The Best Supplements For Thinning Hair In Menopause

What's causing hair loss during menopause?

Solutions:  Natural remedies for menopausal hair loss

My top supplements for hair growth in women over 50 are:

You may well have landed on this page looking for the best supplements to help with hair loss during menopause.  So let's start here. 

But before I give you my favorite supplements... Here's how supplements fit into the big picture when it comes to reversing hair loss:

(Don't worry - farther down in this blog we'll talk about hormone levels and how you can address hair loss at the underlying hormonal level!) 

Here are my favorite supplements for women over 50.  Each of these can help support thicker, fuller, shinier hair this year and in every year to come.  

1. Vitamin D3.  You simply must have enough.  CLICK HERE to watch my video all about Vitamin D for Women to find out how to know if you're getting enough Vitamin D. 
2. Botin
3. Omega 3s/fish oil if you're not getting lots of it it in your diet
4. Consider a good multivitamin with active Bs and minerals C and Zinc
5. Magnesium
6. And talk to your doc about iron if your tests come back low
7. BONUS - consider kelp, dulse, or another seaweed as a source of iodone, which your thyroid and breast tissue will love
8. Collagen
9. Probiotics for gut health

Be sure to watch the video to learn more about why I recommend considering each one of these!!  

The best and worst foods for hair loss during & after menopause

My top 7 foods for thinning hair are

These foods are favorites because they're rich in nutrients that are particularly useful for hair growth, gut health, and thyroid health

1. Healthy oils & fats - nuts & seeds, & avocado
2. Oysters, which are high in iron and zinc
3. Spinach, which is high in folate and vitamins A and C
4. Sweet potato, which is rich in vitamins A and B6
5. Grass-fed beef, which is rich in protein, iron, & healthy fat
6. Egg yolks, which are rich in biotin and Vitamin D
7. Salmon, which is rich in protein & omega 3 fats
8.  BONUS: Seaweed (rich in iodine for a healthy thyroid - and fermented foods like sauerkraut and other fermented vegetables for a healthy gut) 

My top 3 foods to avoid for thinning hair are

These are foods that can interfere with the hormonal balance and the gut and thyroid health that will support hair growth once we hit menopause.

So if you want your hair to stop falling out, here are my top three foods to avoid:

1. Sugar & artificial sweeteners
2. Gluten
3. Dairy

Low hormone levels and thinning hair in menopause

Remember I said supplements can help your hair grow faster - BUT ONLY if it's growing in the first place?  And that your underlying hormonal support for healthy hair was the most important factor in hair growth? 

Bottom line:

1. If your hormone levels drop too low, your hair can become thinner and thinner.
2. If your estrogen:progesterone ratio gets off balance (and you have estrogen dominance) it can slow down hair growth as well. 

What it means:

• Keeping your hormone levels high enough and balanced with each other is KEY for turning on hair growth. Once you have that in place the supplements, sleep, and essential oils will help it grow faster.  Without that hormonal hair growth switch turned ON - none of those will make a significant difference. 

A doctor explains:

Hormonal fluctuations are responsible for hair loss during perimenopause and menopause. Estrogen and progesterone keep the hair in the growing phase, making it grow faster and stay on the head longer. When estrogen and progesterone levels decline, hair growth slows and hair loss becomes more pronounced.  Dr Anna Garrett

So... How do you keep your hormone levels high enough AND in balance with each other (avoiding estrogen dominance?) 

The best natural remedy for supporting hormone levels is customized herbal remedies

HRT (hormone-replacement therapy) is one way to help keep your hormone levels from dropping too low. 

But if you're looking for the most effective way to do this naturally, In my 20 years of practice I've found customized herbal remedies to be by far the most effective.  

The difficulty is, to be truly effective, the herbs needed are somewhat different for each woman, and the herbs need to change at each stage of the menopausal transition. 

The best part is, you can use herbs without any lab testing, and the herbs not only support estrogen and progesterone levels, they can support liver health and detoxification as well, helping to avoid the side effects that can come from HRT - and any tendency towards estrogen dominance.   

