Excessive Hair Loss-How To Reverse It?

You are losing hair because you are not eating nearly enough. Not only are the calories too low, but you waste them in alcohol instead of healthy, nutritionally dense foods.

You need more protein. You need more fat. You need more FOOD.

What she said.

I did the same thing a few years ago when I ran and circuit trained daily, ate next to nothing( and zero meat), and drank daily. I was depressed and these are my coping mechanisms taken to the extreme but it REALLY took a toll on my body. When you are not adequately feeding your body it de-prioritizes all non-essential functions so your skin starts looking dry and awful & your hair starts falling out. I also felt dizzy often and was always cold (me in the middle of a summer evening with a sweatshirt on and goosebumps). You need to eat WAY more and drink less. As far as food you should shoot for 1 gram of protein per lb of lean body mass to maintain as much lean body mass as possible while still losing weight. Please take care of yourself - the hair is just one of the more obvious signs of the damage that a very low calorie diet can do.

You are not eating enough and that is causing your hair loss, you are only netting like 900 calories each day..... way way too low.

Not only that, but a large percentage of your total daily calories is alcoholic beverages. Nothing wrong with having a drink, of course, but it means that a big percentage of your daily caloric intake is non nutritive in value.

I have a feeling that if you bump up your FOOD calorie intake and make sure to get more protein, you'll see that the hair loss will stop. :flowerforyou:

Yep, Biotin as well as a great daily vitamin. Of course, eat all your calories including exercise calories... I'm also a fan of Tresemme Split Remedy (http://www.tresemme.com/Products/Split-Remedy/ ) and Garnier Fructis Length & Strength Conditioner (less tangled hair = less ripping out hair; http://www.amazon.com/Garnier-Fructis-Length-Strength-Conditioner/dp/B004ZWH31I/ ). Good luck! You can do it! :bigsmile:

Joining the chorus. You are severely undereating. Do that for long enough, and your body prioritizes things like organ function over unnecessary stuff like hair. Hence the hair loss. To fix that, eat more. A LOT more. Drink less alcohol. You tend to be way, way, way low on protein, and that's not good either. Go for about 1gram of protein/lb. of lean body mass.

I only just noticed how low on protein my diet is so I'm trying to find out what foods are high in protein but low in fat. I added a pickled egg to my diet yesterday and again for tonight so that's something.
How do I calculate what my 'lean body mass' is? I have previously been advised about the 1g/lb but I don't know how to do it.
I am 5ft 4inches, weigh 114lb, age 44 (if that matters?), how do I find how much protein I should eat?

Your LBM is your body weight - body fat. Figure out your body fat %, then figure out how much of your weight is due to fat. For instance, let's say that your body fat % is 20. At your weight, 22.8 lbs. of your 114 pounds would be the fat in your body (don't freak out; your body needs some fat). Your LBM would be 114 - 22.8 = 91.2 lbs. So, your goal should be to eat about that many grams of protein daily. Going over is fine as well.

Are you sure you need to lose weight? At 5 4", 114 lbs, you're already pretty skinny.

Also, I would hold off on spending money on supplements, and focus on food for now. It doesn't look like there is anything going on here that good nutrition cannot fix. If you do want to do some supplementation, just get a good multivitamin. Chances are extremely high that you've got deficiencies going on.

How many calories are you eating a day? If you have been on a real low calorie diet, that can also cause hair loss.

I also have noticed the same thing. I have short hair and the loss/thinning is getting more noticeable. I have been told that it could be related to my gluten intolerance, I have had all my blood work checked and all normal. I too try oxyelite pro but my hair issues started long before I tried that (and did get some results with it) But it's interesting low calorie diet could be a cause. MFP put me at a goal of 1200. Other members have informed me that this is too low, and that could be the reason I haven't been losing.....interesting to think it could also be the cause of my hair loss.....unless it is genetics. When I was younger I had lng hair and used to wear it in a pony tail every day.....maybe that contributed to it too? idk I just hope it stops grows back and i dont go bald....i even bought that ovation hair therapy you hear about all over the radio....hair still all over my hands when i wash it so i dont know......

#1 Check out Thyroid
#2 Go to a dermatologist. I had excessive shedding and my PCP checked my thyroid levels and got results that they were in a safe range. Went to my dermatologist and he immediately knew what was wrong. At the time I was also having breakouts on my chin and around my lips. The acne and the shedding was a sign of a hormone imbalance. I went on a hormone blocker (Spirinolact) and a topical treatment (can't remember the name). My hair was in a state of shedding at a rate of 40%. Normal people are at about 10-15%.

You need to eat more healthy fats! I was just reading your other post about fats and you said you only eat 2 grams a day of fat. You will continue to have problems with hair loss if you don't start eating more healthy.

Removing grains and sugars from my diet stopped my hair loss. And also increasing my meat/fat intake. I had hair stylists asking me if I had a thyroid problem while they showed me the ball of my hair sitting in their hand.

When I went Primal a lot of positive things happened and a lot of negative things stopped or went away.

Hair loss stopped. I was getting a thinness on my crown and my temples (receding hairline like my dad). It's all growing back in now. It could be from high blood sugars (you don't have to be diabetic to have high blood sugar problems and if you are overweight/obese then you have some insulin resistance regardless of whether you are predisposed to diabetes or not).

My macros: Fat (only saturated and MUFAs) - 65%-70%; carbs (only veggies with the occasional berry or starchy veggie/tuber) - depends; protein - roughly 1g per lb of LBM (lots of beef/salmon/seafood/eggs).

curious!