Skin, hair, and nails are all part of the integumentary system, which serves to protect the body and maintain homeostasis. Although the skin is made up of living keratinocytes, hair and nails are composed of keratin and other proteins and lack living cells.
What problems do skin, hair, and nails have?
Skin problems include aging, acne, eczema, and skin cancer, whereas hair issues involve hair loss, breaking, and graying. Nail concerns consist of brittleness, discoloration, and fungal infections, which are often caused by age, damage, oxidative stress, and inflammation.
How could diet affect skin, hair, and nails?
A diet rich in essential nutrients — including proteins, micronutrients, and essential fatty acids — is crucial for the proper functioning and health of the skin, hair, and nails. Deficiencies in these nutrients can lead to abnormalities in these areas.
Which supplements are of most interest for skin, hair, and nails?
Supplements of interest for skin, hair, and nails include cocoa extract, coconut oil, nicotinamide, and Polypodium leucotomos for skin health, whereas cysteine, lysine, marine proteins, procyanidins, pumpkin seed oil, B vitamins, vitamin D, vitamin E derivatives, and zinc have been studied for hair loss. There is limited research on supplements for nails, but supplements for hair may also benefit nails due to their similar composition.
Supplement Guide
Examine Database: Skin, Hair, & Nails
Research FeedRead all studies
Topical caffeine for hair growth?
In this systematic review of 9 clinical trials, topically applied caffeine consistently improved hair growth, but the evidence has notable limitations.
Nanosilymarin might reduce hand-foot syndrome risk during chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal cancer
Does guar gum improve skin parameters?
A proprietary pomegranate extract for improving skin health
Can topically applied herbal preparations improve skin quality?
The role of vitamin D and zinc in the risk of alopecia areata
Higher dietary acid load may be associated with greater severity of autoimmune skin disease
Topical oils for preterm infants
Can a multi-ingredient supplement increase hair growth in men with thinning hair?
Banana pulp and hemp seed oil do not protect against UV-induced skin damage
A multi-ingredient supplement might increase hair density in women with thinning hair
Do topically applied probiotics affect eczema severity?
Supplemental vitamin D reduces eczema severity
Intermittent fasting might slow hair growth
Does Latilactobacillus curvatus LB-P9 improve hair health?
Frequently asked questions
What problems do skin, hair, and nails have?
Skin problems include aging, acne, eczema, and skin cancer, whereas hair issues involve hair loss, breaking, and graying. Nail concerns consist of brittleness, discoloration, and fungal infections, which are often caused by age, damage, oxidative stress, and inflammation.
The most noteworthy skin-related issues that individuals experience are aging, acne, eczema (e.g., atopic dermatitis), and skin cancer. Hair-related issues include hair loss, breaking, and graying. Nail-related issues include brittleness, discoloration, and fungal infections. Age, damage (e.g., physical trauma, exposure to certain chemicals or radiation), oxidative stress, and inflammation can all lead to problems with skin, hair, and nails.[1]
How could diet affect skin, hair, and nails?
A diet rich in essential nutrients — including proteins, micronutrients, and essential fatty acids — is crucial for the proper functioning and health of the skin, hair, and nails. Deficiencies in these nutrients can lead to abnormalities in these areas.
The integumentary system is complex and requires many nutrients to function correctly. As such, a diet that provides adequate levels of nutrients — notably, protein, certain micronutrients (e.g, cysteine, lysine, iron, vitamin A, vitamin C, B vitamins, zinc, selenium), and essential fatty acids such as omega-6 and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids — is important.[2] Not only are these nutrients necessary for ordinary function, but they also play a role in protection and repair (e.g., in response to UV radiation). Deficiencies in these nutrients may manifest as abnormalities in skin, hair, and nails.[3][1]
Which supplements are of most interest for skin, hair, and nails?
Supplements of interest for skin, hair, and nails include cocoa extract, coconut oil, nicotinamide, and Polypodium leucotomos for skin health, whereas cysteine, lysine, marine proteins, procyanidins, pumpkin seed oil, B vitamins, vitamin D, vitamin E derivatives, and zinc have been studied for hair loss. There is limited research on supplements for nails, but supplements for hair may also benefit nails due to their similar composition.
If it’s difficult to obtain adequate levels of the nutrients listed above from the diet, supplementing with them may be advisable.[3][1]
Additionally, cocoa extract, coconut oil, nicotinamide, and Polypodium leucotomos all show some promise as treatments to support skin health.
Cysteine, lysine, marine proteins (i.e., extracellular matrix components from sharks and mollusks), procyanidins, pumpkin seed oil, B vitamins, vitamin D, vitamin E derivatives, and zinc have all been studied for hair loss.[4]
There isn’t much research on supplementation for nails, although it’s possible that hair supplements may benefit them because they’re made of similar materials.
