(TRIGGER WARNING) How long can you go without eating before you suffer hair loss?

[vampyyri]

I tried, but the forum is working SOOO slowly for me right now! Every load takes a minute or more. Ugh!

Thank you, very much appreciated!

[Ylva]

It's up now, thanks, because I agree that it should have some kind of warning on it... messing around with this is... tough. You don't want to do it, and nobody does this willingly. It is a disorder for good reason. I was on the brink of one, and up to age 40 I had it mess with my head.

I do do it willingly; fasting is a huge part of my lifestyle for its health benefits. It's a must for me to keep my body and mind healthy! But of course, I always recommend doing everything in a healthy way and slowly getting into things. And I most definitely do not live in a calorie deficit but rather switch between fasting and feasting.

[lapushka]

Oh that's not exactly what I meant by "not willingly". I mean the destitute starvation and the disorders. Not the intermittent fasting moments. Fasting is even in any type of religion. Never hurt anybody. I mean the disordered eating patterns, the not letting yourself have good food, ever. Picking it apart. And whatever else goes with a true disorder. Yeah, a little fasting never hurt!

[angel-baby]

My hair really suffered when I had anorexia. I don't like to describe the behaviors I was using because I don't want to give out "tips" even unintentionally, but I didn't fast all that often. Still, I wasn't getting enough nutrients and my hair (and skin and nails) were the first things to pay the price. I still remember the disgusting feeling of experiencing so much hair fall when I was in the shower that it felt like whole locks of hair were coming out all at once. Even after recovering (and relapsing...and recovering...and relapsing...and finally really recovering at the age of 30) it took a long time to gain back the hair thickness I used to have.
I feel so sad for my past self. I was using eating disorders as a prolonged and brutal form of self harm, and thankfully I didn't manage to do much of the lasting damage I was hoping to inflict.

[SeppV]

My hair really suffered when I had anorexia. I don't like to describe the behaviors I was using because I don't want to give out "tips" even unintentionally, but I didn't fast all that often. Still, I wasn't getting enough nutrients and my hair (and skin and nails) were the first things to pay the price. I still remember the disgusting feeling of experiencing so much hair fall when I was in the shower that it felt like whole locks of hair were coming out all at once. Even after recovering (and relapsing...and recovering...and relapsing...and finally really recovering at the age of 30) it took a long time to gain back the hair thickness I used to have.
I feel so sad for my past self. I was using eating disorders as a prolonged and brutal form of self harm, and thankfully I didn't manage to do much of the lasting damage I was hoping to inflict.

Sounds awful. You know, sometimes you want to go back and tell your past self to stop destroying your life. I have wished that was possible many times! At least it's very good that the effects were not lasting for you, but the fact that you got hair fallmaybe even before you expected it yourself just proves to show there is no way of "controling" how or how fast the body reacts when you strip nutrients and/or calories from it in an unhealthy way.

[Whirly Girly]

I’m not sure how long one can go without eating, before losing hair. I certainly wouldn’t recommend trying it, to find out!


Frankly, I would think anyone who is not eating for an extended period, would know that losing hair is the least of their worries.


I once went on a very calorie-reduced eating plan for 6 months. I was eating 3 meals a day but they were small meals, with measured and weighed portions…..doctor-approved. I did notice that I had more hair loss than normal….but shortly after I added a bit more protein, it stopped.


As a side note: I’m very leery about taking vitamins of any kind until I get a blood test to see if I’m actually deficient in that particular vitamin. So many people just pop vitamins like they’re candy….without even checking with their doctor….following bad advice from internet gurus. Vitamins can actually be harmful if you’re not deficient….many people don’t realize this.

[angel-baby]

Sounds awful. You know, sometimes you want to go back and tell your past self to stop destroying your life. I have wished that was possible many times! At least it's very good that the effects were not lasting for you, but the fact that you got hair fallmaybe even before you expected it yourself just proves to show there is no way of "controling" how or how fast the body reacts when you strip nutrients and/or calories from it in an unhealthy way.

So true!! Thank you for your empathy <3 I’m overly conscious of eating an extremely varied and nutritious diet now, as well as getting enough hydration, to hopefully counteract any longer lasting deficiencies I might not know about.

[zhivago]

it's me, i eat very irregularly, and my hair gets very dry and brittle. so i don;t recommend

[Arcticfoxes]

From personal experience: Around 3 months.

From scientific literature: Seemed to be somewhere in the region of 6 weeks, from memory of when I read trials.

And that's not just in eating disorders, that was just on a weight loss diet. The body hates calorie restriction. It seems you would have to only reduce by 100-200 calories from maintenance for your body not to freak out. (Source: Kahm Clinic Dieticians on youtube).

[Arcticfoxes]

Sorry for double posting, don't have permissions to edit yet.

Wanted to add that my hair loss started probably around 3 months into anorexia and then I lost about a third of my hair within less than a year. This was over a decade ago, but I remember it well.

You wouldn't lose as much on a restrictive but not disordered diet.