Myth or Truth?

[Vapunzel91]

So I have been hearing a few myths while I'm been on my hair-growing journey:

1) Vitamin E makes helps hair to grow because the scalp is easier to massage.
2) Vitamin B is better than Vitamin E.
3) There is a genetic "stopping point" for hair to quit growing. And the women in China and Latvia with long hair is just because of their genetics.

(I truly hope the latter is wrong.)

[caadam]

Vitamin E being good for hair is a myth?
Huh? lol

[littlenvy]

So I have been hearing a few myths while I'm been on my hair-growing journey:

1) Vitamin E makes helps hair to grow because the scalp is easier to massage.
2) Vitamin B is better than Vitamin E.
3) There is a genetic "stopping point" for hair to quit growing. And the women in China and Latvia with long hair is just because of their genetics.

(I truly hope the latter is wrong.)
LOL.
hhmm ... good questions.
By no means am I a doctor, chemist or expert but this is what I know.
1/ Vitamin E is good for hair. BUT E is usally a very thick and heavy oil so if you want to use it as a massage oil it will be too thick. Better use a base oil and just add some Vitamin E to it.
2/ Vitamin B and E are on totally opposite ends of function. So its not like you can say one is better than the other. They are both very beneficial in their own way. BUT ... if you are talking hair, then B7 or Biotin is VERY good for hair, both in growth and thickness.
3/ From what I understand. Yes. Straight hair usally has the potential to grow longer. But .. hair care and diet also have a lot to do with it.

[Copasetic]

I don't pay attention to any of that stuff about what vitamins will make hair grow. An overall healthy diet is the way to go.

[princessp]

I don't pay attention to any of that stuff about what vitamins will make hair grow. An overall healthy diet is the way to go.

Yeah I agree. I actually pay little attention to anything aside from an experiment with a new product/recipe here and there. Truthfully pre-LHC I was a "benign neglector" but my hair has always grown well despite it.

[Vapunzel91]

Thank you! It's good to have feedback. ^_^

[Igor]

So I have been hearing a few myths while I'm been on my hair-growing journey:

1) Vitamin E makes helps hair to grow because the scalp is easier to massage.
Huh? No, seriously. What? I can’t even understand this question.


2) Vitamin B is better than Vitamin E.
No. Seriously, where do you get these myths from?
The body needs all vitamins to function. You can’t compare Bs to E. It is true that people often take vitamin Bs to boost growth, but the body needs vitamin E to function at all.


3) There is a genetic "stopping point" for hair to quit growing. And the women in China and Latvia with long hair is just because of their genetics.

(I truly hope the latter is wrong.)
That is called the Anagen phase. The active growth phase which is genetically pre-set. Its very hard to influence, but most people wont have reached their maximum genetic potential because of harsh handling anyways.
“Just because of their genetics” is just plain wrong. Both places seem to be more long hair friendly by tradition. There are higher chances of people letting their hair grow to the maximum potential when long hair is the norm. Genetics cant outgrow a scissor or a harsh bleaching and rough handling.

[Lianna]

Straight hair usally has the potential to grow longer. But .. hair care and diet also have a lot to do with it.

I didn't know straight hair grew longer. Sure it doesn't just ''appear'' longer? What if the curls are pulled straight? >.< It will sure look A LOT longer!

I think curlies can have just as long with proper care. :hmm: Some curlies I know from other boards pull their hair to measure, or to claim a body length (like APL, BSL, etc), which I think is most fair. Doesn't happen in here often though.

OP: About the last question, like Igor already explained, it's called the terminal length.

[littlenvy]

I didn't know straight hair grew longer. Sure it doesn't just ''appear'' longer? What if the curls are pulled straight? >.< It will sure look A LOT longer!

I think curlies can have just as long with proper care. :hmm: Some curlies I know from other boards pull their hair to measure, or to claim a body length (like APL, BSL, etc), which I think is most fair. Doesn't happen in here often though.

