These Vitamins Can Give You Stronger, Shinier Hair

A deep conditioner will help make your locks silky, but if you really want longer and stronger strands, then you'll want to add some vitamins for hair growth to your daily menu.

“Vitamins are critical to the function of all cells in the body, including those responsible for generating hair," Suzanne Dixon, R.D., a registered dietitian with The Mesothelioma Center in Orlando, Florida tells Woman's Day. "The part of hair we see isn't composed of living cells, otherwise we couldn't cut it! This means the key to healthy hair lies with healthy hair follicles."

The cells that create hair experience some of the most rapid turnover of all the cells in the body, which is why you must constantly rebook that haircut. And any nutritional deficiencies affect these hair-producing cells very rapidly, which in turn shows up in hair loss, Dixon explains, as follicles stop producing hair or create dry, lackluster, or broken strands.

So what’s the nutritional secret? Turns out, it’s the same as the secret to stronger abs and arms.

“Protein is often called the building block of life because protein is made of amino acids. While muscle is 80 percent made of protein, our hair is entirely made of a protein called keratin,” Stephanie Gray, D.N.P., M.S., A.R.N.P., a doctorally-prepared functional medicine nurse practitioner and owner of Integrative Health and Hormone Clinic in Hiawatha, Iowa tells Woman's Day.

If other parts of the body aren’t supplied with enough protein, they’ll steal it from your strands.

“Keratin is formed from amino acids, and the body will rob from the hair if it needs protein (amino acids) for other functions since you don’t need hair to live," Gray explains. "It’s more important that your body have energy than grow hair, so if you need amino acids for energy hair may be what suffers. This is why you don’t want to be nutritionally deficient in protein."

Beyond pumping up the protein in your diet, consider your nutrient consumption. The following vitamins for hair growth have been proven to help support the body’s optimal use of protein.