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Silica is an abundant element in the body and the surrounding environment. Silica can be found naturally in horsetail and bamboo and as an addition to supplements designed to promote hair health.
Key insights:
- There is little to no evidence to suggest that silica may improve hair loss outcomes, however in rats, silica is concentrated in the skin and hair. This potentially indicates that it has a role to play in the structure of skin and hair, and so a deficiency may lead to negative effects on hair shaft structure.
- The clinical evidence shows that silica supplementation for women with fine hair improved tensile strength and led to thicker hair indicating a potential use for people with fine or damaged hair. Furthermore, a study has shown that the average rate of hair growth improved by ~37.6% after silica supplementation over 8 months.
- Silica has been suggested to play a role in collagen synthesis which has been shown to change dynamically (increase and decrease) alongside the growing (anagen) phase of the hair follicle cycle, therefore changes in silica levels may affect this process. There have been no studies however to confirm this.
- Our experience tracking members: silica by itself is not enough to improve hair loss outcomes.
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