Hair Loss Due To Diet

In an age where social media has made a large amount of people extremely image conscience and consistently seek validation through apps including Instagram and Snapchat, many individuals end up trying numerous diets in an effort to look their best. For many of these people, the willingness to try alternative approaches to weight loss – as opposed to the universal standard of simply counting calories – can leave them lacking in certain nutrients that are instrumental for healthy hair grow growth. So, how can one go about avoiding hair loss due to diet?

Hair loss due to diet is surprisingly common in throughout the world due to a lack of health education. Luckily, with small amendments, the issue can often be reversed. By ensuring that you have enough iron, B vitamins, zinc, ferritin and protein, unnecessary hair can easily be avoided.

Why can a bad diet lead to hair loss?

Simply put, your body is no fool. Like a well-engineered machine, when it is provided with food, it directs all the energy from the nutrients to the most vital areas first – the heart, lungs, liver, kidney and brains. Once these have been taken care of, the body will then provide nutrients to the areas that are less important for survival – such as the nails and hair.

By not providing your body with the correct amount of nutrients for both your vital organs and the growth of nails and hair, then you will have a higher chance of hair loss than an average person.

Hair loss due to ‘yo-yo’ dieting

‘Yo-yo’ dieting is a phrase used to describe people who move from one diet to another in succession in a desperate struggle for results. What many people are not aware of is that every different diet requires the body to adjust the way it works before weight loss can occur. For example, simply eating low-carbohydrate foods will not help you to loss weight until your body has entered ketosis – whereby the body learns to burn fat as an energy sauce.

This style of dieting can lead to a shift in gut flora, leading to illness and an inability to absorb nutrients in the same way a person following a normal diet would.

It’s always important to realise that many diets are simply trends, and are not necessarily backup up by peer-reviewed science. As a result, hair loss has been observed in both men and women when they choose to constantly confuse their body with different approaches to eating and digesting.

Hair loss due to low ferritin levels

A ferritin deficiency is the single biggest cause of hair loss in women and is especially common in those who practice a vegan diet. While veganism is a great way to support the health of the planet, there are certain downsides to these diets, and that is the lack of certain nutrients such as ferritin.

Ferritin is a universal intracellular protein that controls the release of iron into the bloodstream. Low ferritin levels often mean that your body is iron deficient, and while non-vegans are able to recover this deficiency via the ingestion of other sources of protein, such as cheese, milk and yogurt – vegans are not and merely taking multivitamins is no substitute for the full range of nutrients that can be gained from these sources.

Which other nutrients and vitamins are important for hair growth?

The following are nutrients that need to be absorbed to ensure healthy hair growth:

• Vitamin A – Helps cell growth and production of sebum, which moisturises the scalp keeping hair healthy.
• Biotin – This is a B-vitamin that help to transport oxygen and nutrients to the scalp.
• Vitamin C – Helps the body to raise ferritin levels and produce collagen, as well as prevent oxidative stress.
• Vitamin D – While studies are ongoing, current research states that healthy levels prevent
• Vitamin E – Functions similarly to vitamin C and while supplemented in lab tests, test subjects experienced an increase in hair growth rate by 5%.
• Iron – This is essential for oxygen transportation around the body and to areas such as the scalp.
• Zinc – Helps to keep the oil glands on the scalp working correctly, keeping follicles healthy.
• Protein – Hair is entirely made from protein, so it makes sense to provide your body with reasonable amount on a daily basis.
• Omega fatty acids – omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are extremely important for the health of your heart, and a lack of these acids are known to encourage hair-loss and decrease hair density.

If you are worried that you are suffering from hair loss due to diet, at the Hair Growth Studio, we will always be available to provide you with support as well as numerous effective therapies to help you recover. So, please book a consultation with the Hair Growth Studio if you’d like personally-tailored advice from an expert.