The Best Vitamin B Supplements For Hair Growth, According To Health Experts

A vitamin B deficiency can cause dryness, brittleness and excessive shedding of the hair, Dr. Jacob stresses. “Symptoms can range from thinning of the hair to complete baldness in extreme cases. Vitamin B deficiency can also lead to skin rashes or dermatitis on the scalp and discoloration of the skin.”

What’s the best way to get vitamin B?

The best way to get any vitamin or mineral into your body is via foods — and knowing which ones are an excellent source of vitamin B is a helpful way to begin.

“The best food to eat for vitamin B are dark leafy greens, nuts, legumes, eggs, fish and dairy products,” Dr. Jacob says. “Other sources of vitamin B include whole grains, wheat germ and brewer’s yeast.”

The best thing to do to make sure your body can absorb the B vitamins from food is keeping your gut healthy by avoid foods that damage your gut such as trans fats, high levels of process foods, and lots of refined sugar, Roberts adds. “Then taking a probiotic as well and eating more whole foods, like nuts, seeds, legumes, vegetables that contain a multitude of different nutrients,” Roberts says. “Having a multi-strain probiotic can also help improve gut health and therefore absorption of nutrients such as B vitamins.”

Vitamin B12

Of all the B complex vitamins, B12 may be the most difficult to get enough of, especially if you follow a vegetarian or vegan diet. 

“When vitamin B12 levels are low, your hair follicles may not be able to grow new hair as efficiently, resulting in hair loss,” says Dr. Enrizza Factor, a dermatologist at My Eczema Team. “A vitamin B12 deficiency can also cause symptoms of anemia, which is associated with low iron levels, hair thinning, and hair loss. Only riboflavin, biotin, folate, and vitamin B12 deficiencies have been associated with hair loss. Good sources of vitamin B12 meat, fish, milk, cheese, eggs, and some fortified breakfast cereals.”

Vitamin B supplements

If you suspect you aren’t getting enough B vitamins like B12 from your daily diet, a supplement can come in and play an important role in bridging this gap in your nutrition.

Dr. Jacob’s pick of some of the best supplements that contain vitamin B and can help with hair health include Nature Made Vitamin B Complex Gummies, Nature's Bounty Hair Skin & Nails Vitamins with Biotin and Vitafusion Extra Strength Hair Growth Gummy Vitamins. “All these supplements provide a complete blend of essential vitamins, including vitamins A, C, D3 and E, along with nourishing biotin, which helps support healthy hair growth from within,” Dr. Jacob says. 

If you are struggling with hair loss and shedding, it’s also a wise idea to visit a board-certified dermatologist or hair health expert before you begin a new routine. An expert can diagnose the root cause of your hair health issues and help you come up with a personalized plan to address them.