What Can Vitamin E Do For Your Hair?
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What Is Vitamin E Known For?
Vitamin E is best known for its antioxidant properties that help reduce free radical damage and protect the body’s cells. Although you can find it in the supplement aisle, many companies add vitamin E to their beauty products. Vitamin E has been used in dermatology since the 1950s to help protect the skin against aging, inflammation, and sun damage.
The fat-soluble antioxidant is vital for maintaining healthy skin and a strong immune system. Recently, vitamin E has been hailed as a cure-all to turn frizzy, damaged, unmanageable hair into shiny, luscious locks worthy of a shampoo commercial — or a sun-soaked Instagram image.
What Can Vitamin E Do For Hair?
Most of the claims about vitamin E’s role in hair health relate to its antioxidant properties.
Help prevent hair loss There is some limited evidence to support the claim that vitamin E can help prevent hair loss. A person can restore shine using oils, which provide an extra layer of protection to the skin and hair.
Benefits Of Vitamin E: What Does It Actually Do To Hair?
Vitamin E has been shown to increase capillary circulation in the scalp, thereby helping to increase hair growth.
As it turns out, minoxidil also works by increasing circulation, although to a much stronger effect,” explains Dr Sethi. “There have been many studies on how Vitamin E forms a protective barrier on skin to keep it healthy. Although not enough research has been conducted to see if the same stands true when the vitamin is applied on the scalp, it’s sometimes recommended to use oils rich in Vitamin E to balance the oil production on your scalp,” says Dr Sethi.
Oiling your hair has been a millennia-old tradition in India, and Dr Sethi suggests an easy way to upgrade it with Vitamin E. “I believe the carrier should be coconut oil for best results, given that coconut oil is scientifically the best oil for hair growth. I like Cococare 100% Vitamin E oil; just don’t forget to dilute it with some coconut oil.” Remember not to use Vitamin E oil directly, since it may react adversely with your ski.
The Ayurvedic View Of Vitamin E
In scientific terms, Vitamin E refers to a family of eight compounds as four Tocopherols (α, β, γ, δ) and four Tocotrienols (α, β, γ, δ) [1].
These are fat-soluble antioxidants that protect your hair follicle cells from the damage caused by free-radicals in the body. In general, an individual can obtain vitamin E in an adequate amount through a regular balanced diet [2]. However, according to the traditional Ayurvedic system, the food we intake is not dissected into separate entities of nutrition, unlike the various vitamins and minerals in modern science.
Any imbalance developed in these three doshas disturbs the balance of the basic Prakriti (nature) of an individual, leading to various hair problems. The underlying scenario of hair problems due to a deficiency of essential nutrients like vitamin E is evaluated as below in Ayurveda:
When your diet lacks sufficient amounts of Vitamin E, it causes an imbalance in your Vata dosha level. If you have poor metabolism due to Pitta imbalance in your body, your hair follicles fail to receive Vitamin E despite consuming a nutritional diet.
When there is an imbalance in your Kapha dosha, problems arise due to improper blood circulation to your hair follicles, which fail to receive sufficient Vitamin E from the blood. “In fact, the functioning of Vitamin E has a direct correlation to Bhrajaka Pitta (a subtype of Pitta Dosha), which regulates the activity of cutaneous and subcutaneous tissues according to Ayurvedic wisdom,’’ explains Dr. Zeel.