Hair Loss Is A Sign of Nutrient Deficiency – (Why & How to Fix)

In the Reddit Haircare Science forum, I noticed a question that many people want to know, which is how long it takes for a diet to repair hair. Redditors share their experience of stopping hair from falling and regrowing new hair. In short, it takes about 4-6 weeks to notice less hair fall, while a total hair cycle takes 3-6 months. You can take hair growth pills to see effective hair repairing results. But it still takes some time to make your hair grow.

In my option, I suggest taking natural supplements that support hair growth and thickness instead of chemical pills. No matter how organic those hair growth vitamins are, you can absorb more nutrients and feel more tastes from fresh food.

Healthy eating is good for hair growth and strength. Thus, unhealthy diets reduce overall hair health. To promote hair regrowth, you need to switch to a better diet. Not all popular diets are good for health. If you have no idea whether your diet food plan affects hair loss, or how nutrition affects your hair, you can continue reading to get more details.

• Malnutrition and Hair Loss
• 9 Best Diets and Hair Loss
• FAQs of Nutritional Deficiencies and Hair Loss

What Nutritional Deficiencies Cause Hair Loss

The lack of vitamin B12, biotin, folate, riboflavin, iron, zinc, magnesium, vitamin C, vitamin D can lead to thinning hair in different genders and ages. At present, iron nutritional deficiency is the most possible hair loss cause.

Can malnutrition cause hair loss? The answer is Yes. To some degree, hair can reflect the health condition of a person directly. Thick and shiny hair can be a sign of good health. If you suffer from sudden hair loss, you had better go to a doctor. If your poor hair condition is caused by unbalanced diets, you can take nutrient-rich food to grow hair back. In another word, you can eat a balanced diet to fix the not genetic hair loss issue gradually.

In most cases, nutrient deficiencies cause hair loss in males and females. You need to take enough healthy food to maintain healthy hair growth and a normal hair follicle cycle. If not, those hair follicles just starve to death. Dead hair follicles cannot grow new hair. But don’t worry about that. Dead hair follicles can be repaired. You can make your hair grow faster by taking good foods for hair growth.

Popular Diets and Hair Loss – Can Your Diet Cause Hair Thinning

There are various diets and eating habits for different reasons, such as weight loss, lockdown, laziness, healthy skin, illness, and more.  You may have a terrible and deficient diet for some time. As time goes by, the vitamin, protein, mineral, and fiber deficiencies lead to hair loss, rough skin, indigestion, tiredness, depression, etc. Poor diets bring many unexpected physical and psychological health problems. Hair thinning and falling out is some of the most obvious symptoms.

The following are trending diets in 2021. Some diets may work in weight loss or other areas. But it does not mean all of them are the best foods for thicker hair. Let’s see if nutrient deficiency causes men’s and women’s hair loss.

1.    Keto Diet & Hair Loss

What is a keto diet?

The ketogenic diet is an extremely high-fat and low-carb diet. You shouldn’t take grains, beans, most fruits, and vegetables. Because you need to maintain the high protein intake and consumption to make the body burns fat for energy.

Why keto diet cause hair loss?

However, the keto diet is not a healthy diet for most people. The keto diet side effects include fatigue, nausea, constipation, potential hair loss, and more. An incorrect keto diet leads to hair falling out. Commonly, people miss essential nutrients for healthy hair growth. The temporary weight loss makes people stressed, which causes hair shedding.

How to prevent hair loss on the keto diet?

You can take high-quality sources (eggs, poultry, etc.) and biotin contained foods (almonds, onions, walnuts, tomatoes, pumpkin seeds, cashews, etc.) to stop hair thinning and falling. Or you can take a multivitamin to intake base nutrients. 

2.    Vegan Diet & Hair Loss

What is a vegan diet?

A vegan diet cuts all meat and animal products. You can benefit from weight loss, lower blood pressure, and others by being a vegetarian. However, your body cannot provide enough protein for hair cell renewal and nourishment. The vegan hair loss problem is very common.

