Diet for Hair loss

Having a hair loss problem is often quite embarrasing and awkward especially for women. Hair loss may occur at any part of the scalp; at localised patch or the whole scalp.

Causes of hair loss
One of the possible reasons for hair loss is deficiency in protein, zinc, vitamins B and C. It can also be your body's way of signalling stress, anaemia, thyroid dysfunction, gastrointestinal (for women) or diabetes. If your hairloss is diagnosed alopecia areata, it can be due to food sensitivity. Sudden change in diet, chemotherapy or after pregnancy (for women) can also cause extreme hair loss. I say 'extreme' because it is normal that we shed 50 to 100 strands of hair daily. That sounds alot of strands but if you count the strands, this number range is Normal.

Good Diet Plan
The good diet to prevent hair loss is to eat enough protein (excluding animal meat), zinc, iron, vitamins B and C. For easy way out, you can take multi-vitamins supplements daily. If you prefer the natural sources, you can find them in whole grain cereal, wheat germ, oats, brown rice, nuts and seeds, cheese, fish and eggs.

Diet for medical condition
For Alopecia areata, keep a diet log book or at least keep mental track of your diet enough to identify the food you are sensitive to. For hair loss due to gastrointestinal, take acidophilus tablets or acidophilus-containing cultured milk drink (e.g Yakult or Vitagen) at least once a day should do the trick. For thyroid dysfunction, primerose oil is reccomended.

Food to avoid
Where possible, reduce or avoid refine carbohydrates, animal meat, high fat, high salt or high sugared food, especially the processed ones.


Related literatures:

1) Remedies for Hair loss - separating fact from fiction

2) American Academy of Dermatology - hair loss