Because I've found these customized herbal remedies to be SO effective for women during and after menopause, I've created some free resources - and a paid online program - where I make this something every woman in the US can easily use with full customization.  

To learn more about the way I use herbs for hormonal support during & after menopause - watch the free mini-course and masterclass Ive created (both totally free) Sign up below!

Now - I don't want to leave you hanging, so while a fully customized herbal selection is going to increase your results from about 20% to 90% plus... 

Here are the highlights of some of my favorite herbs for supporting hair growth! 

My first favorite herb for thicker hair is...

There's one Chinese herb that's famous for being used to keep hair healthy & young looking - its called He Shou Wu - and I do love it dearly - however...  There are a few things you need to know about using this herb safely & effectively.

This herb has to be processed correctly after harvesting to get rid of toxicity - so it's incredibly important you get this herb from a reputable herb supplier - not just get the raw herb or the ground up raw herb.

AND this herb just doesn't work for your hair if the plant not mature enough when the herb is harvested.

Of course it's much less expensive to harvest the plant when its very young - but it wont do much for your hair (the older it is the better!)  So processing and sourcing are very important for this herb. Also this herb works MUCH better as part of a formula that has herbs to support microcirculation AND digestive aids - as this herb is known as potentially hard to digest! If you want to know more about the best sources and how to use this herb look out for my free video series on using Chinese Herbs during & after menopause.

My second favorite herb for hair loss is...

Another Chinese herb that is often used for thicker, healthier, younger looking hair is ginseng.  But like He Shou Wu, it can have negative side effects if it's harvested before the plant reaches a certain age!  With ginseng, quality is everything.  I'd rather not take it at all than take poor quality ginseng (which I call a headache in bottle!) Also most ginseng is hot and dry so during menopause can, from a Chinese Medicine perspective, make hot flashes, dryness, and even dizziness or vertigo worse!

But there is a way to use safely during menopause!  And there's one variety of ginseng, American ginseng that's cool and moistening instead of hot & drying:)  (This is my ginseng of choice for women 40+)

Essential oil recipes for hair loss

Why Essential Oils For Supporting Hair Growth?

As an herbalist, I love to use plants as medicine!

Chinese herbs can be great for women dealing with thinning hair, and I usually recommend taking them internally.

But it's also wonderful to support the scalp and hair follicles and hair growth with topical treatment - and essential oils are my favorite way to do this.  Of course, I cant make any claims, but in some studies essential oils seem to be shown to help the body stimulate hair growth - possibly by helping to increase circulation to the scalp.

Some essential oils seem to have a special affinity for hair...

And the many oils may have anti-fungal properties - something that can be part of what causes thinning hair in some women!

Which Essential Oils - For Thicker Hair?

My favorite essential oil for the hair is rosemary.

But what I really like to do is use  equal parts:

• Rosemary
• Cedar
• and Clary Sage

I take equal parts of all 3 and dilute them generously in jojoba or coconut oil, then I massage that into the scalp and hair 3 times per week and leave on at least 20 minutes (overnight is fine too.)

(Lavender is also a great substitute if you don't have Cedar or Clary Sage!)

And one last (but important) note:  Be sure to get the highest quality essential oils you can!

My fav brands are Revive-eo, and Living Libations, because I trust them to be the real thing.  (doTerra and Young Living are great too, but they have a complicated purchasing structure.) 

Essential Oil Recipes for Thicker, Healthier Hair

My #1 recommendation when using essential oils is - less is more.  Be sure to dilute the essential oils generously in the jojoba or coconut carrier oil.

4 drops Rosemary, 4 drops Cedar, and 4 drops Clary Sage in 1 oz (6 tsp / 30 ml) of the jojoba or coconut oil.  (If you have no skin or scalp sensitivity, you can make this a bit stronger by using a few more drops of each oil.)

(You can get liquid coconut oil it's sometimes called fractionated coconut oil.)

