From popular TV shows and movies to comic books, the most impressive characters sport masculine beards. A thick growth of facial hair broadcasts authority and experience making the man wearing it stand out from the crowd.
But what if you’re having trouble covering your face with a virile growth of manly hair? The human body is a complicated affair, and the smallest problem can manifest itself in a big way.
A simple vitamin or mineral deficiency can have a significant effect on your body; brittle nails, bad night vision and poor hair growth. That’s right – hair growth is affected by certain vitamins and minerals.
So Are There Beard Growing Vitamins?
The short answer is yes. The long answer is more complicated, but still yes. Vitamins (and certain minerals) are essential chemicals that the body needs to perform optimally.
A deficiency in any of these can cause poor health, healing or growth. Healthy levels of vitamins and minerals will let your body work at its best.
Bear in mind that taking a multi-vitamin supplement will only keep you at 100%. Taking vitamins and minerals beyond your daily requirements won’t make you better than you are meant to be. All the vitamin A in the world can’t give you super eyesight, just your best possible eyesight.
A “beard vitamin” supplement will help you grow the hair you were meant to, not more than that.
What Are The Hair Growth Vitamins?
Many beard vitamin brands have ingredients in common that are reputed to optimize your hair growth. Let’s examine some of the most popular.
Biotin
Biotin is also known as vitamin B7, it is a water-soluble vitamin that is responsible for keratin production and skin health. A deficiency in this vitamin has been shown to cause hair thinning. Research into biotin’s hair growing properties has shown weak evidence that it’s effective for hair growth.
Since its water soluble, whatever amount you consume over the body’s requirements will be expelled in your urine. Taking high doses of water with soluble vitamins is both unnecessary, and expensive.
Foods rich in biotin
Vitamin D and Iron
Research has shown that vitamin D deficiency coupled with low iron levels can cause hair loss. Taking a supplement with vitamin D and iron will help prevent this from happening, but it won’t increase your ability to grow facial hair.
Foods rich in vitamin D:
- Fatty fish, like tuna, mackerel, and salmon.
- Foods fortified with vitamin D, like some dairy products, orange juice, soy milk, and cereals.
- Beef liver.
- Cheese.
- Egg yolks
Foods rich in iron:
Vitamin A
Vitamin A deficiency can cause the hair follicle to form white lumps which can cause hair loss. Vitamin A is also essential for sebum (hair oil) production that keeps hair from becoming dry and brittle.
Maintaining healthy levels of vitamin A will prevent deficiency-related hair loss and help keep the hair you have healthy.
Vitamin A is fat soluble, so your body will store it. You can overdose on vitamin A, so be careful with how much you take.
Foods rich in vitamin A:
- Carrots
- Iceberg Lettuce
- Sweet Potatoes
- Cod Liver Oil
- Turkey Liver
- Butternut Squash
Vitamin E
Vitamin E maintains healthy blood circulation, which can keep hair follicles healthy.
Foods rich in vitamin E:
Pantothenic Acid
Pantothenic acid is thought to help make hair follicles stronger so they function properly.
Foods rich in pantothenic acid:
- Chicken Liver
- Sunflower seeds
- Salmon
- Avocados
- Corn
- Sun-dried tomatoes
- Broccoli
- Mushrooms
Inositol
Inositol is considered a vitamin-like substance. It has a reputation for preventing hair thinning.
- Food rich in inositol:
- Lecithin granules
- Beef heart
- Desiccated liver
- Wheat germ
- Lecithin oil
- Liver
- Brown rice
How Do The Beard Vitamin Brands Stack Up?
We’ve looked at the commonly used ingredients in beard growing supplements, and you’re aware of what these vitamins can and can’t do for your beard growth.
Let’s take a look at different brands of beard vitamin supplements and see how they compare cost wise for each pill.
VitaBeard
The VitaBeard brand of beard growth vitamins is comparable to many regular multivitamin supplements on the market. A bottle of 90 capsules is selling for $29.95, for an individual capsule cost of 33 cents.
The recommended serving size on the VitaBeard label is 3 capsules daily.
Reborn Labs Beard Growth
Another multivitamin for beard growth; Reborn labs Beard Growth contains 60 capsules per container and is $34.99. Your cost per pill will be about 58 cents; a little steep for a vitamin pill.
Unlike VitaBeard, they only recommend 2 capsules daily.
Organic Trace Beard Garden
This one contains a massive dose of biotin but fewer actual vitamins compared to other beard supplements. 60 capsules per container at $24.95 will come out to about 41 cents for each pill. The recommended dose is 2 pills per day.
Caveman Hair Nutrients
I’ve included this brand because the name is awesome. It’s a multivitamin like the others with very similar ingredients for $25.65 containing 60 tablets. Each pill will run you 43 cents, and the recommended dose is 2 per day.
Beard Growing Supplements are Expensive
None of these brands are inexpensive. Each pill contains a collection of vitamins and minerals in slightly differing amounts and some have additional amino acids and herbal extracts. They all claim to have 100% natural ingredients, and none of them list any ingredient as being “active.”
The price for one pill ranges from 41 cents to a steep 58 cents.
They all provide more than the recommended minimum daily requirements for the vitamins listed on the label. More does not mean it will help grow more beard than you were meant to have.
Are There Other Options?
Using vitamin and mineral content as a guide we can compare the beard supplement brands with popular multivitamins.
One A Day Men’s Health Formula
Manufactured by Bayer, this multivitamin provides essential vitamins and minerals in a bottle of 200 tablets. One bottle will set you back about $13, for a cost of just 7 cents per pill. Like the name says, the recommended dose is one pill per day.
Centrum Men’s Multivitamin/Mineral Supplement
Another popular brand of daily multivitamin, Centrum Men’s contains 200 tablets and costs only $15.19. The recommended dose is 1 pill per day. Each pill will cost you 8 cents.
Are Beard Vitamins Worth It?
Here are some tips to help you decide:
- Start eating a healthy diet to provide you with enough vitamins to keep you healthy.
- Use an inexpensive daily multivitamin can help prevent vitamin or mineral deficiencies that affect hair growth.
- Don’t take excessive water-soluble vitamins. They will be removed from the body when you urinate. Excess fat-soluble vitamins in the diet can be dangerous.
Beard vitamins are extremely expensive for the ingredients that they contain compared to regular multivitamins.
All things considered, you’ll probably get more for your money buying a good multivitamin instead of “beard vitamins.”
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