Vitamin deficiencies can have many unpleasant effects on the body, including hair loss.
“Your body needs a variety of nutrients to produce hair,” says Stephanie Dunn, RDN, integrative dietitian with Nutrition QED in St. Petersburg, Fla. Deficiencies in key nutrients like vitamin D, vitamin B12, biotin (vitamin B), iron, folic acid (folate), vitamin C, and zinc can affect your scalp.
“Hair loss is often a sign that something else is going on,” says Candace Spann, M.D., a board-certified dermatologist in Las Vegas and founder of ReTress, a hair-care product line for women with thinning hair. “If you feel like something’s not right, get it checked out to see if there’s something going on beneath the surface,” she says. Your healthcare provider may also recommend blood tests to measure your body’s vitamin and mineral levels.
Here are six nutrient deficiencies that often lead to hair loss.
