Best Hair, Skin, and Nails Vitamins – Our Guide to Organic Beautification

Best Hair, Skin, and Nails Vitamins - Our Guide to Organic Beautification The saying “beauty is only skin deep” is meant to remind us that inner beauty is more important than outer and while we all know that, it doesn’t mean we don’t want our outer beauty to be evident too! The following vitamins for hair, skin, and nails may go a long way towards helping you achieve your beauty goals, the inside is up to you.

Biotin

Biotin is always at the top of lists of the best vitamins for hair, skin, and nails for one simple reason—it’s essential to their growth—luckily its effectiveness is scientifically backed.

One study found ninety one percent of participants saw a “definite improvement, with firmer and harder fingernails” and noted “none of the patients considered treatment altogether ineffective”. So basically, even those that didn’t see a vast improvement in the health of their nails still felt there was something useful about their biotin regimen (1). There is also anecdotal evidence for its use to regrow hair and build healthy skin.

Collagen

Another vitamin for great skin, hair, and nails, collagen is a kind of protein present through the body. Up to one third of your body’s protein is collagen and it makes up around seventy five percent of skin’s weight and is broken down by UV rays—a big bummer for those of us with the accumulated skin damage that comes from age.

Among its purported benefits are greater skin elasticity, less noticeable wrinkles, and a more hydrated appearance and there are studies to back this up, especially the elasticity. In one trial, women who received both 2.5 and 5 grams of collagen daily for a month saw a “statistically significant improvement” in skin elasticity compared to placebo. Even better news, the older the subjects were, the greater the improvement—so if you’re worried that it’s too late to undo the damage of decades, it might not be!

Just one thing—if you’re a vegan, you’ll have to skip the collagen, it’s always from animal sources and no suitable vegan supplement is available as of yet.

Coenzyme Q-10

Often called the elixir of youth (seriously, just that name alone makes us want to go out and buy some) Coenzyme Q-10 is a powerful antioxidant. Antioxidants are a big deal when it comes to skin especially, because they neutralize free radicals—those pesky ions that scientists believe are at least partly responsible for aging (3). Coenzyme Q-10 also plays a role in cell metabolism and regeneration. Skin cell renewal (among other cells) while minimizing the free radical damage that may accelerate aging—elixir of youth indeed.

Vitamin C

Another antioxidant, vitamin C is also necessary for the synthesis of coenzyme Q-10. When taken as a supplement, vitamin C acts as a free radical scavenger—neutralizing and removing oxidants, especially those caused by pollution and sun exposure. It has also been shown to play a role in skin lipids and it is thought that consuming vitamin C may increase skin hydration (4). When applied to the skin, lotions and creams exhibit an antioxidant effect by increasing cell turnover and fading brown spots and acne scars.

Probiotics

Usually linked with gut health, it might seem weird to see probiotics on a list of the best vitamins for hair, skin and nails and while they aren’t a vitamin, they do have a place here. These tiny microbes flourish in your stomach and may help keep the proportion of “good” bacteria tilted in the right direction.

This is important for digestion of course, but some forms of acne are also caused by an overabundance of some “bad” bacteria so keeping your gut balanced may also lead to more balanced skin (5). Look for formulas including Lactococcus strains L. acidophilus and L. Bulgaricus for the best results.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Omega 3 fatty acids are superstars in the body—playing a role in the immune system, reducing inflammation, and building cell membranes of the body and brain—which also makes them superstars for the skin (6) . By reducing the inflammation of acne and neutralizing photo aging caused by the sun omega 3’s may help you look and feel your radiant best. Although mostly derived from fish oil, if you’re vegan you’re in luck this time—there are algae derived sources, yay!

Vitamin E

An essential vitamin, vitamin E has antioxidant properties, especially when taken with vitamin C, and may increase hair growth. In one study, researchers found a 34 percent increase in the numbers of hair on the scalp while those in the placebo group saw a 0.1 percent increase. (7) If you’re worried about hair loss vitamin E may be your new favorite nutrient.

Keratin

Sometimes all the effort we put into looking good backfires and we’re left with over-bleached, completely fried hair—here’s where keratin comes in handy. Keratin is a basic building block of hair so it makes intuitive sense that applying it will make your man thicker and more lustrous and there seems to be a little backing for it as well. In one study, researchers found that applying keratin to chemically damaged hair left it smoother and stronger (8).

Iron

Iron may not be the first thing you think of when you think of vitamins for hair, skin and nails (it’s also not technically a vitamin, its a mineral) but that doesn’t mean it isn’t important. As a vital nutrient, iron plays many roles in the body but one of its lesser known roles is in skin healing. When skin is damaged, whether from a cut or the sun, iron acts as an antioxidant to repair and heal skin (8). Iron deficiency also seems to be correlated to both male and female pattern hair loss (9).

Saw Palmetto

Often marketed to men as a supplement for prostate health or to balance testosterone levels, saw palmetto has another potential benefit for men—it might neutralize DHT, a hormone linked to hair loss and male pattern baldness. One study even found that sixty percent of patients experienced a noticeable improvement in their hair growth (10).

While no supplement can completely turn back the clock or make you a supermodel overnight, healthy skin, hair, and nails are within reach. One more thing—if you want to minimize the work all of those antioxidants have to do and reduce wrinkles, stay out of the sun!

 

 

 


Thank you for taking the time to read Best Hair, Skin, and Nails Vitamins – Our Guide to Organic Beautification

Please note: All information presented to you in this website is intended for your general knowledge only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for specific medical conditions. We cannot, and will not give you medical advice. We strongly recommend you consult your physician for any and all specific health issues. If you have any questions or contributions, please contact us via email or phone-call. We are constantly looking for new information to promote wellness – and hearing from you would make our day.

Live Vibrantly!

 

References

1) Treatment of brittle fingernails with biotin

2) Oral supplementation of specific collagen peptides has beneficial effects on human skin physiology: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study

3) The influence of selected ingredients of dietary supplements on skin condition

4) The Roles of Vitamin C in Skin Health

5) The effect of probiotics on immune regulation, acne, and photoaging

6) Cosmetic and Therapeutic Applications of Fish Oil’s Fatty Acids on the Skin

7) Effects of Tocotrienol Supplementation on Hair Growth in Human Volunteers

8) The role of iron in the skin and cutaneous wound healing

9) Iron Plays a Certain Role in Patterned Hair Loss

10) A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to determine the effectiveness of botanically derived inhibitors of 5-alpha-reductase in the treatment of androgenetic alopecia

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