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Which hair supplements does the evidence support?

On a healthy scalp about nine percent of follicles are resting at any given moment, and somewhere between 100 and 150 hairs leave the head every day without anything being wrong. Those figures come from a 2023 review in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, and they are the everyday background against which any hair supplement should be judged.

At Health Royals we make one hair supplement, Hair Beautification, and this article is the reasoning behind it: which nutrients and raw materials have support in research, what that support looks like, and what we chose as a result. The customer should not have to do that research, so we have done it here.

The short version

• A supplement reaches the living follicle, not the hair fibre, and the follicle works on a slow clock. In telogen effluvium the trigger sits roughly three months before the shedding starts, and growth can take up to six months to restart. Three months is the shortest sensible period to follow, and six is better.

• The nutrients with authorised EU claims for hair are biotin, zinc and selenium. The need for biotin is small: the adequate intake is 40 micrograms a day and the EU reference intake is 50 micrograms, so a nutritional dose covers the claim.

• Among botanical raw materials, Keranat® millet complex has a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in women. Hair Beautification contains 300 mg Keranat® per daily dose, the studied dose, with zinc, biotin and vitamin B6 at reference intake levels.

Health Royals Hair Beautification, hair supplement with Keranat millet extract, biotin, zinc and vitamin B6

What is in our jar, and why

Hair Beautification contains 300 mg Keranat® millet complex from Robertet per daily dose, the amount used in its twelve-week, placebo-controlled study in women. Alongside it sit zinc 10 mg as zinc citrate, biotin 50 µg and vitamin B6 1.4 mg, at reference intake levels. Zinc contributes to the maintenance of normal hair, normal skin and normal nails. Biotin contributes to the maintenance of normal hair and normal skin. Vitamin B6 contributes to normal protein and glycogen metabolism and to the regulation of hormonal activity. Every raw material is named and every dose is printed on the label.

See Hair Beautification, hair vitamins with millet extract

What can a hair supplement actually influence?

The living follicle, and at the follicle’s own pace.

The visible hair is keratin with no blood supply and no metabolism of its own, which we describe in more detail in how hair grows. What nutrition can reach is the follicle in the skin, where the strand is built, and the follicle works on a slow clock.

The same review puts anagen, the growth phase, at about two to eight years for scalp hair, catagen at about two weeks and telogen, the resting phase, at about two to three months.

That clock explains how to think about timing. In telogen effluvium, the diffuse shedding that can follow illness, surgery, childbirth or a crash diet, the StatPearls review places the trigger roughly three months before the shedding starts, with a range of one to six months, and notes that hair growth may take up to six months to restart. The follicle is already three months behind the event that changed it.

So three months is the shortest sensible period to follow any hair routine, and six is better. It is also why the studies worth reading on hair run for months rather than weeks.

Hair vitamins: which B vitamin is good for hair?

Of all the B vitamins, biotin, vitamin B7, is the one with an authorised EU claim that mentions hair.

The authorised wording, from Commission Regulation 432/2012, is exactly this: "Biotin contributes to the maintenance of normal hair". It is a nutrient function claim: the vitamin has a role in keeping normal hair normal.

Vitamin B6, B12, folate, niacin and riboflavin have authorised claims of their own, about metabolism, tiredness or red blood cell formation. Vitamin B6 is the one closest to hair: it contributes to normal protein and glycogen metabolism and to normal cysteine synthesis, and cysteine is part of keratin. That is why it sits in Hair Beautification. We have written separately about biotin and vitamin B6.

Two minerals also carry hair wordings. Zinc has "Zinc contributes to the maintenance of normal hair" and "Zinc contributes to the maintenance of normal nails". Selenium has "Selenium contributes to the maintenance of normal hair" and "Selenium contributes to the maintenance of normal nails". Vitamin D has important authorised claims of its own, for the immune system, muscles and bones.

What does the research show for biotin?

That biotin matters where there is a need, and that the need is small.

