The Lack Of Vitamin D And Hair Loss Connection

Losing all hair and being left with a bald head is a nightmare for many! Those who lose clumps of hair while combing it, dread this ultimate situation which can be very embarrassing for them socially! There are many reasons for losing hair such as ill health, mental stress, dandruff, infection, malnutrition, hormonal problems or any serious underlying cause.

However, new research points at a deficiency of vitamin D as one of the major causal factors of hair loss. Rather, presence of adequate levels of vitamin D in the body is necessary for growth of healthy hair. Vitamin D is an important component of healthy hair follicles. It is absent in unhealthy hair follicles.

How Lack Of Vitamin D Induces Hair Loss

Lack Of Vitamin D Induces Stress-Related Hair Loss

Vitamin D is known as a natural stress buster and a lack of it results in non-removal of body stress. It has been observed that people lose hair when they are in a lot of mental and physical stress. This is because stress causes tension in the head and prevents circulation of adequate blood in the head.

Thereby, the hair follicles are not properly nourished resulting in weakening the roots of the hair, which eventually cannot hold on to the scalp and fall off. Exposure to sun and dietary intake of adequate quantities of vitamin D will reduce stress and strengthen the hair follicles.

Lack Of Vitamin D Induces Depression-Related Hair Loss

Good levels of vitamin D in the body reduce depression, thereby reducing hair loss, but low levels of vitamin D in the body cannot prevent depression, which is a cause of hair loss. According to scientific studies, adequate levels of vitamin D are associated with lowered depression.

Depressed persons suffer from psychosomatic disorders due to which their metabolic processes are adversely affected. Consequently their bodies cannot avail nutrients adequately from the food that they eat. This weakens their hair health which results in loss of hair. Depressed persons also tend to neglect themselves and do not follow a good hair care routine.

Lack Of Vitamin D Interrupts Hair Growth Cycle

Low levels of vitamin D adversely affects the hair growth cycle. Vitamin D is required for cellular apoptosis, a process that is responsible for the production of hair in the hair follicle.

This is a complex process involving the conversion of vitamin D to calcidiol by the liver, which in turn is converted into calcitrol by the kidneys, which is used during cellular apoptosis for the formation of hair. Low levels of vitamin D interrupts this process.

Low Vitamin D Levels Cause Receptor Starvation

The hair follicles contain vitamin D receptors. Vitamin D is one of the major contributors to hair growth and is used in the different processes associated with hair growth that take place in the vitamin D receptors of the hair follicle. A lack of vitamin D starves the hair follicles and does not provide proper nourishment to these cells to carry on the hair growth process well, eventually leading to hair loss.

Low Vitamin D Levels Spoil General Health

Vitamin D is an important constituent of a number of important biological processes in the body. A good vitamin D reserve in the body protects the body from a number of serious illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, Osteomalacia, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis, all of which can cause considerable hair loss.

Hence, a lack of vitamin D in the body makes the body susceptible to these diseases, thereby greatly increasing the chances of hair loss.