Hair Loss!

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2

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  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
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    Iv lost 80 pounds-232 to 152- in 9 months and no hair loss i know of :o My hairs kind of huge xD i think when i did my begining research it was lack of fat that caused this mostly? dont quote me though xD Alot of new vegans had that problem
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
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    The simplest answer is they are doing it wrong.

    People have already covered the why.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    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!

    I'd say due to steep deficits and malnutrition.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    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.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,988 Member
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    Anemia can cause hair loss (and fatigue.) People prone to anemia should be especially vigilant about their iron levels when dieting.

    I also shed more than usual when I was iodine-deficient. I take kelp tablets now.
  • SierraFatToSkinny
    SierraFatToSkinny Posts: 463 Member
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    This isn't really a question about losing weight. It's a question about how to keep my hair while losing weight.

    Lack of nutrients is a simplistic boiling down of the answer.

    I'm interested in what the parameters are.

    I'm currently not on a 1200 a day intake, I've been eating about 2000 calories a day.

    I'm also wondering if I can "bank" nutrients. Lose, then maintain for a couple days.

    I've been thinking about going on an extended backpacking trip and it would be very difficult to get in enough calories while backpacking. I'd have to "fuel up" periodically.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    cwolfman13 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.

    Yes, I know it is possible, it's just often I see the 20% off TDEE and 1% of body weight mentioned together when the two often don't even remotely compare, especially for the average dieter. It would take someone exceptionally active for the two number to lign up. Like your wife, for example, has a TDEE higher than an average 200 pound woman yet even she would need about 30% deficit to achieve a 1% loss. I guess what I was wondering is, when making a rule of thumb you don't base it on the exception (i.e the exceptionally active people) so I think the 1% was meant to set the maximum for what could be considered okay, like the 800 calorie rule of thumb as the cut off before something is considered VLCD. For the average person with average activity I think it's safer to recommend the 20% rule not the 1%.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    cwolfman13 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.

    Yes, I know it is possible, it's just often I see the 20% off TDEE and 1% of body weight mentioned together when the two often don't even remotely compare, especially for the average dieter. It would take someone exceptionally active for the two number to lign up. Like your wife, for example, has a TDEE higher than an average 200 pound woman yet even she would need about 30% deficit to achieve a 1% loss. I guess what I was wondering is, when making a rule of thumb you don't base it on the exception (i.e the exceptionally active people) so I think the 1% was meant to set the maximum for what could be considered okay, like the 800 calorie rule of thumb as the cut off before something is considered VLCD. For the average person with average activity I think it's safer to recommend the 20% rule not the 1%.

    1% is definitely meant to be a maximum, after which point you really start tapping into muscle mass and other lean mass. IDK exactly where it comes from, but it's been around quite some time. My coach showed me a paper on it at one point but I can't remember the site. I'm pretty trusting of him given his background.
  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,987 Member
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    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
    lulalacroix Posts: 1,082 Member
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    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.
  • SierraFatToSkinny
    SierraFatToSkinny Posts: 463 Member
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    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.
    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
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
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    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
    oneallmama Posts: 108 Member
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    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
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    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
    SierraFatToSkinny Posts: 463 Member
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    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
    emeraldbullsnake Posts: 10 Member
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    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
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    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
    cbelc2 Posts: 762 Member
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    My hair loss was due to a thyroid deficiency.
  • lightenup2016
    lightenup2016 Posts: 1,055 Member
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    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
    lightenup2016 Posts: 1,055 Member
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    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?