Vitamin E and Hair Loss: What the Evidence Shows
Last reviewed on 25 July 2026. We review our treatment guides every six months to keep them accurate.
Vitamin E is one of the antioxidants most often marketed for hair, and the honest answer is more balanced than the marketing. It is a genuine, essential nutrient, so if you are short of it that shortfall is worth correcting. What has not been shown is that taking extra vitamin E grows hair in someone whose levels are already normal. Vitamin E is also dual-edged: too little may in theory affect hair, but too much can be harmful and has itself been linked to reduced hair growth, so more is not better.
For a plain, independently maintained account of what vitamin E does, how much you need and what happens if you take too much, the NHS page on vitamin E is the best starting point. Hair loss has many causes, so please treat this page as general information and speak to a GP or a pharmacist about your own situation before starting any supplement.
The idea to hold on to is the one that runs through our guide to selenium, the other dual-edged nutrient in this area. Correcting a genuine deficiency can help, because the shortfall was holding things back. Adding more once you already have enough does not push growth higher, and with vitamin E, as with selenium, a large excess can do harm rather than good.
What vitamin E actually is
Vitamin E is not a single substance but a family of fat-soluble compounds, the best known of which are the tocopherols and the tocotrienols. Its main job in the body is as an antioxidant: it helps protect cells from a form of wear called oxidative stress, and it supports healthy skin and eyes and the immune system. Because it dissolves in fat rather than water, the body can store it, which is why, as the NHS notes, you do not need it in your diet every single day.
Oxidative stress is a real theme in hair-loss research. Studies have found higher markers of oxidative stress and lower antioxidant levels in the scalp of people with several types of hair loss, which is the reasoning behind the interest in antioxidant vitamins like vitamin E. That is a plausible mechanism, and it is worth understanding, but a plausible mechanism is not the same as a demonstrated treatment, which is the distinction the rest of this page turns on.
Can a vitamin E deficiency cause hair loss?
In the UK, a genuine vitamin E deficiency is rare. The NHS is clear that most people should be able to get all the vitamin E they need from an ordinary varied diet. A peer-reviewed dermatology review puts it the same way, noting that vitamin E deficiency is rare and tends to occur only with fat-malabsorption disorders, the conditions that stop the gut absorbing dietary fat, such as Crohn's disease, cystic fibrosis and some rare inherited disorders.
It is also worth being clear about what a true deficiency actually causes. The recognised effects, set out by the US National Institutes of Health, are neurological and physical, things such as nerve problems, poor balance, muscle weakness and damage to the retina, along with a form of anaemia. Hair loss is not on that list. The same dermatology review states directly that vitamin E deficiency has no known link to hair loss. So while a severe deficiency is bad for you and worth treating, it is an uncommon and unproven explanation for thinning or shedding hair, and not the first thing to suspect.
Does vitamin E help with hair loss or hair growth?
This is the question most people arrive with, so it deserves a straight answer: vitamin E is not an established treatment for hair loss, and the evidence that supplementing it grows hair is weak and limited. A widely cited 2017 review found only minimal information in the literature on any benefit of vitamin E supplementation for hair, and a larger 2019 review of vitamins and minerals in hair loss concluded there are no data to support a role for vitamin E in androgenetic alopecia (male or female pattern hair loss) or telogen effluvium (the diffuse shedding that follows stress, illness or childbirth).
The one human study usually pointed to is worth understanding on its own terms. In a small 2010 randomised, placebo-controlled trial, 38 volunteers who were already losing hair took either 100mg a day of mixed tocotrienols, a form of vitamin E, or a placebo, for eight months. The tocotrienol group's hair count rose by 34.5% at eight months, while the placebo group's barely moved. That is a genuinely positive result on hair number, and it is the basis for most of the claims you will see online.
But it is one small study of one specific tocotrienol formulation, not proof that an ordinary vitamin E capsule grows hair. Only 21 people took the supplement. The effect on hair number only reached significance at the eight-month mark, not at four months, and, importantly, the weight of the hair did not change significantly, meaning the strands were not measurably thicker or heavier. No larger trial has confirmed it, and the reviews above still class vitamin E as unsupported for the common types of hair loss. The reasonable reading is that this is preliminary and interesting, not settled.
In alopecia areata, the autoimmune condition that causes patchy hair loss, the picture is genuinely mixed. One study found lower vitamin E levels in people with the condition than in healthy controls, while another found no difference at all. Conflicting data of this kind is a reason for caution, not confidence, and it does not amount to evidence that taking vitamin E treats the condition.
Does vitamin E oil help hair grow?
Vitamin E oil, applied to the scalp or hair, is popular, but there is little published evidence that it grows hair. What it can plausibly do is act as a mild antioxidant and a moisturiser, which may make the hair fibre feel smoother and look shinier without changing how much of it grows. If you enjoy using it as a conditioning oil, that is reasonable, but it is fair to treat it as a cosmetic rather than a hair-loss treatment, and to patch-test first, since oils can irritate some scalps.
Can too much vitamin E cause hair loss?
This is the part the marketing tends to skip, and it is the reason more is not better. As well as being unproven for growing hair, vitamin E can do harm in excess. The 2017 dermatology review notes that too much can cause hypervitaminosis E, which increases the risk of bleeding and lowers thyroid hormone production, and that there is some evidence of an adverse effect on hair growth itself: in volunteers taking 600 IU a day for 28 days, around 30 times the recommended intake, hair growth was affected and thyroid hormone levels fell. In other words, the same nutrient that is sometimes sold to grow hair has, at high doses, been linked to the opposite.
