Depending on your approach to life, that title might surprise you or make perfect sense. In this article, I’m going to explore the possible connection between gut health and how your skin and hair look and feel. If you’ve been struggling with your hair of late, this article might help change things.
Does Gut Health Affect Skin and Hair?
Let’s start with the basics – yes, it can. We all have something called the gut microbiome. This is an ecosystem comprising trillions of gut bacteria. It also includes viruses and even fungi. While it may sound horrific, this is quite normal – and indeed many of those bacteria have essential jobs to do to help keep us healthy. The more variety you have in your gut microbiome, the better.
The microbiome aids your health in various ways. These include making it easier to digest fiber. They also help support your immune system, meaning you’re less likely to pick up infections – and if you do, they’re less likely to be serious.
Can Gut Health Affect Hair Growth?
Keeping your gut microbiome in balance makes it easier for you to absorb a wide range of nutrients. These include biotin – the essential vitamin B7 that helps support healthy hair and skin, including your scalp. The same goes for vitamin B12 and a range of other vitamins and minerals.
It makes sense, then, that if your gut microbiome isn’t well balanced, it could mean you are less able to absorb the vitamins and minerals in your food. It also leaves you more vulnerable to skin conditions and inflammation. Since this can affect the scalp just as much as any other part of the body, you can see how a poor gut environment can potentially lead to problems in that area. This could then affect hair growth.
Is There a Link Between Gut Inflammation and Hair Loss?
There is certainly plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest this. Some people with inflammatory bowel conditions have noted some degree of hair loss, although it will vary from one person to the next. However, if someone is suffering from gut inflammation, it can affect the amount of nutrients that an individual is getting from their foods. This can mean the hair is thinner than usual or that some degree of hair loss is noted.
All of which means there are good reasons to eat a healthy diet each day. This does of course bode well for overall health, but when it comes to boosting your gut microbiome, there are specific things that can help.
Introducing Probiotics and Prebiotics
No doubt you’ve heard of these – they’ve become more popular and familiar to us in recent years. Fermented foods and drinks may not sound too appealing, but they’re great for helping to generate a healthy gut microbiome. Indeed, if you’ve been on antibiotics for any reason, it’s a good idea to boost your intake of probiotics and prebiotics to help rebalance things again.
There are quick ways to boost your microbiome, too. Some people drink a glass of kefir each morning to get a quick boost of live bacteria. Live yogurt is another good option. There are lots of ways to add prebiotics to your diet too, since they’re present in many things from bananas to garlic. The idea is to feed and support healthy bacteria so that it remains in balance.
A 2019 study on mice noted that both hair growth and density increased when they were fed lactobacillus and bifidobacterium strains. Those strains should be present in kefir, so it’s a good way to get a boost of healthy bacteria that may help to support your own hair growth and thickness.
Adding foods and drinks containing healthy bacteria will also have the benefit of ensuring they combat the not-so-good bacteria. You’ve likely heard of E. coli (Escherichia coli) which can cause stomach upsets. One study showed that people with alopecia areata had an increased amount of E. coli in their digestive system than people who did not present with this type of hair loss.
It isn’t proof positive that bad bacteria can cause alopecia, and it certainly doesn’t prove all cases of alopecia can be traced back to this cause. However, it certainly won’t do any harm to boost your gut microbiome by introducing more prebiotics and probiotics into your system. By doing so, you could end up with healthier hair in the long term.
At Unique Hair Concepts we specialize in helping adults and children with thinning hair and hair loss. We provide customized non-surgical hair replacement solutions, hair loss prevention treatments and scalp therapy. We offer a private, complimentary in-person consultation at our Ardsley, New York center that proudly serves Westchester County and the New York metro tri-state area. To learn more, contact us to schedule an appointment.
