Everyone wants their hair to grow faster and feel stronger, so it’s no surprise we’re all looking for that miracle pill or magic mask. Fortunately, we have something even better: science. While there’s no one size fits all solution to achieve healthy hair growth, maintaining a nutritious diet and making sure you’re getting key vitamins and minerals will improve the overall look, feel and health of your hair (not to mention the rest of your body). These hair vitamins are vital to hair growth and incorporating them into your lifestyle is easier than ever.

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#1: Biotin

Taking biotin for hair growth might be one of the most popular ways to encourage healthy hair with vitamins. Vloggers everywhere sing this vitamin’s praises. Your best friend swears by it. It’s even added into many shampoos and conditioners, but what exactly does it do? Biotin is a B vitamin that helps produce glucose and break down proteins into amino acids. Hair contains keratin, which is a form of protein, so in addition to helping with many other vital functions, biotin supports healthy hair.

If you want to avoid taking supplements for hair growth, biotin is also found in many foods. For faster hair growth, make sure your diet is rich in whole grains, yogurt, oily fish, chicken, almonds, edamame, kidney beans, tofu, eggs and mushrooms. The one downside of this hair helper is that some report breaking out or flushing when they take biotin in high doses.

Photo: @sportsresearch

#2: Niacin

Like biotin, niacin is also in the B family, but this super hair helper deserves its own spot on the list. Niacin helps your hair grow faster by nourishing the scalp but a deficiency can cause hair to become brittle, lifeless and even fall out. Niacin is often found with its B vitamin sister biotin in B-complex vitamins. Many people take B-complex for hair loss, since the powerful combination of B vitamins is an effective treatment.