Can a vegan diet cause hair loss?

Yes. Some people prefer a vegan diet to lose weight. The rapid weight loss and low protein consumption will bring bad effects to your hair. Zinc and iron deficiency can lead to dull and unruly hair. You can see many vegans don’t have shiny and soft hair due to malnutrition. As time goes by, the hair loss speed is accelerated. You will lose more than 200 hairs per day.

What can vegans eat to prevent hair loss?

Vegans can keep hair healthy by eating tofu, green peas, quinoa, soy, chickpeas, black beans, and other good sources of zinc. Moreover, you can increase the amount of B12 supplements (nutritional yeast, tempeh, fortified cereals, etc.) into your vegan diet to strengthen hair.

3.    Paleo Diet & Hair Loss

What is a paleo diet?

A paleo diet persuades users to eat whole unprocessed foods that have been eaten by early humans. Fruits, vegetables, lean meats, nuts, seeds, and seafood are included in a paleo diet. However, grains, dairy, sugars, alcohol, starches, legumes, and other processed foods are not allowed to eat.

Why paleo diet affects hair thinning?

If you insist on a paleo diet, you will absorb too much vitamin A foods, such as sweet potato, carrots, tuna, butternut squash, dark leafy greens, and more. You can boost the immune function of your skin and improve vision with vitamin A nutrients. However, a high take of vitamin A accounts for hair loss. What’s more, the low intake of vitamin B contributes to paleo diet hair loss as well.

How to prevent hair loss in a paleo diet?

A well-rounded diet is better than anything. To stop paleo hair thinning, you can take nutrients of proteins, irons, vitamins, minerals, and more. Paleo diet has many side effects, including hair falling, bad breath, different bowel habits, lack of energy, etc. If you notice hair thinning after the paleo diet, you had better stop and take suggestions from experts.

4.    hCG Diet & Hair Loss

What is an hCG diet?

hCG diet is short for human chorionic gonadotropin. It is used to treat fertility issues in both males and females. The hCG proponents claim that people can low weight up to 1-2 pounds per day. However, FDA deems the hCG diet as a dangerous and illegal diet.

Is hair loss the long-term or temporary side effect of the hCG diet?

hCG diet causes hair loss temporarily. If you don’t eat on an HCG diet, you can re-balance your hormones and make hair grow normally again.

How to stop hCG diet hair loss?

If you are on an hCG diet, there is no way to combat hair loss. But hCG diet hair loss is not a permanent question. The noticeable hair loss will stop when you switch hCG to other healthy diets. After solving the nutrient deficiency issue, you can maintain the normal hair growth cycle again.

5.    Low Fat Diet & Hair Loss

What is considered a low-fat diet?

A low-fat diet provides less than 10% calories from fat. Most high-fat plant foods and animal products are limited. You need to trim all visible fats. Moreover, it is suggested to remove the skin from poultry to eat less fat in your diet. You can lose weight with low-fat and fat-free foods.  

Will a low-fat diet cause hair loss?

Yes. Ultra-low-fat diets are unhealthy. There are many potential health effects of essential fatty acid deficiency, including dry hair and hair loss. Your skin and body cannot maintain balanced oil production. The deficiencies in fat-soluble vitamins lead to fragile weak hair. Furthermore, you will feel constantly cold, hungry, and mental fatigue.   

How do you stop hair loss when dieting?

You can take some protein-rich foods to take sufficient iron intake. Meanwhile, you should also eat enough fish and nuts to get enough essential nutrients.

6.    Low Carb Diet & Hair Loss

What is a low-carb diet?

A low-carb meal plan restricts carbohydrates, including sugary foods, bread, pasta, etc. There are many different low-carb recipes. The suggested low-carb foods include eggs, meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, high-fat dairy, healthy oils. But sugar, wheat, seed oils, starchy vegetables, and trans fats are excluded from the low carb food list.

