Hair Loss!

SierraFatToSkinny

SuzySunshine99 wrote: »

I lost weight very slowly at a sensible deficit. About 6 months into maintenance, my hair started to fall out. Not clumps, just strands from all over. I have thick hair so it was not noticeable to anyone but me.

I went to my doctor, and after blood work came back normal, she told me that even if you lose weight in a healthy way, it can still cause some hair loss. The reaction is delayed, and can happen 6 months to a year after your loss.

The good news is that it's temporary. After eating at maintenance for about a year, all these baby hairs started to grow and everything is back to normal.

Not everyone will react this way, but some people do. And, yes, I was getting plenty of protein.

lulalacroix wrote: »

I lost hair while in ketosis. It's why I quit a very low carb diet even though I enjoyed it. I was not vlc but I was very low carb. I resumed a diet with more carbs and saw my doc. By the time I had my levels checked, everything looked normal. My hair is now back to normal. Fyi, I am in no way saying that a keto diet caused my hair to fall out. But there was definitely something off.

Very helpful, thank you!

Psychgrrl

Protein and iron are essential for hair growth. So is biotin, but most people eating at a deficit still get enough biotin. Be careful in considering iron supplementation, getting too much can be dangerous. You might want to see a doc and see what your ferritin/iron levels are.

oneallmama

SierraFatToSkinny wrote: »

I've been watching YouTube videos about weight loss and several people seemed to have lost lots of hair in the process of losing weight.

I'm scared of this. I currently have thick hair that reaches my lower back. It's my best feature and I'm attached to it.

Why exactly is there hair loss during weight loss? Is it just people dieting drastically which leads to hair loss? Or would any dieting lead to some hair loss?

What are some ways to prevent hair loss??

I'm talking collagen supplements and I'm thinking about starting to take a multivitamin.

Any information will be welcome!

The only way I got my hair loss to stop was to stop exercising. I suppose I could of went from exercising 7 days a week to only like 3 or 4, but my hair was falling out so fast that I thought I was going to go bald. I've started exercising again and checking to see what my protein intake was at the end of the day and sure enough I'm not eating enough of it. Maybe protein shakes would help curb the hair loss? Just a thought..

lorrpb

Thyroid problems can lead to hair loss.
You certainly can get more than 1200 cals per day while backpacking. You actually need more than that because of the energy expended.
Most nutrients are banked. It's a long term deficit that causes major problem, not a day here or there.

SierraFatToSkinny

lorrpb wrote: »

Thyroid problems can lead to hair loss.
You certainly can get more than 1200 cals per day while backpacking. You actually need more than that because of the energy expended.
Most nutrients are banked. It's a long term deficit that causes major problem, not a day here or there.

It's hard to get in 4000+ calories while hiking all day.

emeraldbullsnake

Im glad you brought this up i had no idea this was happining i will be sure to get on a multivitamin, biotin and krill oil asap and make surei get enough healthy omegas as i too want to salvage my hair

amusedmonkey

emeraldbullsnake wrote: »

Im glad you brought this up i had no idea this was happining i will be sure to get on a multivitamin, biotin and krill oil asap and make surei get enough healthy omegas as i too want to salvage my hair

Don't forget to also get enough calories if you aren't already. On too low calories the body spends whatever little energy available to prioritizes more important processes than growing hair.

cbelc2

My hair loss was due to a thyroid deficiency.

lightenup2016

SuzySunshine99 wrote: »

I lost weight very slowly at a sensible deficit. About 6 months into maintenance, my hair started to fall out. Not clumps, just strands from all over. I have thick hair so it was not noticeable to anyone but me.

I went to my doctor, and after blood work came back normal, she told me that even if you lose weight in a healthy way, it can still cause some hair loss. The reaction is delayed, and can happen 6 months to a year after your loss.

The good news is that it's temporary. After eating at maintenance for about a year, all these baby hairs started to grow and everything is back to normal.

Not everyone will react this way, but some people do. And, yes, I was getting plenty of protein.

This is interesting to hear. I began losing weight last July, eating between 1500-1800 calories a day. Around November my hair started coming out more, like you said--not in clumps, just more strands out overall. My bathroom counter and floor would have lots of strands after I brushed my hair. Mid-December I switched to maintenance, and just this week I'm realizing my hair is coming out less. I'm now back to 1500 calories starting the past week, so I'll be curious to see if my hair starts coming out again in a few months.

