Hair loss and Weight loss

[In2wishin]

I am disgusted with how much weight I have put on. I was a skinny kid but have struggled since becoming an adult. My last time losing weight was 10 years ago where I lost 90lb with Weight Watchers. After about 9 months my hair started falling out and I eventually lost half of my thickness, and only half of that ever grew back.

Has anyone gone on a long-term weight loss program and not had hair loss? Any suggestions for preventing it? I know my meals were a good balance of meat, dairy, grains, fruits, veggies. I also took a multi vitamin/mineral supplement that was around 100% RDA in everything and not too much of anything plus I took extra calcium.

Help! I really need to do this but I am scared I will end up with extremely thin or even no hair.

[PinkyCat]

I feel ya sister! I was a skinny kid too - until I was 25-ish.

Now, 10 years and 60 lbs. later, all those people who told me my eating habits would catch up with me...were right!! :(

I've always read that if you restrict your calories too much, & drop pounds too quickly, you will lose hair. But it looks like your diet has been pretty healthy, so I don't know why. Maybe hike up your protein?

Hope someone can give better ideas than me!

[MajorasMask]

How is your water intake?

[In2wishin]

How is your water intake?

It has always been good. No matter where my weight is I always drink 1-2 quarts water. I rarely buy soda for the house but I do drink plenty of milk and typically have a cup of coffee in the morning and occasional tea .

[MajorasMask]

Mm Okay. That's probably the biggest factor for most people I know who don't drink any water, since water helps control appettite and helps hair retain its elasticity.My immediate family usually confuses thirst for hunger, and put on the pounds that way.
I took a nutrition class last fall quarter, and I've learned that although you pee out whatever the body doesn't use, an overdose of vitamins can lead to adverse side effects, including hair loss. I'm not a nutritionist, but thats what I know from experience an education xD

[RitaCeleste]

I'm going to be purely evil. You can do an Atkins type of diet and eat plenty of protein and fat. You can track your calories to make sure they are not too low if you want on FitDay. And you should aim for one to two pounds a week weightloss after the first two weeks where you can loose more water. If you loose more than 3 pounds in a week, your hair could suffer later. Its slow weightloss that lets the skin have time to adjust, lets the hair grow and be healthy. Go slow, the results are so much better.

[MsBubbles]

I think this is mostly a 'your mileage may vary' issue. Everybody is different, and people react in vastly different ways to different nutrition. For me, the biggest factor is always iron, probably because I'm borderline anemic. In your case, you may simply have been taking in too few calories over a period of time. I.e. perhaps you could aim for a safer albeit slower weight loss rate this time and keep your hair.

The trouble with nutrient-deficiency related hairloss is that the shed doesn't usually happen until 3-4 months AFTER the trigger, by which time it might be too late to stop it.

Anyway, I'd just say don't do anything drastic at first and ease into whichever weight loss program you wish to try.

ETA: I'm agreeing with RitaCeleste!

[spidermom]

I think if you focus on eliminating non-essentials from your diet (white bread/rice/pasta/cookies, etc), you should be all right.

I don't remember ever having hair loss from dieting, but it's been a couple of decades since I kept up a diet long enough to lose significant weight, so my memory is blurred.

[LunaMoon]

I went in a diet 7 years ago and dropped 20 kilos (I think about 44 pounds? not sure) in 1 year.
I had no shedding at all but I learned to eat well. I never gain these pounds again and I don't control calories, I eat what I want.
It is difficult to give advices about what to eat because of the cultural differences. I know in most of countries people eat way more grains and carbs than French do, and most of people need to snack all the time.
I am following the traditional "mediterranean diet" that most of people eat around here and I sit down 3 times a day to eat and enjoy the food I am having. No snacks between. Tons of dark green salad (not letuce), cheeses, cooked vegetables at lunch and dinner, just changing the kind of protein source (animal, not grains or beans). Ah.. dark chocolat everyday, but no other sweets or sugar in the coffe.

[catholicteacher]

I am in the process of loosing considerable weight and have not had a hair loss issue. Other women losing weight with me via the same method have mentioned hair loss. The "mileage may vary" answer above is likely the truest, however, one of the things that I was doing differently than her was vitamin supplements. A few months before I started losing weight, I started taking vitamins specifically for hormone balance, (say goodbye to PMS/PMT.) In fact I have noticed thicker hair in general, similar to what other women experience with prenatal vitamins.

