Hair loss in young women could be related to a lack of two key nutrients.
A study involving 80 women, ages 18 to 45, who were diagnosed with thinning hair found that they had 51 percent lower iron levels and 78 percent lower vitamin D levels, on average, than 40 women of similar ages who did not have excessive hair loss.
Iron is known to be involved in hair growth; optimal vitamin D may slow aging in general and also activates key genes related to the hair’s normal cycle of growth and shedding, explains lead study author Rania Abdel Hay, an assistant professor of dermatology at Cairo University in Egypt.
Do
She recommends that women with thinning hair take supplements of
- Iron
- Vitamin D
Particularly if blood tests reveal that they are below the cutoffs of 30 micrograms per liter for ferritin (iron stores”> or 70 nanomoles per liter for vitamin D.
Don’t
She advises against boosting vitamin D levels by increasing sun exposure, which itself causes damage to hair (as well as to skin”>.
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