Every year it seems there’s a new crop of herbs, pills, and elixirs purported to make your hair grow to new lengths.
Supplements, herbs, exotic sounding plant ingredients – can they actually do something for your hair? Or is it mostly wasted money? Image by Freepik.
Every year it seems there’s a new crop of herbs, pills, and elixirs purported to make your hair grow to new lengths that flood social media. Slick advertising makes it hard not to hop on the bandwagon and part with your hard-earned money. But can any of these supplements really help or are you buying into an expensive jar of hope?
In the spirit of once again debunking myths, let’s look at the compounds that are making the hair growth hot lists and breakdown which might work, why they potentially work, and which you should leave on the shelves!
The Bad Batch
The following two popular supplements will not help hair grow. I’ll get into why for each.
Rosemary Oil
The most notorious herb on this list, rosemary oil for years now has been cited as a topical hair growth supplement. There’s one paper in particular that everyone cites that claims that rosemary oil worked as well as 2% topical minoxidil, and a newer one that looks at rosemary oil’s effect on mouse hair growth compared to 2% minoxidil. It sounds convincing, doesn’t it? And many products online cite these claims.
Here’s the big problem. First, 2% minoxidil is not the treatment standard, 5% minoxidil is. It’s a bad comparison. Second, there are issues replicating this research. Let that sink in.
Other researchers in the field have also weighed-in and have raised serious concerns over the quality of result photos used and the potential that they’ve been doctored. In short, it’s bad research that’s designed to support a hypothesis, not test it.
The moral of rosemary oil is that theories are great, and I’m all for new compounds. But when one doesn’t pan out? We need to move on.
Rosemary oil is better off paired with salt in your cooking, not on your head. Image by Freepik.
Biotin
Biotin is another supplement that we often see sold for hair growth support, mostly as an oral supplement. Why is it not a great choice? The reasons are a little more nuanced than with rosemary oil. Biotin is another name for vitamin B7, and it is required for many metabolic processes, including hair growth. A biotin deficiency may lead to hair loss, and so theoretically supplementation in those circumstances could help. But there is no evidence biotin can boost hair growth in absence of a deficiency. Chances are you get enough of this in your diet and it’s likely in your daily multivitamin. This is also one to skip.
Potential Contenders
DIM (diindolylmethane)
DIM is a metabolite our bodies make from a compound found in cruciferous vegetables (cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts), indole-3-carbinol (I3C), which may be able to inhibit dihydrotestosterone (DHT) through anti-androgenic effects. It’s also gained interest for its potential role in metabolizing estrogen, which has garnered interest as support for treating hormonal acne and menopausal symptoms.
While there’s some interesting potential, there just isn’t a good enough body of work to recommend DIM – yet. This is another potential supplement that’s worth keeping your eye on.
However, boosting your cruciferous vegetable intake to increase the amount of I3C in your diet? That is definitely approved. Eating more vegetables is a major health benefit win!
Cruciferous vegetables are high in a compound called DIM for short. An anti-androgen effect makes it an interesting supplement for study, but there isn’t enough evidence to recommend it. Image by 8photo for Freepik.
Cannabidiol (CBD)
CBD taken orally or applied topically may play a role in hair shaft elongation. Two endocannabinoid receptors (CB1 and TRPV1) interact with hair follicles. Blocking CB1 leads to hair shaft elongation and TRPV1 can affect the hair cycle. It may also be involved in hair follicle differentiation, where dermal precursor cells become new hair follicles.
CBD also has an anti-inflammatory effect, which has garnered a lot of attention.
CBD, a cannabis and hemp product, can potentially improve hair growth. However, before you run out to add this to your routine, know that the data is still far from conclusive. Image by Atlascompany for Freepik
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It’s another potential hair growth supplement, but despite some initial promising studies, research is still inconclusive. A word of caution, that any effects CBD has on hair growth is dose dependent. The right dose could help with hair growth, but the wrong dose? It could encourage hair loss. If you decide to experiment with this one for the anti-inflammatory properties (which are better documented) be aware of the risk.
What to Use Instead
Saw palmetto (Serenoa serrulata) extract, caffeine, Pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) seed oil, and turmeric (curcumin) are my gold standards for hair growth supplementation because the research is robust and conclusive. While none of these are a replacement for medical hair loss therapy, they all are capable of inhibiting DHT, the hormone most associated with male-pattern baldness, through slightly different means. If you are looking for support molecules, these are where you should start.
In addition to their DHT blocking capabilities, curcumin has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and may also increase blood flow to the hair follicle. Caffeine (from coffee specifically) has been associated with stimulating hair shaft elongation (resulting in longer, denser hair) and speeding up the hair growth cycle.
While all four supplements can be incorporated into your diet, they have even more potency when applied topically. That’s why I included them in my Feel Confident Hair Care line, and have coined the combination “Root Defense”. However you choose to include these powerful supplements, by targeting DHT, blood flow, hair growth, and inflammation, you can build an effective support network to assist your hair restoration journey.
I’m excited about hair growth supplementation, but we need to be clear – it’s not a replacement for hair loss medical therapy or hair restoration surgery. Image by Freepik.
Final Note
Another trend that worries me is a desire by people to eschew medical therapy entirely in favour of ‘natural’ means. Supplementation is a wonderful thing. It can assist medical therapy and even help support growth for people who don’t have hair loss but would like to see an improvement in hair health and resilience. But the key word here is ‘support’. None of the ingredients I mentioned will ‘regrow hair’. They can work on a cellular level to protect the hair you have, potentially even improving density by encouraging miniaturizing hairs to mature – but to a lesser extent than a prescription product can.
Keeping your expectations in check is the path to getting the results you want and making wise purchasing decisions. I’m hopeful that the next time I revisit this topic, there’ll be more supplements in the Potential Contender pile and fewer in the Bad News pile!
