Can Vitamin B12 Cause Facial Hair Growth?
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Role of B12
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B12 is an essential vitamin that is necessary for red blood cells to form. It is the red blood cells that are responsible for carrying oxygen through the body. Thus, deficiencies in B12 mean that fewer blood cells are formed and that less oxygen therefore reaches other body cells.
B12 and Hair
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As described above, B12 is related to the amount of oxygen that cells of the body are able to receive. The hair follicles need oxygen to thrive, just as any other part of the body does. When B12 levels are sufficient, the follicle gets enough oxygen, and the hair is able to grow healthily. When B12 levels are deficient, hair loss is common because the follicle doesn't have enough oxygen reaching it to sustain the hair growth.
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Growth on the Face
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Understanding the role of B12 in hair growth, it is logical to assume that healthy levels of B12 can promote the growth of hair on the face where follicles already are present, since the body won't discriminate in terms of determining which follicles on the body take advantage of the oxygen the B12 helps to provide via red blood cells. However, although the body does create new hair follicles under the right conditions, B12 is responsible only for the health of those follicles and not the creation (see Resources). A woman who increases her B12 intake thus might notice her eyebrows appear a little fuller or that those few pesky lip hairs seem to be growing faster, but it's highly unlikely she needs to worry about sprouting a beard.
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