The bigger safety concern with very high doses is bleeding. The US National Institutes of Health explains that high doses of vitamin E can interfere with blood clotting and that clinical trials have found an increased risk of haemorrhagic stroke, the bleeding kind. The risk is greater for anyone taking a blood-thinning medicine such as warfarin or regular aspirin. This is a supplement to be respectful of, not to megadose.
How much vitamin E do you need, and how much is too much?
These are national dietary figures rather than advice for any individual, and none of them is a hair-growth dose. The NHS puts the amount you need at 4mg a day for men and 3mg a day for women, and its position is that you should be able to get all of that from a varied and balanced diet without supplementing at all.
If you do take a supplement, the NHS advises not to take too much, because it could be harmful, and gives a practical ceiling: taking 540mg a day, which is about 800 IU, or less from supplements is unlikely to cause harm. That is far below the doses used in the studies above, and well above what anyone needs, so there is no good reason to push towards it. As always, high-dose supplements are a conversation to have with a GP or pharmacist, particularly if you take any other medicines.
Where vitamin E comes from in a UK diet
Because deficiency is rare and food is the safe way to get vitamin E, it is worth knowing the good sources. The NHS lists plant oils such as rapeseed (vegetable oil), sunflower, soya, corn and olive oil; nuts and seeds; and wheatgerm, which is found in cereals and cereal products. For most people, a normal diet containing some of these provides more than enough vitamin E to support healthy hair, with none of the risks that come with high-dose supplements.
Other vitamins people ask about for hair
Vitamin E is one of several nutrients discussed in relation to hair, and the same principle applies to all of them: correcting a real deficiency can help, but loading up when your levels are already normal generally does not. If you are looking into this, our sibling guides cover the others honestly:
Selenium, the other dual-edged nutrient, where too much also causes hair loss
What does have evidence for hair loss
For pattern hair loss, the treatments with a genuine evidence base are minoxidil, applied to the scalp, and, for men, finasteride, a prescription tablet decided on with a doctor. For sudden diffuse shedding, the useful step is finding the cause, which is why a clinician will often check a full blood count, iron stores (ferritin) and thyroid function. None of this makes vitamin E harmful in normal amounts. It simply puts it in perspective: it is a vitamin your body needs, not a treatment for hair loss.
If you are considering a hair transplant or any other surgery, tell your surgeon and your clinic about every supplement and medicine you take, vitamin E included, and follow the pre-operative instructions they give you. This matters more with vitamin E than with most vitamins, because high doses can affect bleeding. Clinics differ in what they ask patients to stop and when, so the safe course is to disclose it and follow your own clinic's guidance rather than a general rule from an article.
The bottom line
Vitamin E matters as a nutrient, and a real deficiency, though uncommon in the UK, is worth finding and correcting. What the evidence does not support is the next step the marketing takes: that swallowing more vitamin E than you need will grow hair. The one small trial that is positive tested a specific tocotrienol supplement and did not change how thick the hair was, the broader reviews find no data for the common types of hair loss, and high doses can be harmful and have themselves been linked to reduced hair growth. If your hair is thinning or shedding, the most useful thing you can do is see a GP or a dermatologist, get tested rather than guess, and put your effort towards whatever the tests actually turn up.
Frequently asked questions
Does vitamin E help with hair loss?
It is not an established treatment. Correcting a genuine vitamin E deficiency may help, but deficiency is rare in the UK, and there is no good evidence that taking extra vitamin E helps hair loss in someone whose levels are already normal. A major review found no data to support vitamin E for the common types of hair loss, pattern hair loss and telogen effluvium.
Does vitamin E help hair growth or regrow hair?
The evidence is weak. The one human trial often cited, in 38 volunteers, used 100mg a day of mixed tocotrienols (a form of vitamin E) and found a rise in hair number over eight months, but no significant change in hair thickness, and it has not been confirmed by larger studies. It is preliminary rather than proof, so vitamin E should not be relied on to regrow hair.
Can too much vitamin E cause hair loss?
There is some evidence that it can. A dermatology review reports that high-dose vitamin E can have an adverse effect on hair growth, seen in volunteers taking 600 IU a day (about 30 times the recommended intake), alongside a fall in thyroid hormones. Very high doses also raise the risk of bleeding and haemorrhagic stroke. The NHS advises not exceeding 540mg (800 IU) a day from supplements, so more is not better.
Can a vitamin E deficiency cause hair loss?
Deficiency is uncommon in the UK and mostly happens with fat-malabsorption disorders such as Crohn's disease or cystic fibrosis. Its recognised effects are neurological, muscular, retinal and a form of anaemia, not hair loss, and a dermatology review states plainly that vitamin E deficiency has no known link to hair loss. It is an unlikely and unproven explanation for thinning hair.
How much vitamin E should I take a day?
For context, the NHS says men need 4mg a day and women 3mg a day, and that most people get all they need from a varied diet without supplementing. If you do take a supplement, the NHS advises that 540mg (800 IU) a day or less is unlikely to cause harm, and not to exceed that. Whether to supplement at all, and at what dose, is a question for a GP or pharmacist, especially if you take other medicines.
Does vitamin E oil help hair grow?
There is little published evidence that topical vitamin E oil grows hair. It can act as a mild antioxidant and moisturiser, which may make hair feel smoother and look shinier, so it is fairer to think of it as a cosmetic conditioner than a hair-loss treatment. If you use it, patch-test first, as oils can irritate some scalps.
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