Para-Aminobenzoic Acid
(PABA) as this vitamin is commonly known is one of
the lesser known members of the B complex family, has been shown to be
an anti-grey hair vitamin.
In tests in black animals that were feed with
a diet deficient of PABA, they developed grey hair, when the animals
were reintroduced to the vitamin, normal hair colour was restored
Research on humans with grey hair being given 200mg
of PABA after each meal produced results that showed that a study of the
hair afterwards resulted in a seventy per cent result of the hair
returning to its original colour.
Other research claims that PABA
combined with folic acid also helps restore hair to its original colour.
Deficiency of PABA, Biotin, Folic Acid and
Pantothenic Acid appears to affect hair colour.
Hair colour can normally
be restored with a diet rich in the B vitamins and in the few cases
where colour is not restored the hair will improve in quality and
strength of growth.
PABA and the B vitamins are found in foods such as
liver, kidney, whole grain and yeast. The richest source being liver.
Inositol
Inositol is also a member of the B vitamin group. It
is a compound occurring in the brain, muscles, liver, kidney and eyes.
In laboratory animals, a diet lacking Inositol
produced baldness, but when the vitamin was added to the food of these
animals, the hair grew back again.
It was also observed that male
animals lost hair twice as fast as female animals.
The result of this
experiment would suggest that males require a higher Inositol intake
than females. An Inositol deficient diet can also cause eczema, a form
of skin irritation.
One doctor in a series of experiments prescribed
Inositol together with other sources of B vitamins to all his balding
patients. In almost all case's hair loss was arrested, in some case's
hair growth was noticeable in as little as one month.
In one case hair
recovery was total and not one bald spot remained.
Inositol, also appears to reduce the amount of
cholesterol in the blood.
Biotin
Biotin often called vitamin H, is yet another B
complex component. Biotin is a proven hair growth vitamin and a
preventative to excessive hair loss.
It appears to metabolise fatty
acids. Fatty acids are a valuable growth factor in numerous processes in
the body including the hair. Biotin is also seen as an aid in preventing
hair turning grey.
Biotin is found in egg yolks. Raw egg whites actually
hinder effectiveness, but when the albumen (egg white) is cooked, the
culprit - a substance called avidin is destroyed by heat. Biotin is also
present in liver, milk, yeast and kidney.
Balding men might find that a Biotin supplement may
keep their hair longer.
Zinc
In laboratory tests animals fed with a zinc
supplement showed signs of more hair growth, as opposed to loss of hair
in animals that were deprived of zinc in their feed.
It was discovered
that there was a change in the hair protein structure when zinc was
deficient in the diet.
Severe zinc deficiency in humans has been shown to
produce baldness and scalp problems that were reversed when zinc was
returned to the diet.
Zinc has also been shown to stop hair turning grey.
One doctor taking zinc for a year reversed the grey hairs which returned
to their original colour.
Zinc can be depleted by high stress levels. For a
good source of zinc, wheat germ is the best, other sources are brewer's
yeast, pumpkin seeds, oysters and mussels, shrimps and egg yolks.
One delightful effect of zinc is that it has long
been regarded as an aphrodisiac, and as such it can be very beneficial
for your sex life, which is not a bad side effect to have.
Protein
Protein is a basic ingredient in many hair shampoos
and conditioners and is also the major ingredient of hair itself, which
is at least ninety per cent protein.
Whilst this should not necessarily
be the main ingredient in your diet, its importance should not be
ignored.
In controlled tests volunteers, supplementing their
diets with protein in the form of 14g of gelatine daily, found it
increased the thickness of individual hair strands by as much as 45 per
cent in only two months.
Diet can influence both hair growth and quality and
gelatine has exhibited one of the highest specific dynamic effects of
any food or supplement.
Given that a strong hair is a healthy hair, the study
noted that the gelatine induced increases in the diet constituted an
improvement in the mechanical properties of the hair, including
strength.
When the volunteers stopped eating the gelatine, their hair
returned to its original diameter within six months.
Vitamin E
A Canadian physician who started going grey was able
to reverse the process by taking 800iu of Vitamin E in capsule form
daily.
At the age of 68 after some 15 years of taking vitamin E he still
has a healthy head of thick black hair, and is the envy of men half his
age.
Vitamin E has also been shown to retard the ageing
process. It has been suggested that grey hair is a symptom of body
degeneration so a supplement of vitamin E can only be beneficial whether
you have grey hair or not.
The best natural sources of
Vitamin E are wheat germ,
Soya beans, broccoli, brussel sprouts, spinach and eggs.
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