Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, is a vitamin that has been credited with numerous benefits, from fighting infection to boosting energy. While taking vitamin C cannot be considered an anti-hair loss ingredient in its own right, numerous studies demonstrate the active role played by this vitamin in effectively helping to maintain healthy hair.
Discover the super-powers of this vitamin, essential for healthy, beautiful hair.
Vitamin C: what you need to know
Today, people rarely suffer from severe malnutrition, especially in Western countries, but scurvy (literally «ascorbic acid deprivation») has long been the «sailor's disease«, often leading to death after terrible suffering.
It is important to remember that the body no longer manufactures vitamin C as a result of old genetic mutations. 1 .
It must therefore find this resource externally, i.e. through its diet, but sometimes the daily intake is insufficient. In the long term, anaemia, deficiencies and chronic fatigue set in. The skin becomes drier and heals with difficulty. And if you notice that your hair becomes dull, brittle or lacks volume, these may be signs of a vitamin C deficiency.
How much vitamin C should I take every day?
To maintain our metabolism at an optimum level, we need a sufficient daily intake of vitamin C. But vitamin C is particularly fragile 2. Soluble in water (it is water-soluble like another friend of beautiful hair, vitamin B), it also oxidises very quickly (water, air and light are its enemies) and is gradually destroyed when food is cooked.
The French National Authority for Health generally recommends a daily intake of 60 mg to 120 mg of vitamin C. C for a healthy adult. More if you have a deficiency, are breast-feeding your child or are a keen sportsman.
What are the risks of taking too much vitamin C?
The risk of overdosing is very low, as vitamin C is water-soluble and therefore easily eliminated in the urine. This is why the health authorities do not set a maximum daily dose. However, some health professionals agree on a maximum dose of 2000 mg/day. Nausea and diarrhoea are the most common side effects in otherwise healthy people.
Where can I find vitamin C?
Normally, a balanced diet rich in fruit and vegetables is sufficient to meet daily needs. However, a diet that is over-processed, insufficient or lacking in fresh, raw produce can sometimes lead to vitamin C deficiency. We usually think of citrus fruit, but acerola, guava and blackcurrants are much richer in vitamin C than oranges, for example. As for vegetables, parsley, peppers and cabbage are excellent sources of vitamin C. To make up for a vitamin C deficiency, in addition to a more virtuous diet, you can take a supplement in the form of food supplements specially designed to answer hair issues..
Good eating habits for beautiful hair
How do I know if I have a vitamin C deficiency?
Vitamin C interacts with other trace elements (iron) and vitamins (B, E) to keep the body in good working order. If your hair is losing its shine, falling out more than usual, becoming brittle and breaking easily, then these signs should alert you. A simple blood test can confirm whether or not your vitamin C levels are sufficient.
Why vitamin C is your hair's beauty ally: 5 superpowers
Here's everything vitamin C can do to keep your hair healthy and beautiful:
- is a powerful antioxidant
- improves collagen production
- promotes good blood circulation
- boosts the performance of other minerals and vitamins
- helps slow androgenetic hair loss
- Thanks to its anti-oxidant properties, vitamin C preserves the youthfulness of the hair and prevents hair loss.
Oxidative stress caused by the impact of free radicals (aggressive molecules generated by excessive stress, pollution, tobacco, alcohol, etc.) on our hair follicles results in the progressive destruction of the hair bulbs. If nothing is done, hair of poorer quality will grow. More fragile, their maximum lifespan is compromised and they fall out prematurely. Finer hair is less able to withstand cosmetic manipulation and breaks more easily. The loss of volume becomes progressively more pronounced, and thinning areas appear. It's a vicious circle.
- Vitamin C strengthens keratin and encourages the formation of supple, shiny hair by promoting the synthesis of vitamin C. collagen synthesis
Collagen is a protein that provides numerous benefits to hair: it structures the hair fibre and protects the hair follicle, enabling healthy growth of strong hair. And that's not all. Collagen acts on the natural elasticity of the hair fibre by ensuring that it is properly moisturised: hair is both supple and resistant.
Vitamin C, your ally for supple, strong, shiny hair. Massaging the scalp strengthens blood micro-circulation.
- Vitamin C promotes healthy hair growth through its role in blood micro-circulation
Vitamin C helps transport nutrients and oxygen to the capillaries. The scalp is an area of the epidermis particularly rich in blood vessels, which are responsible for transporting nutrients to the hair follicles. Without good quality micro-circulation, the hair follicles become malnourished and produce poor quality hair. Tip: consider a cranial massage to boost scalp circulation.
- Vitamin C facilitates hair regeneration and helps combat hair loss by optimising the action of other nutrients.
For example, it promotes the absorption of iron, a trace element that appears to play a decisive role in cell oxygenation and oxygen transport. A iron deficiency is quite common in young women. Between heavy periods and restrictive or unbalanced diets, anaemia is a real threat... and hair falls out too much, becoming dull and thin. It's mainly iron of plant origin, or non-haem iron, that the body has trouble absorbing. A vitamin C supplement increases its absorption: essential if you eat little or no animal protein.
- Vitamin C could combat androgenetic hair loss
For the moment, only in-vitro experiments were carried out in 2010, but these demonstrated a link between weakening the effects of DHT (the enzyme responsible for the miniaturisation of hair follicles, which leads to hair loss) and the addition of a vitamin C derivative (L-ascorbate 2). In this case, the activity (expression) of the protein induced by DHT is reduced in the presence of vitamin C. 3 . These initial results open up encouraging new avenues in the fight against hair loss, but it is still too early to make any definitive statements. Stay tuned!
With a sufficient daily intake of vitamin C, you can avoid deficiencies, anaemia and damage to the immune system, factors which can weaken hair and cause excessive hair loss. A powerful antioxidant, vitamin C fights against oxidative stress, commonly considered to be responsible for white hair: and premature ageing of the hair. Without vitamin C, collagen synthesis, which ensures hair's suppleness and elasticity, does not play its role. A real «booster», ascorbic acid promotes the assimilation of iron, preventing the anaemia that can cause weakened, brittle hair.
It's easy to look after your hair and treat yourself at the same time!
So to regenerate your hair and keep it supple, strong and healthy day after day, take care of yourself and fill up on fresh fruit and vegetables!
Jean-François Cabos is the creator of a unique hair care method based on the research he coordinated, which led to the publication of the book Hair, Roots of Life with Hélène Clauderer published by Robert Laffont (Collection "Réponses/ Santé").
