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Supplements for Stopping Hair Loss & Breakage

A healthy diet with the right supplements can help prevent hair breakage and slow hair loss for both men and women. While genetics do play a significant role in the characteristics of a person's hair, what you eat can help you keep it longer. Whether you want to stop the progression of male- or female-patterned baldness or simply prevent your hair from becoming brittle, add a few vitamins and minerals to your diet.

  1. Fatty Acids

    • Essential fatty acids, including Omega 3, help prevent your hair from becoming brittle and breaking. They also balance your body to provide overall health that will boost your hair growth. Include supplements such as primrose oil, salmon oil and flaxseed oil to increase your intake of fatty acids. If you prefer to consume your supplements in whole foods, add walnuts, canola oil, fish and soy products to your diet.

    Vitamin A

    • A deficiency in Vitamin A often causes dry skin and hair, making it easy for hair to break or become damaged. For this reason, supplementing your diet with vitamin A can help improve hair growth. However, keep your intake levels around 2,500 IU (international units) per day, because high levels of vitamin A can actually cause hair loss, among other symptoms.

    Vitamin E

    • Vitamin E helps keep hair healthy by enhancing blood flow to the brain. It also works to keep the immune system healthy and directly affect the growth of hair. When taking a vitamin E supplement, start with 400 IU and work up to a total of 800 IU each day.

    Zinc

    • Zinc supplements help prevent hair loss by improving the body's androgen levels. When increasing your zinc intake, however, you also should take a copper supplement. Also be forewarned that the high levels of copper and zinc required to stimulate hair growth may also be responsible for helping create free radicals within your body. So you should take a zinc supplement only under a doctor's supervision.

    B Vitamins

    • B vitamins, particularly biotin and B12, are crucial for healthy hair growth. Many doctors prescribe B vitamin supplements any time they prescribe a hair loss treatment. If you incorporate more B vitamins into your diet, you will experience not only better hair growth, but also healthier skin and nails. While you may increase your B vitamin intake by eating beans, peas, carrots, soybeans, yeast, eggs, lentils, brown rice and walnuts, your probably won't be able to consume enough to boost your hair growth without taking a supplement.

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