My weight loss has also been slow, 1-3 lbs a week & no more. It could be a combination of things rather than a magic bullet.

[Purdy Bear]

This is going to shock you but diets dont work. Iv been 14 stone 7 and then down to 8.5 and Im now 10st 10, so a stone over weight for 5ft 4 inches. I was 9 st 7 for 4 years and have just suddenly started climbing again due to inactivity - various pulled muscles and intestinal illness.

I tried every diet under the sun, and they just dont work long term. You need a life change and not a diet change.

The usual thing people get wrong is the quantity of good food you need to eat. DO NOT STARVE YOURSELF. Infact you need to stuff your face but with good nutritious food. If you starve yourself your body thinks theres no food so holds onto the fat, but if you eat very well and exercise then you will loose the fat and not the muscle.

Have large portions of fruit and veg, which are steamed, boiled not fried. Dont add sauces, dont drink too much alcohol and drink plenty of water for your climate. Get busy and active, it doesnt have to be actually sports, but just get moving a lot.

I think the hair loss comes because your eatting less, rather then what your eatting.

I would get the hair loss checked out by the Dr if it persists as it could have a medical cause and nothing at all to do with nutrition.

[jel]

When I was on the Atkins diet about a decade ago, I lost 50-60lbs (which I'd since put back on, lost again, back on etc.) and my hair got thicker and shinier. My skin showed improvement too.

How I understand it, it was the healthy proteins and fats (all natural: eggs, meat, fish, avocado, olive oil etc.) and lots of vitamins and minerals (from fresh veg, salads and a multi-supplement). I was also doing some exercise, and, importantly for hair loss, not starving myself.

But it really is an individual thing; as long as the basics are covered, different people have different nutritional requirements if they are to thrive.

[heidi w.]

A couple of things....

1. As you likely are well aware, the best way to lose weight is slowly. Not on some kind of shocking diet. Shocking diets produce shocking results, as in shocked hair, which falls out dramatically enough that we notice it.

Slow and easy wins the race, building a body that is able to train to the new regime of food intake.

2. It's common for formerly skinny kids to put on weight in adulthood. About age 25 is one of the first times we notice this change...maybe sooner, such as age 20.

3. Along with that change of body from teen to Adult is a change in the hair's volume. Most lose their kid volume around age 20-25, somewhere in that range. This is a reflection of hormones. Just because we arrive at a certain age doesn't mean our body remains static. Growth is more noticeable at younger stages, such as height, hair, breasts, .... but in truth our bodies are changing all the time all through our lifetime. Expecting that age 17-18 hair and skin endures all our lives is a mythical proposal and expectation.

You could consider taking a hair vitamin, which is typically incredibly high in Vitamin A. But beware, some folks can't handle all that Vitamin A, depending on the type it is. I am a person with already high Vitamin A, and I took a hair vitamin and ended up itching from the inside out, from under my skin. I ceased, upon doctor's direction, taking the Vitamin and the itchiness went away. The kind I was taking stored in the fat, and hence the itching around my thigh area.

I have a friend who has to beware of Vitamin A because of a kidney condition. A problem with prone to kidney stones.

So just be aware. Most do alright, but it can pose problems for some.

The other thing to give a try is Zinc.

heidi w.

[heidi w.]

You might also consider that if your hair is thinning this much from a balanced system of dieting that you may actually have an ongoing, yet undiagnosed issue, with your thyroid. Especially if it starts falling out in clumps, or begins thinning dramatically from the hemline upward.

Generally, a simple blood check will establish if you have even a borderline case of a thyroid issue. There are 2 types of thyroid issues, too, hypo- and hyper-thyroid.

Check it out if you're unaware of it on the internet. It's well documented.

heidi w.

[MidnightStar]

To echo everyone else here, it's my understanding that in most cases, the weight loss/hair loss thing becomes a problem when you aren't eating enough; i.e., starving yourself. I have a friend who dropped 100+ pounds in less than a year. She looked great, but she probably lost half her hair in the process.
I'm not a nutritionist, but I would imagine that as long as you make sure your diet is balanced and healthy you should be OK. I'd also recommend talking to your doctor about your weight loss plan, if you haven't already. :D And good luck!!

[Emmental]

As others have said, I lost a decent chunk of weight and I didn't have a problem with weight loss. I did lose it fairly slowly and lost it the healthy way (as opposed to starving).

