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Hair loss as a vegan

4K views 25 replies 19 participants last post by  Citrus333 
#1 ·
I've been vegan since the start of July, and have made a real effort to do it healthily - using Cronometer to make sure I'm getting enough vitamins and minerals, cooking healthy meals, never going hungry or restricting the amounts I eat, and taking B12 and D. I feel great about my decision, after watching Earthlings, Cowspiracy, etc. I really want to stick with this.

Thing is, my hair is falling out. In large quantities. I'm 23 and this has been going on for about 3 weeks now, even just running my hands through it strands just come away every time and I can feel a big difference in its volume. A google search showed me lots of people have had this issue, but has anyone on here experienced it or found a solution? Apart from this I feel great, have plenty of energy, etc. But it's scary and I feel like maybe I should go back to eggs/dairy/ some fish, as I don't want to go bald... nothing else in my lifestyle has changed except my diet. Anyone? :serious:
 
#2 ·
My hair starting thinning in the past when I lost a lot of weight (before I was vegan). It was noticeably thinner but it never got to the point where it looked bad. It came back in normally when I hit my goal weight and ate a normal amount of calories, but it definitely freaked me out.

Useful article on vegan hair loss: http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/hairloss

I would see a doctor or RD and get a blood test.
 
#3 ·
This started happening to me when I went vegan. I was a newbie and having doubts, so I went pescatarian for a few months to see if this would make a difference. Even though I consumed some eggs, milk, and fish--I did not see any change in the hair loss. I decided that I wasn't going to go back to consuming the amount of animal products that I had been previously and so I went back to being vegan. I still continue shedding a lot of hair 10 years later--but I do not lose enough where my hair is thinning or I am going bald. I really can't figure out what the reason is for this, but I get labwork done twice a year and it is always excellent.
 
#4 ·
One possibility could be hypothyroidism. Hair loss is one common sign of that.
If your consuming no adequate sources of iodine or are consuming known goitrogens like lemon balm or millet you may want to address that. I managed to cause hypothyroidism with lemon balm, it wasnt pretty- lol

Once the cause is fixed a one or two month course of Ashwagandha may help the body bounce back. Theres evidence it helps to counter hypothyroidism at least to a limited degree and it helps healthier skin, nails, and hair grow in.
 
#5 ·
Hi clementine,

The first thing we should suspect is lack of calories; this is the most common mistake made by new vegans (including myself when I became vegan 24 years ago).

What is your daily calorie intake, according to Cronometer?
 
#7 ·
You say you are using cron-o-meter (I use it to) so you take enough calories for your age/weight/height? Average is 2000 for a woman but might be more if you are raw vegan. I never notice me loosing more hair when I went vegan but I know a lack of calories or rapid weight lost do just that, vegan or not. If you get all your nutrients on cron-o-meter then it's not a lack of animal proteins because you replaced them just fine.
 
#12 ·
Hair goes through growth, rest, and loss cycles unnoticed. I first realized this when I got my hair at the beginning of a new job. One woman commented after a few months that my hair didn't seem to ever change. My hair is normally so fast growing it concerned me, and I was also shedding, but this explained it all. After that time (how long?) it went back to normal.
Sometimes a change in routine, or when you're looking for symptoms, can make this otherwise unnoticed change very noticable-

https://www.philipkingsley.com/hair-...-growth-cycle/
 
#13 ·
There are a lot of reasons behind hair loss and hair thinning. Lack of proper diet is one of them. May be you would not take the proper diet because your hair also want some diet to grow and to healthy. Insufficient and improper diet may be the cause of it. You should take proper diet and also apply some oil in the roots of hair on daily basis. It will surely work.
 
#15 ·
I have never heard of this problem happening with a vegan diet. I have been vegan for 20 years and my husband has as well. I also have two kids who have always been vegan. Everyone has their hair. All nutrients can be found in vegan food.

I am also a dietitian and therefore I would suggest that you see a Registered Dietitian to make sure you are eating a balanced diet. After your deficiency is corrected it would be best to get food sources of iron rather than relying on an iron pill forever. In my line of work I have only seen hair falling out with people who are anorexic or otherwise with malnutrition or weight loss. This is likely due to a severe protein deficiency. Hair loss can also be caused by not having enough niacin or certain other B vitamins.

Hair loss is not the first symptom I think of when I think of iron deficiency. There is not a definitive link actually. Again, as above it is more associated with protein deficiency.

As someone else mentioned, hair loss can also be from various medical conditions (like hypothyroidism) unrelated to nutrition.

Either way, I hope things improve for you and that you feel better. Give us an update!
 
#16 ·
No worry. It's common after an age. Maybe your body is going through some Hormonal changes. Reasons behind hair fall are many, like thyroid, high BP, tension or depression.

Or maybe the hair product you are using is not suiting your hair condition. But I never heard of hair fall because of the vegan lifestyle. Being vegan, I'm sure you eat avocado, nuts, spinach kind of veggies which are helpful for growing hair.

You can visit a doctor if the problem is serious.
 
#17 ·
Hair loss is very common for all, particularly not only for vegan. Well their are so many home remedies to prevent hairfall. People can try those. As a vegan you can't use any animal based products like , egg or cow milk. But we can use coconut milk. Here I am sharing one vegan recipe to prevent hair loss
Take a coconut, grate it and simmer it in a pan. After five minutes strain it and make it cool. Take crushed black pepper (1 tablespoon) and crushed fenugreek seeds (1 tablespoon). Mix these in the coconut milk, apply then on scalp and hair. Keep this for 20 minutes, then rinse with a shampoo.
 
#19 ·
It sounds difficult to eat a full day's supply of calories and nutrients at only 1 meal per day.
.
 
#26 ·
Hair loss can be the result of iron deficiency. Unless your diet is so crappy that you get no iron, it's unlikely to be diet-related. Iron deficiency arises for many reasons. I've had a lifelong problem with iron because my body simply does not utilize it properly. I take fairly high doses of iron along with a high-potency multi which has enough C to assist iron absorption.

Try a low dose of iron chelate daily and see if it helps. If it helps, get to a doctor and find out just how low your iron is so the proper dose can be determined.

(I'm not saying this is anyone's particular problem, only suggesting it as a possibility.)
 
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