Store your mixture in a glass container.

To apply: Massage a dollop of your mixture into the scalp and hair 3 times per week and leave on at least 20 minutes (overnight is fine too) before shampooing.

• Do a test patch by applying a small amount to your skin, and discontinue if you have any skin sensitivity.
• Also - Please check with your doc before using essential oils - especially if you're pregnant!

RECIPE 2: (this one is quite concentrated, so do a test patch to check for skin sensitivity - it's also really powerful!)

Heat 1 Tablespoon of coconut oil until it's just melted and add:

• 20 drops Frankincense essential oil
• 15 drops Lavender essential oil
• 5 drops Myrrh essential oil

Massage the whole thing into your scalp then comb it through to the ends.  Place a towel over your pillow and sleep with the mixture in your hair.  Shampoo it out in the morning.

Repeat 1-2 times per week.

How To Get More Sleep During Menopause For Thicker Hair

The sleep - hair loss connection (and what you can do about it even during menopause)

Here's my recipe for healthy, happy hormones that help you get solid sleep each night.

It turns out you need SEVEN or more hours of sleep every night to prevent or reverse thinning hair during & after menopause.

The good news is... I can help you get more sleep - EVEN during menopause. 

Stress levels, hormones, and thinning hair

It turns out high stress levels lead to high stress hormone levels, which wreak havoc with your already struggling female hormones during menopause - ending up as one of the MAJOR CAUSES of hair loss in some women during menopause. 

If you're the mellowest person on your block and just don't tend to stress about anything - you can probably skip this section. 

If stress, however, is something you feel on a regular basis - and especially if it's become more intense during menopause - and you really want to reverse thinning hair... 

Commit right now to reducing stress.  I can help make it easier than you expect. 

Reducing stress is a two part process. 

Part 1: Yes, of course.  Meditation, breathing, yoga, exercise, mindfulness, prayer, relaxation... In other words - cultivating a life, thoughts, and practices that help you let go of getting more stressed than necessary day in and day out. 

Part 2: But you know what?  You can meditate 3 HOURS A DAY and if your stress hormone are raging because of hormonal changes caused by menopause???  Even 3 hours a day of meditation won't help that much. 

I've helped SO MANY women rebalance hormones - and then all of a sudden... They could think clearly, they felt like themselves again, and everything was just more - figureoutable.  And it was easier to take a few deep breaths and actually feel the stress melting away. 

Here's what it feels like to me (because YES - I've been there) 

• When your stress is being affected by out of balance hormones - meditating is like trying to walk through a door that is closed and locked.  
• When your hormone are balanced meditation is like taking one big step through a door that is open and waiting for you to enter.

So YES - make stress management a priority.  Do something every day (even if its just for 1 - 3 minutes) to actively reduce stress levels (I love deep breathing.) 

But don't forget to address your underlying hormonal balance as well.  Just like with sleep and hair loss - it'll set you up for success.  Here's a video with more info about hormones and stress - plus a free, short, guided meditation just for women!

Everyday chemicals that can make hair loss worse

Your "toxic load" is something you carry around with you all the time.  It goes up with increased exposure to toxins and it goes down when your body is detoxing well. 

If the exposure is more than your ability to detox... the toxic load rises.  And when the toxic load reaches a certain point it can start to disrupt your hormonal balance. 

This can lead directly to hair loss. 

So... Reduce your exposure to the specific toxins that are most likely to build up and interfere with hormones!

Here are my list of the top ones you're likely to encounter in everyday life. 

Avoid the most common ingredients found in makeup, skin care, and other personal care products that are likely to affect hormones

Avoid plastic food packaging most likely to contain elements that can affect your hormones

I hope you enjoyed this gathering of all the different ways you can help prevent or reverse the most common type of hair loss women experience during and after menopause. 

To learn more about how to use customized herbal remedies - be SURE to check out the free resources below (do not miss the chance to see my free Masterclass on Herbs for Menopause!)