What other treatments are useful for skin, hair, and nails?
Quick answer:
Topical applications of nutrients such as retinoids, carotenoids, nicotinamide, vitamin C, and vitamin E have been researched for skin health, whereas caffeine, capsaicin, curcumin, garlic, melatonin, onion juice, and rosemary oil show potential for treating hair loss. Additionally, using a broad-spectrum sunscreen is recommended for skin protection.
There’s quite a bit of research on the topical application of nutrients to the skin and hair. Topically applied retinoids, carotenoids, nicotinamide, vitamin C, and vitamin E have all been studied for their effects on skin health.[1]
Topically applied caffeine, capsaicin, curcumin, garlic, melatonin, onion juice, and rosemary oil all show some promise for treating hair loss.[4]
Additionally, it’s advisable to use a broad-spectrum sunscreen, even if you aren’t spending much time in the sun.[5]
Will sunscreen decrease my vitamin D levels?
Quick answer:
Sunscreen can decrease vitamin D production by blocking UVB rays, especially when used consistently and properly. However, most people do not need to worry about sunscreen's effect on vitamin D levels, and a balanced approach of diet, supplementation, and limited sun exposure is recommended for maintaining adequate vitamin D.
Your body can produce vitamin D when the skin is exposed to UVB rays,[7] so it stands to reason that sunscreen use may decrease vitamin D levels. Indeed, sunscreen can cause a drop in vitamin D production under laboratory testing conditions,[8][9] and this decrease is most notable if sunscreen is used consistently and properly (i.e., when using a broad-spectrum sunscreen and the right SPF, amount, and reapplication schedule).[10][11][12] Even so, it appears that most people need not worry about the effects of sunscreen alone on vitamin D levels.[13]
One important caveat — studies to date have generally been conducted on people with less skin pigmentation (i.e., those with Fitzpatrick skin types 1–3). A different result may be seen in those with Fitzpatrick skin types 4–6.
Generally speaking, 5 to 30 minutes of unprotected sun exposure to the hands, face, and arms at least three times a week between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. may generally be enough to keep vitamin D levels out of the deficient range (<30 nmol/L or <12 ng/mL).[14][15] When the UV Index in your area is 3 or higher, people with Fitzpatrick skin types 1 or 2 should limit unprotected sun exposure to less than 10 minutes, skin types 3 or 4 to less than 15 minutes; and skin types 5 or 6 to less than 30 minutes.[16][17] You can check out the UV index forecast in your area here (https://www.epa.gov/enviro/uv-index-search).
Keep in mind that longer periods of unprotected sun exposure will not necessarily lead to higher vitamin D production because the UVB rays will eventually degrade vitamin D in your skin to an inactive state.[18] This actually helps protect your body against vitamin D toxicity. Additionally, UVB-induced vitamin D production can be influenced by many other factors, including:[19]
👴🏽 Age
🦵🏼 Amount of sun-exposed skin
💊 Certain medications
🎽 Clothing type
🏔 Elevation
🗺 Latitude
🏬 Living environment (e.g., urban, suburban, or rural)
🏭 Pollution
✋🏿 Skin pigmentation
📐 Solar angle
⏱ Sun exposure duration and frequency
📅 Time of year
🌦 Weather conditions
For these reasons, it is not advisable to completely forego sunscreen to increase vitamin D levels or rely on sun exposure as your main source of vitamin D. Rather, a more balanced approach would be to increase vitamin D through diet and supplementation, with some limited unprotected sun exposure added in.
Can I create my own sunscreen using natural plant oils?
Quick answer:
Creating your own sunscreen using natural plant oils is not effective because most provide an SPF of less than 8 and are insufficient for UV protection on their own. Additionally, formulating sunscreen requires specific ingredients and methods that are difficult to replicate at home, and some plant oils may cause skin irritation in certain individuals.
In short, not really. When tested for protection against UVB radiation only, many plant oils provide an SPF of <8.[24] These oils can be incorporated into commercial sunscreen products to help the overall SPF rating, but on their own they are insufficient for UV protection. Be aware that some of these plant oils can be potentially allergenic and may cause skin irritation (such as dermatitis) in some individuals.[25][26] Sunscreens are formulated using specific ingredients in specific amounts in addition to employing manufacturing methods to help ensure that these UV-protective ingredients are evenly distributed throughout the sunscreen. This process is very difficult to replicate at home.
Sun protection factor (SPF) values of plant oils
Adapted from Kaur and Saraf. Pharmacognosy Res. 2010.[24]