Can Dieting Make You Lose Your Hair?

If you are on a diet and losing weight, you are doing something really good for yourself. You deserve a lot of credit for taking care of your health.

But here’s one for the “no good deed goes unpunished” file: Dieting can sometimes cause hair loss.

How does that happen, and what can you do to prevent it?

3 Ways That Losing Weight Can Make You Lose Your Hair

Losing weight too quickly, being on a diet deficient in certain nutrients, and weight-loss surgery can all cause you to lose your hair.

1. Hair growth occurs in a cycle. There’s a stage of active growth, followed by an inactive stage, which is followed by the hair falling out. When people lose weight quickly, that puts stress on their bodies, which makes the hair growth cycle speed up, causing the hair to fall out more quickly. Usually, this will happen for the first three to six months of weight loss. After that, your body may adjust, and your hair growth cycle may go back to normal.

You could avoid this altogether by losing weight more slowly. Many experts recommend losing only 1% of your body weight — or approximately one to two pounds — per week as the safest way to lose weight.

2. If your diet heavily restricts certain kinds of food, you may have nutritional deficiencies which can cause hair loss. Unlike the temporary disruption of your hair growth cycle caused by rapid weight loss, nutritional deficiencies can cause permanent hair loss problems. Be sure that you are eating enough protein and healthy fats, and that you are getting enough iron, Vitamin B12, biotin, and zinc.

3. People who have bariatric surgery need to be especially careful to avoid any nutritional deficiencies that could result in hair loss. Be sure to get enough protein and to take any vitamins your doctors recommend.

Diet is just one factor that can affect hair loss. If you are losing hair for whatever reason, you should know that modern hair transplant techniques do a wonderful job in restoring a vibrant and youthful appearance. For state-of-the-art hair loss surgery in New York, contact the Metropolitan Vein and Aesthetic Center for a free consultation, where you can learn more about the latest hair restoration techniques and how they can help you achieve the look that you want. Call us at 914-295-2202 today!