Many people in Irvine, CA, noticed a few negative changes occurring with weight loss. Hair loss was one of those problems. Unless there’s a health issue causing the weight loss, you aren’t destined to lose your hair or have other negative side effects. It’s all about how you lose the weight. Rapid weight loss causes acute telogen effluvium—TE. It starts after three months of rapid weight loss or other trauma that causes stress or shock to the body. It can occur due to nutritional deficiencies caused by restrictive diets but usually lasts only 6 months or less.
Crash dieting can lead to inadequate calories and nutrients for proper hair growth.
Extreme calorie restriction diets are stressful and don’t provide adequate calories or nutrients to allow hair to grow correctly. People constantly shed hair and replace it with new hair. If the nutrients to create the new strands aren’t available, it doesn’t stop the normal hair loss, so hair thins. Iron deficiency can cause hair loss. Crash diets can cause iron deficiency. Nutrients like zinc, essential fatty acids, protein, and vitamins B, C, D, A, and biotin, are also necessary to complete the growth cycle.
Your hair requires amino acids.
Keratin is necessary for hair growth. Keratin is made from amino acids found in protein. If you don’t have enough keratin, your hair will produce hair follicles slower than it loses them. If you’re vegetarian, vegan, or are on a restrictive diet, you may not have adequate dietary essential amino acids. Your body diverts the limited protein to vital functions such as hormone production, tissue repair, balancing water and pH, and digestion.
Stop hair loss with a healthy diet.
Even if you want to lose weight fast, it can take its toll on your body and show in the hair first. Fad diets may help you lose weight quickly, but that lost weight comes at a high price. Not only will you lose hair, but your metabolism will slow, muscles will wither, and it can affect your skin, causing it to be dry and wrinkled, or triggering a breakout. The slower your metabolism, the more the potential to regain the weight and a few more pounds. Losing a pound or two a couple of weeks before a special occasion is one thing but attempting to lose 15 to 20 pounds in a month is quite another. It can be dangerous.
- Even if you eat adequate protein, if you don’t get all essential amino acids, such as leucine, valine, cysteine, and histidine, it can cause hair loss. Studies show deficiencies in these four amino acids are common in people who lose weight.
- Lack of nutrients also creates weak hair that breaks more easily. Not only will it be replaced slowly, but it will also break off quicker, exacerbating hair loss.
- Eating a whole food balanced diet can help stop hair loss. It will take a few months, but eventually, your body will have the necessary nutrients to create healthy hair strands.
- While most hair growth supplements are safe, the best way to deal with hair loss is with a healthy diet that provides macro and micronutrients, plus phytochemicals that encourage hair growth.
For more information, contact us today at Next Level Fitness