Recent research has suggested that certain diet trends could accelerate your hair loss. Therefore, if you’re finding yourself losing more hair than usual, you may need to rethink your nutritional intake.
Nutrients such as proteins, iron, vitamin C and omega-3, all work towards restoring and maintaining healthy and strong hair. Therefore, opting for a diet that restricts your intake of these nutrients may have a negative effect on your hair.
Veganism
A vegan diet involves only eating plant-derived foods. Therefore, any animal products such as meat, cheese and eggs are avoided.
With the increase in popularity of veganism, comes the news that this lifestyle may be to blame for hair loss. A meatless diet can lead to iron deficiency and iron is necessary for hair growth.
Although vegans can increase iron intake through eating foods such as spinach and beans; it’s more difficult to consume enough of this essential nutrient and this therefore increases your risk of hair loss. It is advised to take vegan supplements if you’re choosing to follow a purely vegan diet, this can help to make sure you get all the nutrients your body needs, that you may not get from your diet.
Vegetarianism
A vegetarian diet is less restrictive than a vegan diet and some vegetarians choose to consume animal products such as dairy and eggs. However, like vegans, vegetarians consume a mostly plant-based diet and are therefore more susceptible to hair loss.
Hair loss nutrient deficiency can arise from lack of vitamins and minerals such as iron, zinc and fatty acids. Consequently, when switching to vegetarianism or veganism, it’s crucial to consume a nutrient-rich and balanced diet to minimise the risk of hair loss.
Foods that cause hair loss
In many cases, there’s no one specific cause of hair loss and thinning locks could be down to any number of reasons. However, nutrition is a key factor in promoting healthy hair, therefore it’s important to take a look at your diet to see if there are any foods that could be causing your hair loss.
One of the minerals linked to hair loss includes selenium. Research has suggested that too much selenium in the blood could increase your risk of losing hair.
As well as this, fried and fatty foods can also accelerate your hair loss. This is because they contain trans-fats and fatty acids that are linked to hormone imbalances, which can cause you to lose your hair.
Restoring hair loss
If you’ve always wondered what vitamin deficiency causes hair loss and breakage, iron is most likely your answer. Both too much and too little iron have been linked to hair loss, therefore it’s important to get the right balance if you’re looking to revive your hair.
For vegetarian and vegan hair regrowth, increasing your intake of the nutrients that will help to nourish and restore your lost hair is the best way forward. This can be achieved by consuming supplements and rethinking your diet.
Increasing your intake of foods such as nuts and seeds, avocados and onions, as well as many other raw foods, can boost your levels of essential nutrients to help towards replenishing your hair.
Alternatively, if you find that your diet is not the root cause of your hair loss, it may be worth looking into a more permanent hair loss solution.
Here at Crown Clinic, we have a wealth of experience in hair transplants and we can help you restore your hair to its former glory. To see what we can do for you, book a consultation today.