Short answer: Yes. “Vitamins and supplements can help with hair growth,” says Steve Daveluy, MD, an associate professor and program director of dermatology at Wayne State University, in Detroit. “Some help by making sure our hair follicles have all the nutrients they need to carry out the task of building and growing our hairs,” he says. “Others help by promoting the hair growth activities, similar to the way a medication may work.”
And still others include ingredients that directly counteract certain triggers for hair loss, like hormonal imbalances, says Danilo Del Campo, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and partner at Chicago Skin Clinic. For example, saw palmetto may target dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a hormone associated with hair loss, he says.
A lot of different vitamins–including B vitamins, vitamin D, and vitamin E–can improve hair retention and prevent shedding, according to Michele Green, MD, a board-certified cosmetic dermatologist in NYC. That said, in developed countries, it’s pretty rare to have hair loss caused by a vitamin deficiency, since you can often get all you need through a well-balanced diet. The exception is people on strict diets, like those who are vegan, she says.
Now, how much a vitamin or supplement helps with fast hair growth strongly depends on the underlying cause of your hair loss, Dr. Green says. To that end, Dr. Daveluy recommends understanding your root causes of hair loss before turning to a vitamin or supplement. That way, you can take a targeted approach.
For people with actual vitamin deficiencies, taking supplements can yield strong results. But for folks without nutritional deficiencies, or whose hair loss is due to non-nutrition related factors like genetics (or a separate medical condition), the benefits of hair growth vitamins and supplements “might be more modest,” Dr. Del Campo says.
Also worth noting: While vitamins and supplements can help bolster your tresses, they often are not effective enough on their own to fully grow and retain hair, Dr. Green says. Some people, she explains, may need to add in other hair care treatment options alongside an over-the-counter vitamin or supplement to really decrease hair follicle miniaturization and elevate hair growth and retention. This is where topical or oral medications, like Propecia and Minoxidil, may come into play. Dr. Green suggests consulting with a board-certified dermatologist to get personalized recommendations.
