Iron plays a key role in healthy hair by allowing your red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout your body, which is critical for hair follicles to maintain the hair growth cycle. Iron also works with other vitamins and minerals like vitamin C to keep your scalp healthy and your hair follicles productive, which is why not getting enough iron leads to hair loss according to this study from Science Direct.
Not getting enough iron is one of the world’s most common nutritional deficiencies, and it leads to hair loss because your hair follicles won’t get enough oxygen. Oxygen is an important part in helping their ability to produce mature keratin cells, which are the key building block proteins that make up your hair.
And in addition to hair loss, iron deficiency leads to several other issues including:
- Slowing down your physical and mental reactions
- Making you more irritable or apathetic
- Limiting your attention span
- Impacting your immune system
Fun fact: if you’re deficient in iron, you’re not alone. 1 in 4 women suffer hair loss from not getting enough iron.
But as strong as iron is, it can’t do its job alone. Iron relies on a team of other nutrients from your diet to keep your hair healthy. Vitamin C for example helps your intestines absorb iron from food or supplements. And vitamin B9 works with iron to create the red blood cells that carry oxygen around your body.
It isn’t all friendly teamwork though because iron competes with another key mineral that’s crucial for healthy hair, zinc. Both iron and zinc are absorbed in the same way, and while this usually is no issue for people with a healthy diet, it can cause issues if you’re supplementing, so take your iron and zinc supplements at different times during the day. If you aren’t sure when to take each, consult a licensed medical professional.
It’s easy to get enough iron in your diet as there are plenty of iron rich foods to enjoy. Spinach salads with raisins, prunes, or pomegranate in them are a perfect option at lunch. Spinach is a hair superfood. Treat yourself to some oysters as an appetizer if you’re eating out at dinner, or order a shrimp cocktail. Both are rich in iron according to the Red Cross.
Enriched white bread, wheat, and fortified cereals can all be iron rich at breakfast time. And there’s no shortage of fruits for a snack like strawberries, dried prunes, peaches, or apricots, all can carry you to dinner without feeling hungry.
Fun fact: Non-meat sources of iron don’t have the same bioavailability as meat sources, meaning your body isn’t able to use as much of the iron in a leaf of spinach as in a bite of a burger. So if you’re vegetarian or vegan, follow this adjusted food pyramid guidance.
Just make sure not to go overboard with iron (especially if taking supplements) as having too much causes iron toxicity leading to a number of issues. Curious about the right amount of Iron for your diet and healthy hair?
Here's a table copied direct from the NIH here so you can see the amount they recommend by age range.
|
Life Stage |
Recommended Amount |
Upper Limit |
|
Birth to 6 months |
0.27 mg |
40 mg |
|
Infants 7–12 months |
11 mg |
40 mg |
|
Children 1–3 years |
7 mg |
40 mg |
|
Children 4–8 years |
10 mg |
40 mg |
|
Children 9–13 years |
8 mg |
40 mg |
|
Teen boys 14–18 years |
11 mg |
45 mg |
|
Teen girls 14–18 years |
15 mg |
45 mg |
|
Adult men 19–50 years |
8 mg |
45 mg |
|
Adult women 19–50 years |
18 mg |
45 mg |
|
Adults 51 years and older |
8 mg |
45 mg |
|
Pregnant teens |
27 mg |
45 mg |
|
Pregnant women |
27 mg |
45 mg |
|
Breastfeeding teens |
10 mg |
45 mg |
|
Breastfeeding women |
9 mg |
45 mg |
Iron works hand in hand with other vitamins and minerals to get oxygen to your hair follicles keeping your hair healthy and strong. Although it doesn’t have a direct impact on healthy hair other than carrying oxygen, having the right amount of iron in your diet can help to prevent hair loss. If you found this guide helpful, subscribe to the TELETIMES blog below for more hair health and styling tips.
