How Prebiotics Can Help Your Hair and Scalp Health

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Mar 15 2020,

2 Min read

Most of you have probably heard of probiotics, the live micro-organisms found in foods such as yogurt, kimchi, and kefir—and, more recently, infused into skincare products—but have you heard of prebiotics?

Probiotics’ primary benefit: helping us increase the “good” bacteria in our digestive system and thus limiting the proliferation and negative effects (irritation, inflammation) of “bad” bacteria. The latest findings, however, suggest that loading up on probiotics in our diet and skincare may not be the only way to support a healthy balance of good and bad bacteria. Utilizing prebiotics, a type of food for the good bacteria, may also be an essential way to improve this ratio too. Why? Well, feeding good bacteria helps it grow…and multiply. Here’s how.

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Boost the good bacteria balance in your gut and on your skin

Dialing up your intake of prebiotic-rich foods like leeks, onions, corn, garlic, bananas, and asparagus will boost their numbers in your gut. Improving the bacteria ratio on your skin is best achieved by applying topical products laced with prebiotics.

At Prose, we want to help you do the latter. We believe that improving the balance of bacteria on the skin (or, specifically the scalp, since we’re all about helping your hair) can help with stinging, redness, flakes and/or itchiness. We also believe using prebiotics to balance the bacteria on the scalp is important because healthy scalp skin will support nourished, productive hair follicles—leading to stronger, more resilient future hair growth. This is why we have decided to add a topical prebiotic to our lineup of active ingredients.

Make it skin and scalp friendly

As with all of our active ingredients, the Prose research and development team spent months researching and testing a variety of prebiotic options. Their ultimate selection: a prebiotic sourced from GMO-free corn grown in France. To turn this prebiotic into a skin-friendly ingredient, the sugars in the corn are extracted then mixed with a fermenting enzyme. The result is a lightweight additive that easily spreads over the scalp, feeding the good bacteria and helping to minimize irritation.

This corn-based prebiotic additive will be paired with skin-soothing wintergreen oil and added to shampoos and scalp masks primarily for clients who complain of flakes, itchiness, or post-chemical-treatment sensitivity. With consistent use, most should see a significant improvement in scalp health within a month.

Is your scalp chronically itchy, flakey or sensitive? It may be time to shift the balance of bacteria. To create your own custom scalp-soothing regimen—and discover the healing benefits of prebiotics—get started here.