Dieting & Hair Loss

[wishywashy]

I am planning on starting a new diet and exercise regime this week. Nothing too extreme, mainly proteins and lots of veggies and brothy soup....no dairy or fattening foods and of course tons of water.

I am hoping for at least 15 pounds off at a minimum.

My question is, has anyone experienced hair loss along with their weight loss?

If YES, how much did you lose and was it really noticeable?

If NO, what did you do to prevent it?

Thanks!!

[millyaulait]

I did experience hair loss, but it was because my diet was extremely unhealthy (<500kcal per day) & turned into an eating disorder.

I think if you really do get a varied diet and make sure you're *absolutely* getting enough calories that your body needs then I don't think it should be a problem..

[Jing]

As long as you aren't depriving your body of nutrients, your hair should be fine. A healthier diet generally does hair a lot of good, in fact. I'm not sure if there are any thread specifically on that topic, but better eating habits is often mentioned as a cause of increased thickness, growth rate etc.

[jel]

I have mentioned this on LHC in the past, but I'll say it again: when I was on Atkins for a year (losing 60 lbs), my hair became the thickest it had ever been. Shiny too! I was wearing a short bob at the time, so can't vouch for the speed of growth, but definitely experienced no hair loss whatsoever, on the contrary.

BTW, I was eating the healthy version of Atkins, with home-made food, lots of veggies, fish, chicken, eggs, and lots of healthy fats too (avocados, olive oil, salmon, and also Vit E and EPO supplements).

[EtherealDoll]

When I was eating less than 500 kcal a day for two and a half weeks, my hair started falling out. But if you're eating a healthier diet, then you should be fine.

[Shesta]

For me it's very hard to find the balance between diet on which I'm losing weight and diet on which I'm not losing hair.
Last winter I had a very bad episode and I lost *really damn lot* of hair. The insane shedding only decreased when I started eating normally again, that being maybe 1200-1500 cal/day, raw veggies, proteins. Unfortunately, then I also gained some 3-4 kgs

[wishywashy]

Thanks for the replies and votes!

Hmm, I am interested in looking into that healthy version of the Atkins diet. If I can learn how to eat good fats for the sake of my hair then I can't wait to see the results.

How do I know which is the healthier version of Atkins?

[leslissocool]

I lost 81lb and no, my hair did not thin out, no hair loss or anything!

OP, a healthier version of an atkins is pretty much one that does not exclude vegetables and fruit and concentrates on lean protein.

I don't at simple carbs. However I do eat fruit and vegetables (except potatoes, and corn, I do have it occasionally though). I get my protein from fish, chicken, nuts, whey protein powder, turkey and I eat red meat once every 2 weeks or so.

I'm anemic so I need a ridiculous amount of protein and iron, or else I really start feeling bad and my hair falls.

Just no sugar, processed foods in general, or grains. I get 80-100 g of carbs a day from fruit and vegetables. The recommended amount is about 120g. So as you can see, I'm more of a controlled carb low glycemic diet than Atkins. I get my fat from avocados and peanut butter (I don't cook with oil, I'd rather eat those calories in an avocado!).

[AmandaKoiter]

I found that when I changed my diet (I've followed a primal/paleo diet for over a year now) that my hair got healthier. I even noticed that I didn't get the post-partum shed after my second pregnancy like I did with my first. I attribute it to the fact that I eat more than sufficient amounts of protein and tons of fruits and veggies.

[Yozhik]

I've been experiencing some hair loss, but I can't tell if it's seasonal shedding or from weight loss. :-/

My diet has still remained fairly healthy, though, and I've only lost 9 lbs, so at this point, I'm sticking with the theory that it's seasonal.