“The strategies that come out with the microbiome are so incredibly powerful,” Davis says. “Think of it like going to a restaurant. You don’t have to panic and say, “I can’t possibly order all these appetizers, entrees, and desserts.” You pick and choose the one you want. We can do the same in the microbiome.” Sure, it’s not as simple as ordering dinner, but researchers are starting to pinpoint specific types of microbes that are especially good for mental health versus skin health versus metabolic health, and so on.

And in the case of hair growth, a 2013 animal study looks promising. Originally, the researchers wanted to measure the GI immune-related benefits of L. reuteri, “but they noticed that the mice given the reuteri developed all sorts of unexpected effects,” Davis says. “Their skin healed faster. They had shinier, damp hair.” Not to mention that the mice had thicker skin and stronger, luscious hair after eating the probiotic-laced yogurt and drinking L. reuteri-infused water — meaning there was something about this particular one. probiotic strain that led to what researchers called a “blaze of health.”

So where can you get such a great probiotic strain? Well, a Swedish brand called BioGaia includes L. reuteri DSM 17938 in their Gastrus probiotic chewable tablets, but Davis notes that it contains a low dose of microbes because it was originally intended to support the gut health of babies. To get more of an adult dose, Davis makes a yogurt with the BioGaia tablets, as the fermentation process increases the bacteria count. (Find his exact recipe here.) “This is anecdotal, but thousands of people are eating this yogurt with super-duper high reuteri counts, and virtually all of the observations made in mice are in humans,” he says, including ( yep) luscious hair growth.

This post Can Probiotics Help With Hair Growth? Here’s What We Know was original published at “https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/probiotics-hair-growth”