OP: About the last question, like Igor already explained, it's called the terminal length.
From what I remember from my anthropology class is that curly hair was genetically designed to function as a “shade” on a human body. It’s supposed to protect the head and shoulders from too much sun while still allowing for the skin to cool itself down.
Straight hair, on the other hand, is a genetic adaptation to cold climate and is design to keep the head, and possibly the body, warm. It’s usually fine, plentiful and lays flat to the head thus trapping heat close to the body. Because it is designed for warmth not ventilation, it has the potential to grow very long(as in floor lenght or longer). Curly hair, which is designed for ventilation, will reach terminal length quicker because its not needed to be long.
The only exception to this theory is Asian hair which is very unique in being coarse and very straight.
Now, that’s what I learned in school was the reason for difference in hair; but I’m sure that now with all people migrating and mixing a lot of that doesn’t apply anymore.

[Clarisse]

littlenvy: As far as I’ve learned, it’s black hair/hairgenes of african origin, that is designed to be a shade. Black hair usually has a shorter terminal hair, it’s drier, very curly and overall different from caucasian and asian hair. Curly caucasian hair is comparable to caucasian straight hair in terms of terminal length. Asian hair (especially japanese) has the longest terminal length.
Caucasian har can be both fine and dense, but for general, the less sun the finer hair - then sun can penetrate better and the body produce more vitamin D.
Many women died from lack of vitamin D when humans had just immigrated to the northern countries, because there bones cracked when they tried to give birth. Therefore, women with lighter skin and light, straight and/or fine hair survived.

Of course, there are exceptions to all this. Some women of african decent can grow very long hair, while some caucasian and asian women have short terminal lengths. Most people are in some way ”mixed” - they have ancestors from other parts of the world, and so can have inherited traits that are not typical from the part of the world they live in/their other traits.

[littlenvy]

littlenvy: As far as I’ve learned, it’s black hair/hairgenes of african origin, that is designed to be a shade. Black hair usually has a shorter terminal hair, it’s drier, very curly and overall different from caucasian and asian hair. Curly caucasian hair is comparable to caucasian straight hair in terms of terminal length. Asian hair (especially japanese) has the longest terminal length.
Caucasian har can be both fine and dense, but for general, the less sun the finer hair - then sun can penetrate better and the body produce more vitamin D.
Many women died from lack of vitamin D when humans had just immigrated to the northern countries, because there bones cracked when they tried to give birth. Therefore, women with lighter skin and light, straight and/or fine hair survived.

Of course, there are exceptions to all this. Some women of african decent can grow very long hair, while some caucasian and asian women have short terminal lengths. Most people are in some way ”mixed” - they have ancestors from other parts of the world, and so can have inherited traits that are not typical from the part of the world they live in/their other traits.
You very well may be right. That’s why I added that it may not apply now.
That was just what I remembered from class a long time ego. LOL.
And as far as I know most of these are theories anyway and change all the time. I did hear about vitamin D but mostly in relationship to skin colour only and not to hair. When I went to school it was thought that lighter hair and eyecolour developed as a camouflage in the northern more snowy regions. It was also thought that since it takes additional resources to make pigment for eyes and hair, those resources were diverted somewhere else in harsher climates and therefore produced lighter hair/eyes.

[spidermom]

Vitamins and minerals in the proper balance are essential to good health and good hair growth, but I think they are FAR more beneficial taken internally than massaged into your scalp. If your insides are not in good shape, nothing you apply to the outside will override your overall state of health.

And yes, it's true. Each hair grows for a genetically determined period of time, and every hair is different. I regularly shed out hairs that are 2-4 inches long and thus have a very short growth cycle. I've also got hairs with a long growth cycle (bottom of bottom/top of thighs). Terminal length is basically: length of time each hair grows multipled by how fast it grows. Overall health, cutting hair or it breaking off from damage has to be factored into the equation also. I've personally known one woman whose hair never grew longer than BSL in the 8 years that I was in contact with her. She never cut it, and it wasn't damaged. It wasn't thin on the bottom, either.