Manganese Benefits For Hair
Manganese is an essential nutrient with potential health benefits for various body systems and tissues, including supporting optimal hair health. It is found in decent amounts in the soil and is readily absorbed by crops. Because of a shift in dietary patterns towards more processed foods, manganese intakes are much lower than they were previously in society. Some foods rich in manganese include sweet potatoes, white beans, green peas and cashew nuts.
This mineral derives most of its potential health benefits and effects within the body from its inclusion in various enzymes. Manganese is associated with fertility, bone formation and growth. Manganese also plays a role in blood clotting, where it helps wounds to heal properly. Because of its role in wound healing, blood sugar level regulation and bone formation, manganese may also positively influence athletic performance. It is essential within the brain, being key to brain neurotransmitter production, which means it may be a mild cognitive enhancer in the right amounts.
Because of its role in the brain, including metabolic growth support and indirect antioxidant protection, manganese could also encourage healthy hair growth. This has been suggested by research findings.
In this article, we will look at the health benefits of manganese with particular attention to how manganese affects hair cells and hair growth.
How Manganese Influences Our Health
Manganese is essential for various metabolic activities and physiological processes, therefore effecting optimal growth. Research has identified that manganese could be crucial in preventing osteoporosis, encouraging improved bone density, fertility and blood sugar level regulation. This is because of how our bodies interact with manganese and its chemistry within our cells.
Manganese And Our Metabolism
Manganese is very important in ensuring that body enzymes function properly. Enzymes often guide our metabolism, ensuring that growth happens the way it should. Our metabolism, or reactions that are occurring all the time in the body, are central to how our tissues and organs function. They also promote healthy growth. One reason why manganese is implicated in so many processes is because of how central many enzymes are to our metabolism.
The metabolism of proteins, carbohydrates and lipids throughout the body requires optimal amounts of manganese. For example, manganese is needed for the production of arginase, glutamine synthetase and pyruvate carboxylase, which all influence our metabolism.
Manganese And Superoxide Radicals
Mineral manganese is also a part of a key body antioxidant known as superoxide dismutase. Superoxide build can cause serious damage within the body. Free radicals, such as superoxide, cause damage to important cell parts which then need replacing. They can also cause cancers if they alter the DNA of key genes within cells.
Superoxide dismutase, as the name suggests, disrupts the chemical structure of superoxide. That makes superoxide less harmful, offering a protective function in different body systems and tissues. This is very important for maintaining optimal metabolism and growth. Often radicals are produced when the body is processing nutrients during metabolism or producing energy within the body. Antioxidants protect our metabolic processes and organs, supporting more optimal growth.
Manganese And Our Hair
Because of the role that manganese plays as a mediator of antioxidant activity, it could indirectly influence aspects of hair health.
Manganese also positively influences cellular energy or metabolism, while also encouraging connective tissue development and activates key enzymes. These are all influencing factors in the regulation of healthy growth within the body, including hair. Hair growth needs a constant supply of nutrients. These nutrients are processed, often requiring enzymes and form hair.
The brain seems to be a vacuum for manganese, being essential in the production of brain neurotransmitters and development of brain cells. There is evidence that manganese plays a role in neurological ageing. While manganese plays an ancestral role in regulating cells to ensure they operate in conditions that are more optimal. This creates a negative gradient within the body where it becomes hungry for manganese in the brain. That is another important reason why it is really important to make sure that our levels of manganese in the body are optimal.
Some studies have linked low levels of manganese to slowed hair and nail growth, as well as dermatitis. This is likely to be because of how important manganese is to an optimal metabolism and its importance in the brain. Based on the research, consuming manganese regularly in the right amount, should have the potential to improve hair and nail growth rates.
Manganese, Fertility And Athletic Performance
Manganese may also influence reproductive hormone functioning, being essential for steroid hormone production and this is a means as to how it could influence fertility. Improved levels of some hormones are thought to not just influence our fertility but encourage more optimal athletic performance. While bone density also influences strength. Deficiencies in manganese can also increase blood calcium and phosphorus levels, which is a negative for bone density. Because of the central role manganese plays in our metabolism through more optimal growth, including improving bone density, manganese may be a mild performance enhancing mineral. The indirect antioxidant activity of manganese could also delay fatigue, improve growth and enhance athletic performance.
Manganese RDA
Manganese is readily absorbed from supplements and food in our small intestine. Our bodies can store manganese quite well, with this mineral found in our bones, brain and liver. Because of cellular storage, our dietary intakes don’t always match levels of manganese in the blood.
Mineral manganese is needed at concentrations of 2.3mg a day for men and 1.8mg for women within the body. This is only a minimum guideline amount. The upper intake limit is 11mg per day, which is the tolerable amount you can consume with an unlikely rating for harmful side effects. Therefore, you can easily manage your daily intake of manganese and aim for around 2.3mg a day.
Because of the activity of manganese within the brain, excessive manganese consumption could affect our brain chemistry. Side effects include headaches, changes in balance or muscle spasms. Disturbances in manganese levels are to be avoided considering how they are a mineral metal and could influence antioxidant status in the body. While we do require manganese, it is important to outline that excessive consumption can be harmful.
Summary
Manganese is a very essential mineral that is required for many different processes within the body. This is why manganese may have potential benefits for hair health, improving bone density, wound healing and brain health.
Manganese influences metabolism, because of its inclusion in various enzymes and therefore growth. This is one of the main means as to how manganese can have benefits for hair health. This is evidenced by studies that suggest manganese deficiencies discourage healthy hair and nail growth.
Manganese also has indirect antioxidant protection, because of its central role in the production of the superoxide dismutase enzyme. Antioxidants protect our tissues from aggravated damage that needs repairing. Antioxidants are important for healthy growth, including of hair, which means this is another way that manganese can influence hair health.
The brain is very manganese hungry, being essential in the production of brain cells and neurotransmitters. This is another influencing factor in the health of cells in the general area of the brain, where hair cells are and an important reason why you should ensure you consume enough manganese.
Manganese could also influence the activity of hormones and therefore it may also provide a mild performance enhancing effect. This is separate to the athletic effects that could result from improve bone density and metabolism.
These are all important reasons for ensuring you are consuming your RDA of manganese, while it is also important to be aware of potential side effects from manganese toxicity. However, manganese toxicities require you to consume a lot of manganese. Manganese could have benefits to your hair through improved hair cell growth and metabolism.
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