acids that are used to build new proteins and compounds,” says dermatologist Dr. Olivia Anderson. Since your hair is primarily made up of a protein called keratin, your body uses several amino acids to build it.

But here’s the key: “Many of these amino acids are found in collagen,” says Dr. Anderson. This means that collagen helps foster hair growth by nurturing hair health.

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Hair Loss Doesnt Mean Youve Lost

Solutions for hair loss vary as much as the causes. The good news? Most hair loss is not permanent and most see new hair growth shortly after losing it. Natural solutions are often the easiest way to stimulate new hair growth.

Start by keeping a food diary of each meal you intake and foods, vitamins, or activities that might be effecting your hair health. If youre not already taking vitamins, seek out supplements, like collagen for hair loss, and foods that can be added to each meal and solve multiple issues.

Collagen for Hair Loss

Grass-fed collagen peptides, if used regularly, can help rebalance male and female hormones. Additionally, supplementing collagen peptides powder provides hair the needed vitamins, collagen and calcium to help fortify new hair growth. Collagen for hair loss makes a great daily addition due to the fact that many peptides are unflavored and dissolve completely in hot or warm liquids. If youre seeking more specific guidance, consult your doctor or a nutritionist on building a more hair-friendly diet.

Have you tried these methods? Ever tried collagen for hair loss? What other ways have you tried to regrow hair? Leave a question or smile in the comments.

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How Much Collagen Should I Take For Hair Growth

Cartier explains that the amount of collagen you should take for hair growth depends on several factors. This largely includes height and weight. Please note that collagen supplementation varies from person to person since needs are different. To help give you a better idea of your specific needs, check out our Collagen Calculator.

Nutrafol Women Hair Growth Supplement For Thicker Stronger Hair

Nutrafol, a hair growth supplement designed specifically for women, contains Ashwagandha, Tocotrienol Complex, Marine Collagen, and Curcumin, as well as 21 micro-ingredients. As it contains Collagen type 1 and 3, it can help reduce hair loss and thinning. The ingredients in it come in a low molecular weight, so theyre easy to absorb. This products bioactive ingredients support a wide range of body functions. The aim of the treatment is to deal with the root causes of thinning like stress and nutrition. Taking these products regularly helps balance your estrogen levels, improves your sleep, and makes you more energetic, calmer, and looks better on the outside.

Adults should take four capsules a day for straight six months to get the best result. This product has shown to work really well for people with hair loss, shedding, thinning hair, brittle, wiry hair, and ear infections.

All hair types have the same growth cycle and once you understand it, its easier to stop hair loss. Growing your hair is a simple matter of giving your follicles the right nutrients at the right time. Nutrafol offers a natural hair loss supplement thats clinically proven to help women regrow their hair.

PROS

• Includes two types of Collagen
• Reduces hair loss and thinning
• Keeps estrogen level balanced
• Improves sleep and gives energy

CONS

• Unsatisfactory customer support

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May Help Slow Graying

Due to its antioxidant properties, collagen may be able to fight cell damage and slow graying.

Age-related hair graying is largely influenced by genetics, but free radical damage to the cells that produce hair color may also play a role .

As you age, the cells that produce the melanin pigment that gives your hair its color naturally begin to die. However, free radicals that result from poor diet, stress, and environmental pollutants can damage melanin-creating cells as well .

Without enough antioxidants to fight free radical damage, your hair may begin to gray. In fact, one test-tube study found that the antioxidant activity of gray hair follicles was much lower than that of hair follicles that still contained pigment (

Nevertheless, research on the antioxidant effects of collagen in humans is currently lacking.

Summary

Free radical damage to cells that produce hair color may accelerate graying to some extent. Since collagen can act as an antioxidant, it may be able to fight this damage and slow graying.

Hair Follicle Health Collagen For Hair Growth

You may already be familiar with the concept of free radicals, compounds produced in your body that can damage your cells. If so, you already know that antioxidants can mop up those free radicals, preventing damage. What you might not know is that free radicals can harm the cells that make you your follicles.

Some in-vitro studies have shown that collagen may function as a powerful antioxidant. This effect is particularly pronounced in tests using collagen from marine sources. This is another factor that makes it a potentially excellent hair food.

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Do Collagen Peptide Supplements Help With Hair Growth

Many people take a daily collagen supplement as part of their daily nutritional regimen. Many positive effects are attributed to collagen, from stronger, more limber joints to fresher, smoother skin. One other benefit claimed for collagen supplements is that they can improve your hair, making it thicker, stronger, and glossier. Is there any evidence to support the use of collagen? Specifically, does collagen help hair growth?

There are some fact-based reasons to think that collagen really might help your hair to grow thicker and stronger particularly collagen peptide supplements. Here are a few reasons to try collagen peptide powder for your hair.

The Connection Between Collagen & Hair Loss

In February of 2016, a team of researchers in Japan discovered that decreasing collagen levels near hair follicle stem cells is linked to womens and mens hair loss. The lack of this particular type of collagen, type XVII collagen, leads to the damage of hair follicle DNA.

Scientists observed this phenomenon in mice that were 18 months old, which is the age at which mice start to lose their hair. Older mice have fewer, thinner hair follicles than younger mice. The study showed that hair loss was less common in aging mice that continued to produce collagen.15

In mice that lack type XVII collagen, the damaged stem cells turn into dermal cells and are sloughed off like dandruff. This leads to hair follicle shrinkage and hair loss. Scientists believe that the same mechanism applies to humans.

In a separate study of the human scalp, the Japanese researchers found that the hair follicles of women in their 50s and older were smaller than the follicles of women in their 30s and 40s. Scientists are excited about these findings because they could help them find the cure for baldness.16

What’s the link between collagen and hair growth? RenewSkin Inc. explains.

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Does Collagen Really Work

Thats the big question. Collagen supplements and treatments are everywhere, and they promise to tighten skin, bring hair back, and strengthen nails.

Can they really do it?

The science isnt fully conclusive yet, but it is promising. Multiple studies have shown that there are real benefits that just arent completely understood.

• In 2008, a study at Penn State University studied the effects of a hydrolysed collagen supplement on athletes. After six months of supplementation, the athletes reported less joint pain both on the field and off. These findings have been expanded and corroborated by other research institutions, including the University of Michigan.

• A 2014 study in the UK found that taking a particular collagen supplement reduces visible signs of ageing, including markedly improved skin condition and a reduction in wrinkles. It should be noted that this study was funded by the creators of that particular supplement, and its likely that other supplements would be just as effective.

• In 2015, the Journal of Investigative Dermatology that found high levels of collagen within hair follicles, suggesting that the nutrient is important to their function. The study suggests further research would be worthwhile to investigate their specific relationship, and that collagen could be used as a medical treatment for hair loss and skin disorders.

More studies are in progress, as the medical industry begins to understand the potential of this nutrient.