Vitamin B5 is crucial for your hair health. Without it, your hair follicles wouldn’t be able to get enough nutrients to function effectively, resulting in reduced hair growth and even hair loss.
Keep reading to learn more about the benefits of vitamin B5 for your hair and how IV therapy can help you get more of this essential nutrient.
Benefits of Vitamin B5 on Hair
Vitamin B5, also known as panthenol, pantothenic acid, or pantothenate, is one of the most important vitamins for the human body. Adequate levels of vitamin B5 are necessary in order to metabolize other nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, convert them into usable energy, and nourish the cells in your body.
Vitamin B5 belongs to the group of eight B vitamins that are indispensable for:
- Healthy skin, hair, and eyes
- Optimal functioning of the nervous system and liver
- Healthy digestive tract
- Making red blood cells that carry oxygen through your body
- Processing other vitamins and in particular vitamin B2 or riboflavin
- Lowering cholesterol levels, and
- Producing stress-related hormones in the adrenal glands.
This essential vitamin is frequently used as an additive in cosmetics, including a variety of hair care products. When you apply panthenol to your skin and scalp, it quickly penetrates lower skin layers, significantly improving the shine, softness, and strength of your hair.
Panthenol is known for providing a host of benefits for the hair, for example:
Prevents hair loss
Vitamin B5 can reduce hair loss by strengthening strands and bases of hair follicles, which makes your hair look rich and thick. Increased intake of this powerful vitamin can be beneficial for preventing hair loss and encouraging the growth of strong and healthy hair.
Stops hair thinning
Products containing panthenol are a popular choice for anyone who has fine or brittle hair. When you wash your hair with a shampoo containing vitamin B5, the ingredient penetrates the hair shaft and helps improve moisture retention. Hair that is properly moisturized appears thicker and is more elastic and less susceptible to breakage. Regular use of hair products containing panthenol can help improve hair density, while at the same time it prevents further hair damage.
Protects hair from heat and pollution
Blow dryers and other heated hair tools, over-shampooing, sun exposure, as well as environmental pollution can damage your hair over time. Due to its humectant-like properties, vitamin B5 can help protect your hair. It allows to retain moisture that acts as a shield against damaging styling products and pollutants.
Helps define curls
Panthenol can have numerous benefits for your curly hair. It provides nutrients that strengthen hair and increase its elasticity, allowing for bouncy, luscious curls. Besides, panthenol's binding properties allow it to coat and seal the hair follicles, making your hair appear glossy and brilliant. And that’s not all. It also helps detangle, shine and retain moisture in your curls, reducing frizz and dryness.
Gives volume to hair
In addition to its ability to provide and lock in moisture, vitamin B5 acts as a weightless volumizer. It lifts your hair and makes it look fuller and softer. This nutrient has the ability to provide even more structure by adding layers of resilience and strength.
Makes hair soft and shiny
The use of vitamin B5-based products will help gradually smooth and soften your hair over time. Panthenol acts by building a thin layer of moisture along the surface of your hair which provides softness, shine, and flexibility without any added oils or greasiness.
With all these properties in mind, it comes as no surprise that vitamin B5 is a frequently used ingredient in many different types of hair care products.
Hair Products with Vitamin B5 to Help You Hair
Vitamin B5 is one of the most popular ingredients in hair products as it allows to both add volume and sheen to your hair, improve its texture, keep it moisturized, and avoid breakage.
Sometimes, you may find panthenol listed under one of its other names on the ingredients list in your hair care product, such as:
- Dexpanthenol
- D-pantothenyl alcohol
- Butanamide
- Provitamin B-5, or
- Alcohol analog of pantothenic acid.
Vitamin B5 is a key ingredient in a wide range of products for your hair, such as:
- Shampoos (OGX Vitamin B5 Shampoo)
- Conditioners (R+Co Atlantis Moisturizing B5 Conditioner)
- Hair masks (Oïléna Professional Hair Treatment With 5 Hair Oils and Provitamin B5)
- Hair repair treatments (Miessence Protect B5 Hair Repair)
- Curl care moisture products (Pantene Moisture Lock Curl Mist)
- Smoothing hair serum (100% Pure Pro-Vitamin B5 Smoothing Hair Serum)
- Hair color (L'Oréal Excellence Creme Permanent Triple Protection Hair Color).
In addition to using hair products fortified with vitamin B5, there’s another efficient way to help your hair look healthy—vitamin B5 intravenous therapy. Let’s take a closer look.
Using IV Therapy to Get Vitamin B5 for Your Hair
Intravenous therapy treatments are a fast and efficient solution if you want to get some extra vitamin B5 for your hair. Vitamin B5 booster is a great way to take advantage of your IV drip therapy by adding a highly concentrated dose of the vitamins or minerals to your drip. Vitamin B5 will not only help reinforce your follicles, but as an additional benefit, it will strengthen your brittle nails and reduce dermal inflammation.
All Reset IV products are fully customizable, allowing you to add vitamin B5 and other vitamins to any of our treatments. You’ll find that this add-on perfectly complements our beauty packages such as the Hair, Skin, and Nail Strengthener package or Skin Rejuvenation package, for example.
Along with your IV treatment, you should make sure to take enough vitamin B5 through a varied and healthy diet. Read on to see where you should look for this essential nutrient.
Adding More Vitamin B5 to Your Diet
Vitamin B5 is naturally present in foods and is also available as a supplement. Bacteria in the gut can produce some pantothenic acid too, but not in sufficient quantities to meet your dietary needs.
The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of vitamin B5 is 4–7 mg per day, depending on your age, gender, and other factors. However, larger doses are very unlikely to negatively impact your health.
The best way to make sure you are getting enough vitamin B5 is to maintain a healthy diet that includes a variety of vegetables, including:
- Broccoli
- Cabbage
- Avocado
- Potatoes
- Tomatoes
- Sweet potatoes
- Peas
- Mushrooms
Other healthy sources of B5 include:
- Whole-grain cereals
- Beans
- Lentils
- Nuts
- Chicken
- Beef
- Dairy products
- Eggs.
In fact, the word pantothenic comes from the Greek “pantou” meaning everywhere, as nearly all foods contain at least small quantities of pantothenic acid.
You should keep in mind that although vitamin B5 is widely available in food, it can be easily lost in processing, including canning, freezing, and milling. And as it is the case with all water-soluble vitamins, vitamin B5 is lost when food is boiled. To ensure an adequate intake of the vitamin, you should eat fresh rather than refined foods.
Vitamin B5 deficiency symptoms include fatigue, depression, insomnia, irritability, vomiting, stomach pains, and burning sensations in the feet. However, because vitamin B5 is present in so many types of food, this type of deficiency is extremely rare.