Apart from obesity, scanty hair or hair fall is one of the many problems plaguing mankind today. And like obesity, the solution to hair fall lies in what you eat or rather what you don’t eat, that is, whatever goes inside your body. The parallels are to make you see the deeper connection between what you are and what you eat. So it will not come as a surprise when you come to know that vitamin B12 has actually helped a lot of people overcome the hair problem. Let’s look at why there is hair loss in seemingly healthy people, and if Vitamin B12 really does help with it.
What causes hair fall?
Hair fall or slower hair growth can be attributed to a number of reasons.
- Environmental factors such as air and water pollution. stress
- Stress, which effects many body functions.
- Genetic or hereditary factors.
- Insufficient nutrition or deficiency of certain vitamins and minerals in the body.
- Certain drugs, and treatments that have led to adverse reactions in the body. Sometimes weight loss products lead to hair loss.
- Cosmetic treatment of hair
A peek into what is vitamin B12 and what it does for your body.
Vitamin B12 is one of the eight B vitamins and is also known as cobalamin. It is a water soluble vitamin that is responsible for the formation of blood. It is also required for the proper functioning of the brain and the nervous system. As you grow older more of the vitamin is required in your body, especially for pregnant and lactating women. It is absorbed in your body with the help of hydrochloric acid and some intrinsic factors that are made in your stomach.
Vitamin B12 is found in fish, meat, poultry, eggs, dairy products, breakfast cereals, oats, rye and other products that have been fortified with vitamin B12. To specifically buy such foods, check the nutritional label.
How does vitamin B12 help with hair growth?
An important property of vitamin B12 is that it helps in cell replication and DNA formation. There are a lot more vitamins and minerals, required for these processes, but B12 does play an important role here. A deficiency of vitamin B12 may mean difficulties in DNA formation or cell replication. The human hair follicles require this vitamin so that they can replicate properly and grow hair effectively. Also since cobalamin is responsible for the formation of red blood cells, a deficiency may mean that the RBCs(red blood cells) are not saturated with oxygen. The hair follicles again suffer in this regard as they don’t get proper nutrition from the blood stream. This gives rise to hair fall, brittle and breakage prone hair, very slow hair growth or none at all and other hair related issues.
If you have been having problems with hair growth ask your doctor to check if you are suffering from vitamin B12 deficiency. Then focus on correcting its levels in the body. But in any case start with vitamin B12 supplements immediately. There are no adverse effects of this water soluble vitamin.