Dietary Changes to Prevent Hair Loss

Experiencing hair loss is extremely difficult, especially when you are unsure of the cause, and it has come on suddenly. For many, it can cause panic and stress, which could fuel the rate of hair loss. It’s important to remember that hair growth occurs in cycles, and you might just be experiencing abnormal shedding. However, if you have identified real hair loss, your diet could be one of the contributing factors. 

Before you take severe and permeant action, hair transplant UK clinics recommend that you try to tackle your diet first. This may help slow down the rate of hair loss or at least stabilize it so you can be eligible for long-term solutions, such as a hair transplant. 

This is a quick guide to some eating habits and dietary changes you could make in your life to help manage your hair loss. 

Ditch The Paleo Diet

The Paleo diet is often referred to as the ‘caveman’ diet and prescribes all-natural foods, including fruits, vegetables, and lean meats or seafood. This is a limiting diet, which could cut off some vitamin types that are required for the body’s healthy function and production of hair follicles. In turn, the Paleo diet does not allow for potatoes, pasta, etc., which means many dieters opt for sweet potato as a substitute. Combined with high intakes of foods such as tuna, and leafy greens, like kale, you could be over-consuming on vitamin A.

Vitamin A is crucial for hair production, but overconsumption can have the reverse effect. Vitamin A is directly linked with hair loss and thus should be consumed in moderation as part of a balanced diet. 

Consume Foods With Good Quality Vitamin B

Vitamin B is related to healthy skin and hair cells; it can be found in foods that contain whole grains, red meat, eggs, and dairy products as well as legumes (beans and lentils) or leafy green veg. 

If you are experiencing hair loss, this is one of the critical causes as vitamin B deficiency is widespread (especially B6 & B12). Substituting meals or foods that have a low nutritional value with high vitamin B could be the answer, helping to facilitate a healthy scalp and hair growth. 

Avoid Fasting

Intermittent fasting is a dieting trend, prescribing that followers only eat within a bracket of time during the day. For many, this starts at 12 hours and then closes down to 9, 8, 5, and so on. The design is to help people lose weight, but it can have adverse effects on your hair and health in general if not handled responsibly. Alternatively, regimes such as the 5:2 diet are also a kind of fasting. 

Research shows that intermittent fasting diets could help lower cholesterol and increase cellular repair, which might be good for the hair. However, restricting calorie intake too much can be dangerous, as the body is unable to get the nutrition it needs to survive and work optimally. Hair cells and follicles are often one of the first areas of the body to shut down. 

Iron-Rich Foods

A lack of iron in your diet could push you into anemia, which is a blood disorder. You can consume iron supplements, which are available over the counter in stores. However, as part of a healthy balanced diet, you could introduce spinach, broccoli, lentils, and beans, (conveniently these are also rich in vitamin b). 

However, to help promote the body’s absorption of iron, you should eat them alongside vitamin-c rich foods, such as tomatoes, oranges, and berries. This could be in the form of a smoothie or fresh juice if that is more suitable. In turn, diacritics like coffee and tea are also likely to have the opposite effect. 

A healthy diet and investigating the nutrients you put into your body can only be a good thing. Even after committing to natural remedies to restore hair loss, if you are unhappy with your results, you may consider speaking to a specialist.