Does vitamin c help hair growth?

I am a huge fan of vitamin C and have been taking the supplement Altrient for a couple of years now. 

The reason I am such a fan of Altrient is because it uses patented technology to encapsulate the vitamin C up in liposomes. This means that up to 98% is absorbed (compared to 10-20% for an average vitamin C). 

Can Altrient make your hair grow?

Now, what has this got to do with hair? During a recent Instagram Live when I was chatting to renowned global expert on the subject of vitamin C – Dr Thomas Levy – someone asked the question: does Altrient improve your hair?

At the time I had been trying out a new brand of straighteners and I had never thought about the impact it may have had on the health of my hair.

Dr Levy’s answer however was that, yes, it can. “The skin is your foundation for good hair. It is the largest organ in the body, much larger than any other organ than you have”, he said. “Most of us tend to think of it as just our covering, that doesn’t have that much mass, but there’s an enormous amount of mass involved in the skin and it requires significant quality nutrients to be maintained, as I know you realise.”  

One of the reasons vitamin C may be good for your hair is that, as a powerful anti-oxidant, it prevents free radical damage and protects against oxidative stress, which can block hair growth.

On top of this our bodies need vitamin C to create collagen, which as we know is an essential component of younger skin and healthy hair, and it helps absorb iron, which is important for our overall health and well-being, not just our hair. When we are deficient in any of these key vitamins and minerals it is our hair and nails, that suffer first while the body prioritises our vital organs.

So, while vitamin C is not touted as a hair supplement, taking it supports overall health and well-being and, as such, may also lead to glossier, healthier locks.