Deficiency Of Vitamin A: What It Means For Your Hair

The scalp uses vitamin A to create sebum. Sebum lubricates the hair roots and keeps hair from getting dry. Dry hair is a indication that you might be deficient of Vitamin A. Dry hair is more apt to become brittle, break and fall out. Vitamin A is necessary for healthy hair, nails, skin and nerves. Beta-carotene, which is easy found in fruits and vegetables, is converted in the body to vitamin A.Vitamin A was the first vitamin identified (McCollum, Davis, 1915) and hence given the first letter in the alphabet.

 

Beta-carotene and other provitamin carotenoids occur in green leafy and orange/yellow vegetables and fruits. They are converted to retinal by small intestine mucosal cells, reduced to retinol, then esterified and stored in the liver (as retinyl palmitate). Vitamin A is transferred round the body as retinol bound to retinol-binding protein and prealbumin (transthyretin). Retinol is converted to rhodopsin (photoreceptor pigment) in the retina.

 

Vitamin A is also an anti-oxidant. Care should be taken with Vitamin A supplementation (especially retinoid) for hair loss since excessive amounts of vitamin A, can cause a state called Hypervitaminosis A is also known to lead to hair loss.

 

Vitamin A deficiency can result from inadequate intake, fat malabsorption, or liver disorders. Deficiency impairs immunity and hematopoiesis (the process of production, multiplication, and specialization of blood cells in the bone marrow) and causes rashes and typical ocular effects (eg, xerophthalmia, night blindness).

 

Primary vitamin A deficiency

• This is caused by prolonged dietary deficiency, particularly where rice is the staple food as it does not contain carotene.
• Vitamin A deficiency occurs with protein-energy malnutrition  mainly because of dietary deficiency but vitamin A storage and transport are also impaired.

Secondary vitamin A deficiency

• This occurs where there are problems in converting carotene to vitamin A, or reduced absorption, storage, or transport of vitamin A.
• This occurs in coeliac disease, tropical sprue, giardiasis, cystic fiberosis, other pancreatic disease,cirrhosis, duodenal bypass surgery, and bile duct obstruction.

 

Vitamin A (retinol) is a fat-soluble vitamin, present in liver, milk and eggs. The best sources are spinach, carrots, apricots , peaches and sweet potatoes.

Check out our next post about for a simple recipe that will help incorporate sweet potatoes into your diet.

Tagged: Dry Hair, Hair Loss, Vitamin A

Posted in: holBOX Health