Iodine for Hair Growth: What's the Connection?

Can iodine supplements and iodine-rich foods give you luscious, healthy hair? Or will they trigger hair loss you can’t reverse?

Iodine has a complicated, rather distant relationship to hair health. . 

Ingesting more or less than the recommended daily dose of iodine will have little to no short-term impact on your hair. But if you have insufficient or excess levels of iodine for an extended time, there can be concerning consequences — which might eventually include hair loss. 

Below, we dig into the general benefits of iodine, why some people say you can take iodine for hair growth, and whether it’s worth taking supplements.

Iodine is a trace element naturally found in your body that plays several important roles in your day-to-day life. 

In fact, iodine is needed for normal cellular function — your cells use iodine in the process of changing food into energy, and your thyroid needs a regular supply of iodine to make hormones that help with that. 

You can get iodine from medications, but iodine intake can also come from iodine-rich foods. Natural sources of iodine include dairy products, iodized salt, and certain fish (like cod, sea bass, haddock and perch), as well as kelp and land-dwelling plants grown in iodine-rich soil. 

According to the Food and Nutrition Board, adults can have approximately 150 micrograms per day, and lactating or pregnant women can go as high as 290 micrograms safely.

And while it’s wise to avoid an excess of iodine, having a low amount of iodine can become problematic in time. 

Iodine deficiency can lead to enlarged thyroid cells and an enlarged thyroid gland (also known as a goiter) or hypothyroidism (a health condition where the thyroid is unable to make enough thyroid hormone). 

Low thyroid hormone levels can affect energy, appetite, hair follicles, and more.

These conditions are more common in women than in men. For children, insufficient iodine intake may result in a condition called cretinism, which is a now-rare genetic abnormality that affects physical and mental capacity.

Iodine poisoning is extremely rare, according to the National Library of Medicine, but an excess of iodine can cause hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism (when the thyroid makes too much thyroid hormone) under certain circumstances.

If seeing iodine hair growth before and after images makes you think you’re not getting enough iodine, know this: the relationship between iodine and hair loss has little to do with iodine deficiency. 

Excess iodine, on the other hand, may be most closely connected to hair loss. 

It all comes back to the thyroid gland — because excessive iodine is one of the most common causes of hyperthyroidism after genetics, age, and gender.

And in the most extreme, untreated versions of hyperthyroidism, the condition can eventually start to cause irreparable damage to the hair structure.

The short answer is no — taking iodine supplements will have little to no effect on your hair growth. 

There’s no medical indication to support this as a benefit, and as we mentioned above, excess iodine could lead to much bigger problems in the long run.

The relationship between your thyroid and hair growth aside, iodine supplements aren’t going to fix anything. 

The only case in which you should consider iodine supplements for hair loss would be if you happen to be losing hair due to a thyroid issue, and your healthcare provider happens to think that iodine supplements may somehow mitigate symptoms of that ongoing thyroid issue. 

But at that point, you’re treating a thyroid problem — not a hair loss problem. 

You may have heard that iodine could be a solution for noticeable balding or brittle hair. Here are the facts about any connection between iodine and hair loss and whether increasing your iodine intake could trigger hair growth:

• Iodine is an essential mineral that changes food into energy and helps optimal thyroid function. Iodine can come from supplements or iodine-rich foods like dairy products, fish, and iodized salt. 

• Excess iodine could cause hyperthyroidism, in which your thyroid produces too many thyroid hormones. However, while this condition may cause structural hair damage, hair loss isn’t necessarily a result of too much or too little iodine. 

The bottom line is that upping or decreasing your iodine consumption is unnecessary for healthy hair growth.

That said, if you’re noticing more hairs at the bottom of the shower every morning, you should contact a healthcare professional. There are FDA-approved hair loss products and treatments that can help with hair regrowth.

Finasteride, for instance, is a medication that research shows can block the hair loss-causing hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Studies have repeatedly shown that daily finasteride use can drop your DHT levels by about 70 percent. 

Prefer an over-the-counter hair care option? The FDA-approved minoxidil has been shown to increase hair growth as well. 

Oh, and you won’t need a prescription either for hair health vitamins either. Our Essential Vitamins for a Healthy Head of Hair guide is a great resource for understanding which vitamins benefit your follicle health.