Good luck on your journey!

[Cirafly24]

I'm in the process of losing a large amount of weight, and I haven't had a problem with hair loss. I've been losing slowly but steadily (44 lbs so far in 7 months), and making sure I have variety in my diet.

I was concerned in the beginning that I might start losing a lot of hair, because I've known people that have. One woman I know had bariatric surgery, and she lost so much hair that she needed to wear a wig because she had huge bald spots :o However, I decided that my health is more important than my hair (marginally ;)).

I think the most important thing is to lose the weight slowly, at 1-2 lbs per week. Not only will this help avoid excessive hair loss, it will help your body adjust to the loss as you go, and you will probably end up with less loose skin when you reach your goal. You'll also be more likely to keep the weight off when you lose it slowly, since you'll be developing healthier habits rather than just crash dieting.

I highly recommend Weight Watchers. They have a new plan that's extremely livable...I've been following it continuously since December, and I never feel like I'm on a diet.

[gogirlanime]

I have been losing weight, about 2-3 pounds a week and I have not noticed any extra shedding or loss, but my hair is only growing 1/2 of an inch now even with all of my growth aid vitamins and creams on my scalp. I was getting a full inch before I started exercising. I'm guessing this is the case because my body is using all the nutrients and protein to repair my body from the exercise. I take in 80-90 grams of protein everyday and I eat healthy and eat between 1,400-1,600 calories a day. I don't want to eat less than that because I'm afraid it will effect my hair.

It could be a number of things that caused your hair to fall out like that during weight loss, the stress of the exercise, lack of protein for your hair because your body is using it, lack of vitamins for the same reason, too few calories to sustain a healthy scalp, lack of specific vitamins.... etc. When you exercise really hard you sweat out a lot of iron, so if your diet didn't compensate it could have been that you became semi-anemic during your weight loss and that's what caused it.

[In2wishin]

Thank you everyone for your input! A couple of possibilities for what happened last time are:



I may not have been getting enough protein and/or fat
I probably wasn't getting enough iron
I checked my multi vitamin (still taking the same one) and it is low in 2 "hair" vitamins ... biotin and Vitamin A. I do not agree with mega doses but I will be adding enough to my routine to bring me up to the RDA with what I get from food being a bonus.


A few things I know it probably wasn't:


I drink enough water
I lost the weight slowly (averaged 2 lb a week)
My exercise was moderate (walked 45 min every morning)


I guess the ultimate choice is: which is more important .... healthy weight or hair? The obvious answer is a healthy weight but if I can keep the healthy hair too, all the better.

[MidnightStar]

Thank you everyone for your input! A couple of possibilities for what happened last time are:



I may not have been getting enough protein and/or fat
I probably wasn't getting enough iron
I checked my multi vitamin (still taking the same one) and it is low in 2 "hair" vitamins ... biotin and Vitamin A. I do not agree with mega doses but I will be adding enough to my routine to bring me up to the RDA with what I get from food being a bonus.


A few things I know it probably wasn't:


I drink enough water
I lost the weight slowly (averaged 2 lb a week)
My exercise was moderate (walked 45 min every morning)


I guess the ultimate choice is: which is more important .... healthy weight or hair? The obvious answer is a healthy weight but if I can keep the healthy hair too, all the better.

I completely missed the part of your original post where you mentioned you'd had the hair loss issue when you lost weight previously. But most definitely, as long as your diet is healthy, I can't think of any "normal" reason that you'd have been losing so much hair. There's really no reason that you shouldn't be able to keep healthy weight/healthy hair balance. :) My two cents is this...if you find it's a problem again, go see your doctor and talk to them about it. Hair loss is a side effect/symptom of LOTS of things and there's no way of knowing what it is unless you chat with a medical professional. Also, how's your vitamin D intake? I only mention this because I recently discovered I'm extremely, horrifically deficient (my doctor told me I was "basically a vampire" my levels were so low!) and that was part of the reason I had a supermassive shed this past spring. (I feel like I've become the poster child for vitamin D in the past few months, LOL!)
Good luck with your weight loss journey! I will echo a fellow poster re: the new Weight Watchers plan. I LOVE it. It took about a month for me to "adjust" to it but now I'm losing 2 lbs/week on average and I never feel deprived. :cheese: