Growing More Hair
By Michael Mooney - Updated June, 2013.

Iron And Hair Loss
Several studies have shown associations with low body stores of iron and hair loss. These include studies with women. When I interviewed one of the world's authorities on hair loss, Gary Perrault, MD, of Beverly Hills, California, he told me that one of the first things he looks at when there is hair loss is the person's body stores of iron, as measured by the blood test called "ferritin." If ferritin is below 40 ng/mL he recommends that the person supplement with iron to get their ferritin level up. However, he says, hair does even better at 70 ng/mL. This can require high dosage iron supplementation, perhaps 100 mg a day, as determined by your doctor. However, supplementation with as little as 24 to 48 mg per day has also been used. How much do you need? It is best to work with your doctor doing blood tests to determine this. Ask them to test "ferritin."

I Took Extra Iron (Updated November, 2006)
I have been taking a very high-potency anti-aging multi-vitamin that contains 40 mg of iron carbonyl since 1976. Since I had been battling a little bit of hair loss and my ferritin measured 22 ng/mL in May, 2006 when I spoke with Dr. Perrault, I began to add extra iron to my current regimen. Apparently I was a poor iron absorber.

I added iron as an extra 100 milligrams of iron carbonyl, twice a day, three days per week, so it amounted to an extra 200 mg on three days per week.

I didn't take it every day because it's a large dose and I didn't want to load my body with a large dose every day.

I also take 800 of daily vitamin E, which has been shown to protect the liver from lethal iron toxicity.

Ask your doctor before taking high dose iron for any reason.

As of October, 2010, I found that I only needed to take an extra 50 mg of iron carbonyl every other day, made by Rexall Sundown. This is only one of a few sources of iron carbonyl that I am aware of. It is available on the internet and from a few drugs stores around the USA.

Iron Forms and Constipation
I found that iron protein succinylate caused acute constipation at this high dose. When I switched to iron carbonyl, there was almost no problem with constipation. Iron carbonyl also has far less potential for toxicity than other forms of iron, although iron toxicity rarely occurs and is somewhat exaggerated.

Again, it is best to work with your doctor and get a ferritin blood test to determine how much iron you might need and take another test a couple months after you are taking a specific dose consistently to check and see if that dose is working for you.

Low Ferritin
If you measure as having low low ferritin even though you are consuming what might seem to be enough dietary iron, iron absorption is between about 2% and 20% for non-meat food sources of iron and between about 3% and 10% percent for supplemental forms of iron. Absorption of these forms of iron can be reduced significantly by various dietary components [1,3,11-15].

Iron from meat, called "heme iron," absorbs between about 15% and 35% and is not affected by dietary components. [15]

Acidic foods improve iron absorption.Read about what helps and hinders iron absorption.

Click on the links below for a brief review of some medical journal studies that discuss an association with low ferritin levels and hair loss.

Studies by:
1. Trost
2. Rushton
3. Rushton
4. Rushton
5. Kantor

Update: In 2013 I found that I do not need to supplement with extra iron as my blood tests show that my ferritin is consistently at 70 ng/mL or above. It has stayed at this level without iron supplementation for several months now. I will continue to monitor it with blood tests and either supplement or not, as needed.

Researchers at Cleveland Clinic have noted iron's role in healthy hair, too. Read their press release below.

Low Iron Could Help Spur Baldness

WEDNESDAY, May 31 (HealthDay News) -- Could iron deficiency be key to baldness?

The answer is yes, according to researchers at the Cleveland Clinic, who reviewed scientific literature on the connection published over the past 40 years.

"If doctors can understand fully the relationship between iron deficiency and hair loss, then they can help people regrow hair more effectively," study leader Dr. Wilma Bergfeld, head of clinical research in the department of dermatology, said in a prepared statement. "We believe that iron deficiency may be related to many forms of hair loss and that people may need higher levels of iron stores than previously thought to regrow hair."

The review of data suggests that iron deficiency may be linked to several of the most common kinds of hair loss. However, there is not enough evidence to suggest universal screening for iron deficiency in hair-loss patients and further research is required, the researchers said.

The findings appear in the May, 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. (Trost, et al. Volume 54, Issue 5 , Pages 824-844, May 2006)

Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency in the United States. It can be caused by inadequate dietary intake of iron, excessive menstrual bleeding, and other forms of blood loss. Treatment includes adequate dietary intake of iron and, when appropriate, iron supplements.

Doctors at the Cleveland Clinic routinely screen for iron deficiency in patients with hair loss. If iron deficiency is detected and treated in the early stages, patients may be able to grow hair more effectively, the researchers said.

-- Robert Preidt

SOURCE: Cleveland Clinic news release, May 15, 2006

For your viewing, I quote from Clinical Pearls One Liners, March 2003. Clinical Pearls is one of the periodicals I subscribe to for its evaluation of medical journal studies that focus on dietary supplements and complementary and alternative medicine.

From a review of a study by DH Rushton, MD.
Published in Clinical and Experimental Dermatology, 2002; volume 27, pages 396-404.

Iron, Lysine, Biotin
Iron supplementation at 24 to 48 mg per day, which raises serum ferritin up to at least 70 mcg/l with the erythrocyte sedimentation rate being >10 mm/hour, plus 1½ to 2 grams of lysine daily have been shown to have a positive benefit in slowing hair loss. Using 1 to 2 mg per day of biotin may also be of benefit, along with essential fatty acids.