The Role of Probiotics in Hair Growth

Chances are, you’ve heard a lot of people talking about probiotics and how much they benefit your entire body. From gut health to mental health to glowing skin and much more, it seems like probiotics are a miracle remedy for feeling your healthiest and happiest. 

It makes sense when you consider that, according to an article in Harvard Business Review, your gut is the place where inflammation is regulated. About 90 percent of your serotonin is stored. Serotonin is the chemical released when you’re feeling your happiest and most stress-free – who wouldn’t want to have as much of that in their system as possible? 

There’s a lesser-known fact about probiotics that many beauty gurus and cosmetologists are catching on to – and that’s the role of probiotics in hair growth. Probiotics can significantly impact the health, length, and upkeep of your hair, whether your hair is dyed and cry or short and sleek. 

While biotin and other supplements are often touted as the go-to product for those trying to grow their gorgeous locks as quickly as possible, probiotics should be just as expected and as important in your daily vitamin routine. Probiotics also benefit from keeping your skin looking gorgeous, meaning they’re just as much of a beauty hack as anything else your favorite Instagram influencer or skin care guru is promoting. 

Here are a few things you may not know about the role of probiotics in hair growth:

In promoting hair growth, they also prevent hair loss

Whether you’re living with chronic hair loss or simply trying to avoid losing so much hair in the shower, the facts are the same: losing hair isn’t fun and can cause stress in and of itself. Thankfully, probiotics are an excellent way to save the day. 

The root cause of the benefits of probiotics is that they help reduce inflammation, which can cause several issues all over your body – including your scalp, which becomes inflamed when it’s excessively dry and can cause hair loss. 

Since stress can also factor in excessive hair loss, probiotics can be an even bigger lifesaver. This is because probiotics help kill the harmful bacteria and chemicals that build up from excessive stress and ultimately cause the side effects of stress on the rest of the body.

Lastly, probiotics help keep your hormones balanced. While hormones are also greatly affected by (and can be the cause of) stressors in everyday life, probiotics help to rejuvenate the bacterial lining in our intestinal walls that can often be related to our hormones. 

Probiotics also make your hair shinier and thicker

The news gets even better: not only do probiotics help your hair by supporting hormonal balance and stimulating the chemicals that cause it to grow, but they also make sure it’s thicker and shinier than ever when it does grow out.

According to a study published by NCBI, the different phases of hair growth start in the skin and help strengthen those skin cells to produce healthier, thicker hair. Firmer skin also means a healthier scalp, less breakage, frizz, or fall-out. 

Your skin and hair are more interconnected than you may think

As previously mentioned, a healthy scalp paves the way for healthier, shinier hair. Since probiotics are so tremendously beneficial to the suppleness, moisture levels, and overall health of your skin, it makes sense that gorgeous hair would be an added benefit. 

Let’s take the condition of alopecia as a further example. Alopecia occurs when inflammation of the hair follicle causes it to collapse, push all the hair out and stop growing new hair. Studies have shown that patients with alopecia have increased levels of this inflammation-causing bacteria in their skin cells due to an imbalanced microbiome. This microbiome is the thing that is positively affected by probiotics, which is why probiotics can help mitigate hair loss caused by any source of inflammation. 

In layman’s terms, think of your hair as a beautiful plant – if you don’t keep the roots and soil nourished and healthy, you can’t expect the plants that bloom outward to be healthy or grow to the sky. 

Probiotics help reduce the impact of stress, which causes inflammation and hair loss

It can’t be said enough: that many ailments stem from excessive inflammation throughout the body. Though probiotics are not a substitute for mental health counseling or other resources that may help reduce issues associated with excessive stress, studies have shown that they are immensely beneficial in increasing the natural hormones and chemicals that prevent or mitigate stress before it has the chance to negatively impact the rest of the body (including the skin and hair follicles). 

Next time you decide to grow out your hair (or simply want to rock shinier, thicker locks), ask about probiotics and find one that works with your body.