A 2017 review by Patel, Swink and Castelo-Soccio in Skin Appendage Disorders searched the literature for biotin used for hair and nail complaints and found 18 reported cases, all in people with an underlying deficiency or an inherited condition such as biotinidase deficiency. The evidence for extra biotin centres on people with a need, a reading shared by a 2019 review in Dermatology and Therapy of vitamin E and biotin in androgenetic alopecia and telogen effluvium.

Deficiency itself is uncommon. The Nordic Nutrition Recommendations consider biotin deficiency unlikely in the general population.

What we do know is enough to choose a dose. The authorised claim describes biotin’s normal role in hair, and that role is covered at a nutritional level. That is why Hair Beautification keeps biotin at the reference intake, 50 µg, and builds on Keranat® at its studied dose.

How much biotin per day is reasonable?

The adequate intake for adults, according to the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations and EFSA, is 40 micrograms a day, and the EU reference intake on labels is 50 micrograms. That is the level in Hair Beautification.

Very high doses of biotin, above 5 mg a day, can affect some blood tests, including thyroid tests, and the Karolinska University Laboratory then recommends taking samples no earlier than one day after the last dose. That threshold is a hundred times the amount in Hair Beautification.

Iron and ferritin: when is a blood test the right next step?

When shedding is diffuse and persistent, particularly in women who menstruate, ferritin is the number worth measuring first.

A 2022 systematic review and meta-analysis in Skin Appendage Disorders pooled 36 studies covering 10,029 participants and found that women with nonscarring alopecia had significantly lower ferritin values than controls, a mean difference of 18.51 ng/dL, with roughly 21 percent of women with hair loss showing ferritin at or below 10 to 15 ng/dL.

The review shows a link rather than an effect of iron tablets on regrowth. What it does show is that ferritin is worth measuring, and Swedish primary care guidance on hair loss lists ferritin and TSH among the tests to consider: measure, then decide.

Iron accumulates in the body, and its authorised claims concern oxygen transport and the reduction of tiredness and fatigue rather than hair. Iron is a question for a blood sample and a doctor, which is why Hair Beautification focuses on zinc, biotin, vitamin B6 and Keranat®.

Do skin, hair and nail supplements help brittle nails?

The nail studies that exist point in a promising direction.

A 2018 review by Lipner and Scher in the Journal of Dermatological Treatment gathered the research on oral biotin for nail disease. It reports improvements in the firmness, hardness and thickness of brittle nails. What we also know is that zinc and selenium contribute to the maintenance of normal nails, and biotin to normal skin.

For trace elements, the right amount matters in both directions. The signs of long-term excessive selenium intake are hair loss and brittle nails, and in 2023 EFSA set the upper level for adults at 255 micrograms a day. Excess vitamin A is also a recognised trigger of telogen effluvium. For us, the dose matters as much as the raw material, which is why every vitamin and mineral in Hair Beautification sits at the reference intake.

What does the study on millet extract show?

A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in women, which is the kind of evidence a raw material for hair should be able to show.

The material is Keranat®, a millet complex made by Robertet in Grasse, which has worked with natural raw materials since the nineteenth century. It combines miliacin, a triterpenoid from Panicum miliaceum, with polar lipids from wheat, and we describe it in detail in our article on Keranat®.

The human study, published in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology in 2019, followed women with telogen effluvium who took 300 mg a day or placebo for twelve weeks. Hair loss was measured by phototrichogram, an imaging method in which a defined area of the scalp is photographed under magnification at fixed time points. After twelve weeks, the study reported an average 50 percent reduction in hair loss in the Keranat® group, with a significant difference compared with placebo. Among the participants’ own assessments, 91 percent perceived less hair loss and 75 percent noticed improvements in shine, softness and flexibility, and reduced scalp dryness was reported compared with placebo. Robertet summarises its scientific studies on its own site.

A defined complex from a named manufacturer, at a stated daily amount, was tested against placebo in women with exactly the kind of shedding it was developed for. Keranat® was studied at 300 mg per day. Hair Beautification contains 300 mg per daily dose.