At the time, knowing I wasn't eating way too low, I thought it could be perimenopause (I'm 43). I guess it still could be, but then why is it not falling out as much now? Hmmm

lightenup2016

lulalacroix wrote: »

I lost hair while in ketosis. It's why I quit a very low carb diet even though I enjoyed it. I was not vlc but I was very low carb. I resumed a diet with more carbs and saw my doc. By the time I had my levels checked, everything looked normal. My hair is now back to normal. Fyi, I am in no way saying that a keto diet caused my hair to fall out. But there was definitely something off.

Are you still eating at a deficit?

GottaBurnEmAll

cwolfman13 wrote: »

amusedmonkey wrote: »

Drastic calorie deficit, not enough nutrients (especially fat), a diet that isn't varied enough to provide enough micronutrients, and most of all, a diet that is very hard or restrictive it causes you a lot of stress. I have noticed significant hair loss after trying diets that were not for me, and that trend stopped and the lost hair grew back when I settled on something that is easy and pleasant. I haven't had any significant hair loss since despite losing a lot of weight.

basically, pick a reasonable deficit (not one that puts you at 1200 calories and take care not to ignore exercise calories), eat enough fat and variety, and don't stubbornly cling to a dieting approach that is hard for you and you should be fine.

ETA:

PAV8888 wrote: »

What I personally term an acceptable: deficit 10% to 20% of your TDEE (energy expenditure for the day). Resulting in a loss of no more than about 1% of your bodyweight per week.

Where do you think the 1% recommendation comes from? It's often way too high of a deficit for most people and is certainly over the recommended 10-25%. This would mean 2 pounds a week at 200 pounds, when the average 200 pound woman has a sedentary maintenance of about 2000 calories, resulting in a 1000 calories budget or a 50% deficit. You would need to have a TDEE of 4000 to achieve 2 pounds a week at 25% deficit, and most 200 pound women (most people, really) aren't active enough to double their TDEE.

For a lighter/leaner person, 1% of body weight would be more aggressive but still doable if there's BF to lose. I'm 190 at the moment and need to get back down to 180...I could sustain a 1.9 (essentially 2 Lb per week) loss without much issue other than being miserable...but it would also be a short term thing...and yes, I would be pretty miserable. My TDEE is around 2,800 at the moment so I could do 1,800 and accomplish that. Of course there are limitations in regards to if you actually have body fat to lose and I think that's just assumed.

My wife is about 130 at the moment...she has a TDEE of around 2,200 calories...she could technically lose 1.3 Lbs per week as this would require a 650 calorie deficit...so she'd be able to accomplish that eating 1,550 calories per day.

The leaner you get, the more aggressive the approach is, but it still works...and in the case of someone already fairly lean, it would be a pretty short duration of time...I could be done in 5 weeks, but that's 5 weeks of hell I do not wish to endure, but other than being cranky, I wouldn't really suffer any ill health effects. I don't necessarily worry about "it should be a 20% cut" from TDEE or whatever, I generally go my 1% but I'm never that aggressive in my actual approach.

I couldn't disagree with you more. It still works in theory, but let's take the case of your wife:

Would she be able to sustain her current level of activity at its current intensity on that calorie intake?

My experience trying to follow a 1% cut (stats for me: 5'1", 116 lbs, TDEE 2000ish)? A resounding NO.

The whole endeavor was a recipe for binge behavior and running/lifting performance tanking not to mention more frequent migraines.

Compliance is something you're forgetting about here, and it's really hard to comply with that steep a deficit when you're already lean.

AnnPT77

This is just another n=1, but my hair thinned significantly at age 18 when I became vegetarian. Over the course of maybe a year, it went from too much hair to ponytail in a standard barrette, to kind of a normal-barrette medium level, but it never fell out in clumps (until chemotherapy 16 years ago, but that's a whole 'nother story).

Four decades (plus) is too long for me to remember whether I was getting enough protein as a new vegetarian, but I'd be willing to bet I was not.

So, "get enough protein" would be among my recommendations: I'd suggest 0.8 grams per pound of a heathy goal body weight, as a daily minimum. More won't hurt a healthy person, as long as it doesn't drive out other needed nutrients.

For those who think I'm saying you can't get enough protein as a vegan/vegetarian: Nope. I've been vegetarian for the whole 43 years. I'm currently eating 100+ grams of protein daily with no heroic measures required to do it. So, IMO vegetarianism is fine. Getting too little protein is not fine, especially when also in calorie deficit, and extra-especially if working out at the same time.