Can Vitamin Deficiency Cause Dandruff?

Are you struggling with keeping your scalp healthy? Do the itchy flakes on your head get you down? Well, the good news is you're not alone. 

Did you know that nearly 75 percent of people experience symptoms of dandruff at some point, and about 20 percent get it chronically (all the time)? The dandruff dilemma is real, but the great thing is we are here to help. 

A healthy scalp environment is important, as are your vitamins and diet. Read on to find out how vitamin deficiency and dandruff can go hand in hand, and take our quiz for your personalized hair care regimen based on your scalp health.

A healthy diet can impact all aspects of your health, including your appearance and the condition of your skin. Eating healthy foods and taking dietary supplements with certain vitamins and minerals can support a healthy scalp from the inside out. 

Such foods that can be helpful to add to your diet include:

Most adults don’t get the recommended dietary allowance of vitamins and minerals in their diet, and vitamin deficiency can be a side effect of popular low-fat diets. Because of this, adults often need to seek out a supplement to ensure they’re receiving the best nutrients everyday. 

When it comes to vitamin deficiency, vitamins have been shown to possibly play an important role in the production of dandruff on your scalp. Deficiency of certain vitamins can be a cause of the severity of this skin condition. 

Key vitamins linked to scalp health may include:

Vitamin D is an essential vitamin that your body uses to maintain healthy bone development. This vitamin plays an important role when it comes to your immune system, nervous system, as well as musculoskeletal system. 

Vitamin D deficiency can be associated with both insufficient vitamin D in your diet or insufficient sunlight. It may be possible that your body isn’t properly absorbing or using vitamin D. Deficiency of this vitamin can be linked to increased inflammation, which can lead to dandruff.

If you are feeling tired or exhausted, that can indicate a sign of a vitamin B deficiency. These vitamins can help to soothe feelings of stress and can help support the nervous system, digestive system, and skin health. A possible deficiency of this vitamin can be linked to dandruff, and is thought to be a cause of alopecia, which is a skin condition in which the hair can fall out in small patches

Zinc is important for supporting your immune system, healing wounds, and ensuring normal growth development during pregnancy, childhood, and adolescence. 

Some signs of zinc deficiency can look like:

Restrictive diets can be more at risk of a zinc deficiency and often need to be supplemented with a daily tablet that includes zinc.

Vitamin treatments, notably from dietary supplements, can play a key role in maintaining scalp and hair health (along with full body health!).

An increase in zinc has been shown to have antifungal properties and can help address the underlying cause of dandruff and soothe its symptoms. 

Niacin or vitamin B3 is an essential vitamin for the body. It can work to promote and maintain great hair health. 

Riboflavin, or vitamin B2 is a water-soluble vitamin and is found naturally in foods, added into some food products, and can be taken as a dietary supplement.

There are several ways to get vitamin D in your body. One option is through sunlight, however don’t forget the sunscreen because too much sun exposure can dry out your skin and scalp leading to flaking and skin and hair damage.

To get more B vitamins in your diet, you can add these foods:

You can add a dietary supplement to support levels of key vitamins in your body, while also eating the right foods to support a healthy lifestyle. Eating healthy and taking dietary supplements can help to support and maintain a healthy scalp and hair.

Aside from a healthy diet and dietary supplements, there are other treatments that can help support your scalp health. These treatments can be over-the-counter or prescription-strength. 

You can use medicated shampoos (check out or Balancing Shampoo with the flake-fighting active ingredient, Zinc Pyrithione) or non-medicated shampoos, foams, and lotions for scalp treatments. These are great at supporting and promoting hair and scalp health and addressing scalp discomfort.

Exfoliation is also important to your scalp health - try using our scalp brush to gently break up and remove debris and buildup from styling products and flaking, and will prepare the skin on your scalp for cleansing shampoo and soothing conditioner.