This ‘6 Surprising Natural Ways to Combat Thinning Hair’ post is sponsored by iHerb, but I only recommend products and services that I have personally tried and believe are of value to my readers. All opinions in this post are my own.
Thinning hair can be so frustrating. If you’re used to shiny, thick, lustrous locks, it can be disconcerting when your hair starts to thin and shed. Below are some tried and true natural solutions to deal with thinning hair.
What Causes Thinning Hair?
There are a few different reasons one might be experiencing thinning hair…
- Stress
- Nutrient deficiencies
- Poor diet
- Hormonal imbalance
- Illness
- Genetics (male or female pattern baldness)
Although some of these reasons are unavoidable (like genetics), luckily most of them can be addressed.
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Ways to Combat Thinning Hair:
Below I’ve gone over some of the best natural ways to deal with thinning or shedding hair to help restore strong healthy hair…
1. Vitamins & Minerals
Have you ever noticed how your hair can start falling out or shedding more when you’re under stress? Well, stress can cause a myriad of health issues like gut problems, hormonal imbalance, lowered immune function and impaired absorption of vitamins and minerals. All of this can contribute to thinning hair and hair loss.
Some of the most important vitamins and minerals for hair growth and strength are B vitamins, zinc, copper, niacin, calcium and magnesium. Introducing a good supplement that contains these vitamins and minerals can help ensure that your body is getting the right amount of them even in times of stress.
One great supplement that is especially made for this purpose is Nail, Hair & Skin Connection from Rainbow Light. Not only does it contain those important vitamins and minerals for hair, but it also contains hair supporting herbs like stinging nettle, burdock and ginger as well as spirulina and MSM.
2. Grass Fed Collagen
Grass fed collagen is a great way to boost hair health. Hair is primarily made up of protein that is built up by amino acids. Collagen is a protein that contains amino acids which support hair growth and strength as well as skin and joint health.
It’s important to get grass fed collagen to get the most benefit from it. I like Neocell grass fed collagen because it is flavorless and mixes in easily with liquids. I like to add a scoop or two of unflavored collagen to my morning smoothie. It also adds protein to my breakfast which helps keep me full, so it’s a win-win! Another great way to incorporate it into your diet is to add a scoop to your coffee.
3. Omega 3 Fish Oil
Essential fatty acids (Omega 3s) are great for supporting hair growth and strength. They may help prevent hair follicle inflammation and provide important nutrients for hair. It’s important to get Omega 3 essential fatty acids from an outside source such as supplementation or diet since our bodies don’t naturally make them on their own.
There has been quite a bit of promising research in support of hair growth and fish oil. One study found that women taking a supplement with Omega 3s & 6s reduced hair loss and improved hair density. Another study showed that fish oil application on mice promoted hair growth.
The best and most bioavailable form of Omega 3s are through fish oil since it’s easy for the body to process and digest. I like Renew Life Norwegian Gold Omega 3 Fish Oil because it is tested for purity and has enteric coating which ensures that the fish oil reaches your intestinal tract.
Other sources of EFAs like flax seed oil can be harder for people to digest especially if you have any gut issues (which a lot of people have without realizing). Flax also doesn’t have as good a ratio of Omega3s to Omega 6s as fish oil does (the higher the Omega 3s, the more it helps with inflammation—fish oil has higher omega 3s).
4. Keratin
Earlier I talked about how hair is mostly made up of proteins. Well, the specific protein that hair is made up of is called keratin. Keratin can provide luster and strength to hair that may be damaged.
Combining a keratin supplement with some of these other hair supporting vitamins and minerals may result in a big improvement in hair strength and growth. That’s why I like the Neocell Keratin Hair Volumizer. It not only provides keratin, but also includes some of the previously mentioned hair supporting winners like collagen, zinc, biotin and B vitamins all in one easy hair-strengthening capsule.
5. Probiotics
Your gut affects so many other areas of your health. Having gut issues can affect your immune system and your ability to absorb vital nutrients, vitamins and minerals. As I mentioned previously, certain vitamins and minerals contribute to healthy hair, so if absorption of these is blocked because of poor gut health, it will show with thinning, weak and shedding hair.
A healthy diet, good sleep, lessening dependence on antibiotics, avoiding inflammatory foods like sugar and processed foods and lowering stress are all ways to support gut health. Another important way to improve gut health, which in turn improves hair, is to make sure that your gut flora is filled with healthy bacteria in the form of probiotics.
Make sure to get a high potency probiotic with a variety of probiotic strains like Renew Life Ultimate Flora Probiotic which contains 50 billion live cultures.
6. Herbs & Amino Acids
Like I said earlier, gut health is critical when it comes to nutrient absorption and healthy hair. Because of issues like stress, repeated antibiotic usage, poor diet or illness, gut lining can suffer leading to intestinal permeability.
Intestinal permeability is when your gut lining has small perforations that allow material to pass from inside the intestinal tract into the body. This can keep your body from properly absorbing and digesting nutrients that are needed for overall health including your the health of your hair.
To stop intestinal permeability it’s important to get good sleep, avoid stress and eat a healthy diet avoiding inflammatory foods like sugar, gluten and processed foods. However, this alone is often not enough to restore gut health. That’s why I like to use supplements like Renew Life Intestinew to improve gut health. It contains L-glutamine, an amino acid, which has some promising research to support its effects in helping with intestinal permeability. It also contains herbs like marshmallow root and marigold which are thought to help restore gut health.
Sources:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25573272
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6164340/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4369670/
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Hi Healy: What stopped my hair from falling out in gobs when I changed my diet was taking MSM capsules. I read about it on Paola’s gnom-gnom website. Thank you for sharing your recent huge life changes! Best of luck with everything!
Thanks for sharing Karen! The Hair, skin & nail supplement I shared has MSM in it as well 🙂
Hi Hannah, thank you for the tip. What is MSN? My name is Debruh, no fur babies and I live in Florida.
Hi Deborah, MSM is a supplement that is helpful for hair growth as well as joints.