What are the side effects of a low-carb diet?

The possible negative effects of a low-carb diet include constipation, bad breath, heart palpitations, reduced physical performance, leg cramp, etc. Low carb and other calorie-restricted diets always bring significant stress. It also accounts for rapid hair loss.

How to minimize hair loss when starting a low-carb diet?

When you start a low-carb diet, you may suffer from temporary hair loss. It is not suggested to starve to lose pounds. You can eat healthy fat freely until you feel satisfied. Your body will tell you what you need.

7.    Low-calorie Diet & Hair Loss

What is a low-calorie diet?

It restricts the daily intake to 1200 to 1600 calories per day for men. As for women, the suggested calorie intake ranges from 1000 to 1200 calories. Reducing calorie intake is a good way to promote weight loss.

Can the lack of calories cause hair loss?

Yes. When you take too few calories, your body cannot get enough nutrients for body functions, not mention to hair growth support. A low-calorie food plan doesn’t offer enough iron, vitamin B12, and folate. Thus, you are in an extreme fatigue and anemia state in both physical and psychological.  

Will hair loss from weight loss grow back?

Yes. After your body accepts the diet change, the hair loss can stop gradually. Unhealthy diets cause sudden hair loss. Thus, if you want to reverse hair thinning, you can modify your diet to balance hormones and autoimmune order.

8.    High Protein Diet & Hair Loss

What is a high protein diet?

By cutting out carbohydrates, you can lose water and reduce weight quickly. Your body burns more fat for fuel due to carb deficiency. High protein foods are lean meat and dairy. You can eat a steak or similar-sized skinless chicken breast to get healthy protein. Eggs, fish, beef, and soy-based foods also bring fatty acids.  

Is a high protein diet bad for your hair?

You will feel less hungry due to ketosis. However, a high protein diet leads to irritability, nausea, bad breath, headaches, and other problems, as well as hair loss. The protein deficiency accelerates hair loss. But it is also not good to take too much protein-rich food. When you deprive your body of carb or certain foods, it just causes nutritional deficiency. If your body cannot function well, your hair cannot look good either.

9.    High Sulfur Diet & Hair Loss

What is high sulfur diet?

You can take high sulfur foods from both animal-based and plant-based proteins. Being the third most abundant element in your body. To make proteins for hair, skin, and nails successfully, there should be enough methionine and cysteine in your body. Thus, you can choose sulfur-containing foods from turkey, beef, eggs, fish, chicken, nuts, seeds, oats, walnuts, whole grains, allium/cruciferous/leafy green vegetables.

What are the side effects of sulfur?

If you eat too many sulfur-rich foods, you will suffer from brain damages, diarrhea, inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, and other intestinal problems. Thus, you may feel dryness or oil skin. There is no standard sulfur intake in your diet. According to the research, only people over the age of 75 have the possibility of sulfur intake.

Can you promote hair growth with sulfur?

Yes. Sulfur can strengthen hair and improve hair growth. You can switch the high sulfur diet to a balanced food plan. Just add some low sulfur food into your diet.

The above diets have different names, such as Gundry diet, Dukan diet, GI diet, and more. Most fat-burning diets aim to lose weight in a short time, which may be harmful to hair growth. Common nutrient deficiencies lead to trouble breathing, weakness, hair fragile, hair loss, pale skin, and more. Hair falling is a signal that there is something wrong with your body. You can choose the right foods to keep your hair thick and strong. The malnutrition hair loss problem can be reversed successfully.

There are no best and healthiest diet plans for everyone. What’s more, most weight-loss diets cannot provide essential nutrients. If you want to get skinny and lose 10 pounds in just 1 week, it is a huge burden for your body. Hair loss is one of the visible side effects. Despite short-term weight-loss, junk food, hormonal change, chemical, and other reasons can be hair loss in women and men cause too.

FAQs of Nutrient Deficiency and Hair Loss