Do Hair Supplements Work? What The Pros Recommend For Hair Growth

We're going to be real with you here: This is a complicated topic. Hair growth and health are influenced by many factors—both internal and external. That being said, many people swear by hair vitamins and supplements to help support hair health overall.* 

Now, the theory behind hair supplements really comes down to internal structural support. Let's explain: Hair is made up of keratin1, a type of protein that consists of about 18 amino acids2 including cysteine, proline, threonine, leucine, and arginine. And like most processes in the body, the production of keratin is heavily influenced by free radical damage and oxidative stress—both of which can be eased or neutralized by antioxidants.* 

Ok, but do supplements work? Well, while key nutrients and bioactives can support the synthesis and protection of hair*, clinical studies using supplements in healthy populations are hard to find. (You'll find some research in people with various nutrient deficiencies, but there's not much published research on hair supplements for the average person.)

And given that their mechanisms are more about creating optimal conditions for hair health, it's challenging to track just how much they influence hair growth.

Not to mention: As with the efficacy of any supplement, it comes down to the formulation. But that's not to say there isn't robust anecdotal support for hair supplements: While peer-reviewed publications are ideal, lots of anecdotal reports collectively carry merit too. 

Summary

SummaryWhile there isn't enough research to prove that a given supplement will give you longer locks, many supplements deliver nutrition that can support hair health.*

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Biotin is a very popular hair supplement addition. Biotin is a type of B vitamin, specifically B7. The vitamin is involved in keratin production3, and deficiencies are connected to loss and breakage.*

However, biotin deficiency4 in the U.S. population is rare.* Meat (especially organ meat), fish, eggs, seeds, nuts, and certain vegetables (sweet potatoes, broccoli, and spinach) are top food sources of biotin.

Many hair woes can be traced back to oxidative stress and free radical damage. So to support healthy hair, many lean on antioxidant nutrients and botanicals such as vitamin C, E, turmeric, and CoQ10, among others.* 

Ultimately, however, whether you take a good multivitamin with these nutrients or a stand-alone higher-dose hair-centric supplement, the most benefit is likely to come for folks who need the supplementation.

Summary

Protein and biotin are key to keratin production, while antioxidants like Vitamin C and E support overall hair health. *

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Since healthy skin and hair start on the inside, inadequate intake of certain nutrients may affect appearance. If you're not getting a robust, diverse diet (lots of fruits and vegetables, high-quality protein, and healthy fats), you may see physical signs like shedding, dullness, and breakage.

If you suspect nutrient insufficiency or even deficiency, your best course of action is to get checked out by a health care professional who can perform the correct tests and guide you on what to do next. 

According to research, these are the most important nutrients linked to normal hair health and appearance5,* so getting enough of these each day is important:

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There are many, many contributing factors to hair loss and thinning—some more pressing than others and some better understood than others. So if you're experiencing hair loss, it may feel impossible to pinpoint why it's happening. (If you're dealing with this right now, we empathize with you.)

That all said, here are some of the more common reasons to keep in mind. As always, if you fear your hair loss is significant and serious, it's worth visiting a doctor, dermatologist, or trichologist.  

Summary

Aging, stress, hormonal changes, follicle damage, and environmental toxins can all contribute to hair loss.

Going to be honest with you: This is a deceptively complicated question! That's because adding length to your hair requires a combination of encouraging healthy growth while also preserving the hair you already have. (After all, new growth means nothing if you just keep having to trim off split ends and damage.) 

Now, on average hair grows about ¼ inch to ½ inch a month, according to Bridgette Hill, certified trichologist and founder of Root Cause Scalp Analysis. This may fluctuate depending on where you are on the hair growth cycle. Hair grows in phases11: anagen, catagen, and telogen, plus a theorized fourth phase, exogen.

You'll likely feel that your hair grows faster during the primary growth phase (anagen), but at any given point in time about 10 to 15% of your hair is in the shedding phase (telogen or exogen).

There's little you can do to influence this cycle naturally, but there are ways to support your hair growth so it's healthy long term. 

Unlike hair vitamins, which are dietary supplements, androgen blockers are topicals and medications that a health care practitioner could prescribe to influence your hair growth cycle.

"Hair-growth products are mainly androgen blockers with active ingredients that trick the body into extending the growing phase of the hair cycle," Hill says. "There are clinical and scientific studies that show these topicals and internal bioactives work."

However, these are typically only studied on men with male-pattern baldness. You likely know androgen-blockers as products or drugs such as finasteride and minoxidil12 (the active ingredient in Rogaine). 

A healthy hair follicle is vital to growth. One of the more common reasons hair follicles become damaged is by not having proper cleansing practices.

See, when you don't adequately remove buildup on the scalp, it can become inflamed. This happens because the inflammation starts to close off the hair follicle, limiting growth and eventually leading to shedding.

"This inflammation will affect the quality of your hair growth. It happens when you have product, dirt, and oil building up around your follicle opening—which is where your hair grows out of—and that buildup starts to slowly suffocate your hair root," says trained trichologist and hairstylist Shab Reslan.

Summary

Tending to build up and avoiding too much heat treatment can help keep hair healthy. Healthcare providers may also prescribe androgen blockers to keep hair in the growth phase of its cycle.

While some hair growth goals may be about length (and speeding up the time to get said length), others are more concerned about density.

This is a trickier topic, as density and thickness largely come down to your genetics. Now, as we've discussed above, thinning can be traced back to a lack of key daily nutrients, but most often thinning hair is just a fact of life and your DNA. As for encouraging thickness, there are two techniques that you can try: 

"Beautiful, strong hair depends on good blood circulation, proper nutrition, and a healthy and supple scalp," says board-certified dermatologist Raechele Cochran Gathers, M.D., who specializes in hair care and founded MDHairMixtress.

See, what's theoretically happening with regular scalp massages is that the extra attention is helping encourage blood flow to the area, bringing with it oxygen and hair-healthy nutrients. This is especially helpful for those who do have a tense scalp, as muscle tension can often inhibit proper blood flow to the area. 

In fact, in a 2016 study, a small number of men received a daily four-minute scalp massage. At the conclusion of the study, the investigators found an increase in hair thickness14. A 2019 study found that of the 300 or so participants who followed a specific massage regimen, nearly 70% reported improved hair thickness at the end15.  

Summary

Dermatologist sometimes administer platelet-rich plasma injections to patients concerned about hair thickness. For an at home strategy, try a scalp massage.

We wish this could be more straightforward, but unfortunately, hair loss, thinning, and growth are very complicated and individualized topics. Not to mention, we likely need more research done on effective ways to encourage growth—supplements included.

But in the meantime, if you find a hair supplement that works for you, by all means, keep on enjoying your lush benefits.*