Why did we choose these four ingredients?

Because each one answers a question the research asks, at a dose we can explain.

Keranat® is the raw material with a placebo-controlled human study, at its studied dose. Zinc and biotin carry authorised claims for hair, and sit at the reference intake because that is where the claims are met. Vitamin B6 supports the protein chemistry behind keratin. Iron we leave to a blood test and a doctor, and no vitamin or mineral is dosed higher than there is a reason for. For us, the ingredient cannot be separated from its source, manufacturer and studied dose. Health Royals works with specialist manufacturers, researchers and supplier networks when raw materials are selected, and we explain how in what a branded ingredient name guarantees.

The Keranat® study ran on daily intake for twelve weeks, so the capsule is meant to be taken every day for three months, and the jar is designed to stand out on a shelf rather than sit at the back of a cupboard.

What is reasonable to do in practice?

Start with what a blood test can answer: thyroid function and iron status, and think about a recent illness or delivery, a new medicine or a very restricted diet. Ask your doctor for ferritin and TSH. Hair loss that is sudden, patchy, comes with scalp symptoms or lasts longer than six months belongs with a doctor first.

Then give a routine at least three months before forming a view, and take a photograph in the same light at the start so you are comparing something other than memory. Add up the biotin, selenium, zinc and vitamin A across every product you take, and expect maintenance of normal hair, which is what the authorised claims describe.

We have done the selection so that you do not have to. Hair Beautification, hair vitamins with millet extract gives you Keranat® at 300 mg a day, the amount in its placebo-controlled study, together with zinc, biotin and vitamin B6 at reference intake levels, in doses we publish and can explain. Our hair page collects the wider context on thinning hair. You can stop looking.

Further reading

Frequently asked questions

Can a supplement help with hereditary hair loss?
Androgenetic alopecia is driven by dihydrotestosterone and 5 alpha reductase activity at the follicle, and its established treatments are medicines, so a doctor is the right route. What a supplement can do is provide nutrients with authorised claims for hair in stated amounts, and in Keranat®’s case a raw material with a placebo-controlled study, which is what our label sets out.

How much biotin do you need for hair?
The adequate intake for adults is 40 micrograms a day, and the EU reference intake is 50 micrograms. Biotin deficiency is uncommon in people who eat a varied diet. Hair Beautification keeps biotin at the reference intake and builds on Keranat® at its studied dose. High intakes of biotin can affect some blood tests, so tell whoever takes your blood sample.

How long before you see any difference?
Give it at least three months, and six is better. Telogen lasts about two to three months, and in telogen effluvium the trigger sits roughly three months before the shedding starts. The Keranat® study ran for twelve weeks. Take a photograph in the same light at the start, so you are comparing something other than memory.

Should I take iron if my hair is shedding?
Measure first. A 2022 meta-analysis of 36 studies and 10,029 participants found that women with nonscarring alopecia had significantly lower ferritin values than controls. Swedish primary care guidance lists ferritin and TSH among the tests to consider. Iron accumulates, so this is a question for a blood sample and a doctor, and Hair Beautification keeps its focus on zinc, biotin, vitamin B6 and Keranat®.

Can too much of a nutrient affect hair?
Yes. The clinical signs of chronically high selenium intake are hair loss and brittle nails, and the EFSA upper level for adults is 255 micrograms a day. Excess vitamin A is also a recognised trigger of telogen effluvium. Add up the biotin, selenium, zinc and vitamin A across every product you take.

What is Keranat®, and what did the study show?
Keranat® is a millet complex from Robertet in Grasse, in which miliacin is carried by polar lipids. In a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in women with telogen effluvium, 300 mg a day for twelve weeks was measured by phototrichogram, and the study reported an average 50 percent reduction in hair loss against placebo. Hair Beautification contains the same 300 mg.

When does hair loss belong with a doctor?
Hair loss that is sudden, patchy, accompanied by scalp symptoms or scarring, or that keeps going for more than six months, belongs with a doctor first.

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