Image credit: www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/agrobacter
“Vitamins” is the buzzword these days. From the way they are portrayed, It seems like they are the answer to all of our health problems. Not a day goes by, where a vitamin ad or advocate does not go past us. But, are they really the panacea we are being made to believe?
The truth of the matter is that we require vitamins in small quantities for our body to work at its optimum level. The body gets nearly all of its vitamin needs from our diet. That’s why the FDA calls any vitamin commercially available as dietary supplements, but at the same time warns of many fraudulent dietary supplements.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the informal ascension of multivitamins to their nearly-mandatory status has given rise to their introduction into rather less-covered areas. One such area is beard growth or beard care.
In this piece here, we will go through different aspects of beard growth vitamins, and what you should do about them.
Role of Vitamins In Beard Growth
Vitamins do have roles in healthy hair growth in general. Some of these vitamins may have their say in the development of hair and others may have a part in the natural lifecycle of hair. These vitamins include:
1. Vitamin A
Vitamin finds its role in helping skin glands make an oily substance called sebum. Sebum envelopes the protective layer of the hair and traps the moisture. This prevents hair from becoming dry and brittle and keeps hair healthy.
The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for vitamin A is 900 μg/day and this is met through various dietary components including carrots, milk, egg, yogurt, and pumpkins among others.
2. B-Vitamins
From B vitamins, it is biotin or vitamin B7 which is highly touted as a hair growth vitamin. Biotin does find its role in building keratin, a protein acting as building blocks for hair, skin, and nails.
RDA for biotin is 25 mcg/day and it is found in a number of daily consumables like egg yellow, milk, banana, nuts, cereals, chocolates, and meat among others.
In other B-vitamins, vitamin B12 has a close association with erythropoiesis or the production of red cells. Red cells, as we know, are oxygen carriers in our body and deliver nutrients to different parts of the body including hair.
3. Vitamin D
An absence of vitamin D receptors (VDR) has been linked with a form of alopecia. However, the role of vitamin D itself in hair development is rather unknown.
Nonetheless, as vitamin D deficiency affects a large portion of the general population, it is a good idea to take vitamin D to take care of this deficiency. However, as said, the importance of vitamin D in hair growth in general or beard growth specifically is rather unknown.
Among others, vitamins C and E act as antioxidants and have been found to keep the detrimental effects of oxidative stress and free radicals at a minimum. They are found in a variety of dietary components and their RDA is usually easily met through dietary sources.
In addition, hair development and maintenance also need some micronutrients including zinc, iron, and selenium.
Do Commercially Available Beard Growth Vitamins Work?
We now know that vitamins do have their role in beard/hair growth. But, we also know that they aren’t needed in massive quantities and usually our requirements are met through dietary means.
As long as a beard multivitamin is coming from a reputable brand, you can trust it and they do work and if you need them. Therefore, a better question to ask would be whether you need beard growth vitamins.
You may have some vitamin deficiency that is adversely affecting your beard growth and here you would need beard growth vitamins. But, it is difficult to pinpoint such deficiencies and their effect on your beard growth.
Nonetheless, it must be kept in mind that vitamins don’t have the ultimate say in the growth of your beard. It is genetics that determines the state your beard would eventually be in. Yes, you can improve your beard condition to some extent, but if your dad and grandad did not have fuller and richer beards, you are going to struggle to have something opposite to that.
What Should You Do for Beard Growth?
If you are struggling to grow a fuller beard, it is better to improve your lifestyle by reducing stress, including exercise in your daily routine, and having well-balanced healthy meals.
You can also introduce some topical products such as beard oils and creams that can replenish any moisture loss. Moisture loss due to regular washing is one of the main reasons behind brittle hair and thinning of hair.
This is especially true for black men who naturally have wiry hair and sebum finds it difficult to travel up their hair shafts. Therefore, it is recommended that black men should introduce beard oils into their grooming routines to help grow better beards.
Conclusion
Beard growth vitamins do work if it is their deficiency that is hampering your beard growth. And even if you have a vitamin deficiency it is better to replenish this through dietary means.
Other than that, it is not the vitamins that ultimately affect the state your beard in. It is your genetics and there is little you can do to improve on that.
Mostly, it is the external factors that affect your hair condition in general and you can improve on that by bettering your lifestyle and incorporating topical measures into your grooming routine. These include beard shampoos, beard conditioners, and beard oils to name a few.
