Both men and women tend to lose hair thickness and amount as they age. This type of baldness is not usually caused by a disease. It is related to aging, heredity, and changes in the hormone testosterone. Inherited, or pattern baldness, affects many more men than women.
Only riboflavin, biotin, folate, and vitamin B12 deficiencies have been associated with hair loss.
Hereditary hair loss
Both men and women develop this type of hair loss, which is the most common cause of hair loss worldwide. In men, it's called male pattern hair loss. Women get female pattern hair loss.
You might be able to reverse hair loss, or at least slow it. With some conditions, such as patchy hair loss (alopecia areata), hair may regrow without treatment within a year. Treatments for hair loss include medications and surgery.
Biotin. Biotin, also known as vitamin B7, is a complex B vitamin that is often touted for having hair growth benefits. And some of that hype may actually be worth it. Biotin has functions in “creating red blood cells, which carry oxygen and nutrients to the scalp and hair follicles,” says Dr. Green.
Sources of Biotin
Foods that contain the most biotin include organ meats, eggs, fish, meat, seeds, nuts, and certain vegetables (such as sweet potatoes) [2,12].
Some of the best sources of biotin include legumes, egg yolks, organ meats, nuts, seeds, mushrooms, avocados, sweet potatoes, and yeast. Biotin supplements are available as well, but most people can get all of the biotin they need by eating a balanced diet.
Here's the hard truth: Little can be done to permanently change the diameter of individual hair strands. Thickening products can do wonders to temporarily plump hair strands, but when it comes down to it, fine hair is genetic and can't be changed.
Lifestyle factors could include using certain hair products, wearing your hair up too tightly, experiencing high stress levels, or not getting enough of certain vitamins and minerals in your diet. People who have immune system deficiencies could also have thinning hair.
When to wash. Rossi generally tells his patients they should wash their hair once or twice per week. But if you've had chemical treatments that can make your hair drier — such as bleach, perms or relaxers — you might want to wash it less than once weekly to avoid breaking or brittle hair or split ends, he said.
Vitamins B and D factor big in healthy hair. So do zinc, omega-3 fatty acids, and the B vitamin biotin. Your doctor can test you for deficiencies. Ask them whether you should take a multivitamin or supplement and how much.
Biotin, also known as vitamin B7, stimulates keratin production in hair and can increase the rate of follicle growth.
The bottom line. There's no strong evidence to support using biotin for hair growth or to prevent hair loss in people without a deficiency. Because hair thinning and poor hair growth are sometimes associated with a biotin deficiency, correcting a deficiency can help restore hair growth in some people.
It's normal to shed between 50 and 100 hairs a day. When the body sheds significantly more hairs every day, a person has excessive hair shedding. The medical term for this condition is telogen effluvium.
People at risk for biotin deficiency include people with BTD, chronic alcohol use, malnutrition, and IBD. Those who are pregnant and lactating as well as those who take certain medications are also at an increased risk.
Sweet potatoes
They are also one of the best vegetable sources of biotin. There are 2.4 mcg (8% of the recommended daily value) of biotin per 1/2 cup of cooked sweet potato. Along with the vitamin A in sweet potatoes, which is also good for the eyes and skin, the biotin makes sweet potatoes a superfood for skin health.
Biotinidase deficiency (BTD) is the most common cause of biotin deficiency. BTD is a rare inherited disorder where the body is not able to use biotin and leads to biotin deficiency.