Weight loss is often seen as a positive journey toward better health and well-being. However, it can sometimes bring unexpected side effects, one of the most distressing being hair loss. This article explores the connection between weight loss and hair shedding, offering insights into the causes, timeline, and practical strategies to support hair regrowth.
The link between weight loss and hair loss primarily stems from how our bodies react to significant changes, particularly dietary shifts. When the body undergoes rapid weight loss, it often prioritizes vital functions, which can reduce the nutrients delivered to non-essential functions like hair growth. Hair follicles are highly sensitive to the stress caused by sudden weight loss, especially when accompanied by restrictive diets.
When the body is in a calorie deficit, it directs nutrients to essential functions, often at the expense of "non-essential" processes like hair growth. This can lead to telogen effluvium, a condition where hair follicles prematurely enter a resting phase, causing noticeable shedding. In telogen effluvium, up to 70% of hair in the anagen (growth) stage prematurely enters the telogen (shedding) phase.
Nutritional deficiencies are a common cause of hair thinning, especially during calorie-restricted diets. Restricting calories can lead to a deficiency in essential micronutrients (minerals and vitamins) like biotin, folic acid, vitamin C, and zinc, as well as the macronutrient protein, all of which are needed for proper hair growth. Diet and hair loss in females are also linked. Research indicates that iron deficiency and psychological stress are common causes of diffuse hair loss in women. Inadequate protein intake can also lead to weakened hair and hair loss because amino acids, the building blocks of protein, are essential for the production of keratin, the hair’s primary structural protein.
Hormonal fluctuations and psychological stress associated with weight loss can further contribute to hair shedding.
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Hair shedding typically begins two to three months after starting a new diet or weight-loss regimen and can last up to six months. During this time, you may notice more hair coming out in the shower, on your pillow, or while brushing. Hair regrowth usually starts after three to six months. However, the exact duration can vary based on several factors:
If hair shedding continues beyond six months, it’s advisable to consult a healthcare provider, as prolonged shedding may be linked to other factors such as underlying health conditions or nutritional deficiencies.
Focus on consuming nutrient-dense foods rich in protein, iron, zinc, and vitamins like biotin, which support hair growth. Even while losing weight, maintaining your nutrition is vital to healthy hair.
If you're unable to consistently maintain a diet rich in these nutrients, consider food supplements or vitamins to fill in the gaps. Lehigh Valley Weight Loss, Women’s Health & Aesthetics offers a proprietary hair supplement, “Hair Skin & Nail,” that provides a robust formula.
To support healthy hair growth during weight loss, adopting a gentle hair care routine can help protect fragile strands.
Read also: Treatments for hair regrowth
Physical and emotional stress can exacerbate hair loss. Stress management techniques such as mindfulness or regular exercise can also benefit overall health, supporting both hair and body as they adapt to weight loss changes. Any type of physical or emotional strain, whether from late-night work shifts, relationships, or even the flu, can trigger a cascade of hormones that disrupt your hair cycle.
Minoxidil, an over-the-counter hair regrowth treatment, can help stimulate hair follicles and reduce further shedding.
PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) therapy is an effective treatment for those experiencing hair thinning. During this treatment, a small amount of your blood is drawn, processed to isolate the plasma rich in platelets, and injected into areas of the scalp where thinning has occurred. This plasma boosts the hair follicles’ ability to grow new, thicker hair.
Scalp massages improve blood circulation, delivering more nutrients to hair follicles and encouraging hair regrowth.
Avoid doing anything severe to your strands, like using hot tools or doing a keratin treatment, as you’re affecting the health of your hair. Putting that extra stress on the follicle can deplete the hydrogen bonds in your hair that keep the moisture in, causing tiny little cracks. That makes it more likely to break instead of stretch, like healthy hair should.
Read also: Proven Methods to Regrow Eyebrows
Since you spend several hours each night with your hair against a pillowcase, and cotton’s coarse texture can absorb moisture, creating friction, cotton pillowcases are not good for hair health.
If hair shedding is persistent or becomes a concern, a consultation with a hair specialist or dermatologist may be helpful. They can perform tests to determine the root cause of the hair loss and recommend appropriate treatments.
Losing weight slowly-1 to 2 pounds (0.5 to 1 kg) per week-helps your body adjust, reducing the likelihood of hair loss. Fad diets and those that place your daily caloric intake under 1000cal (VLCD’s) will almost always trigger unwanted responses and should be avoided. Instead, look for more reasonable, sustainable, portable, and lifelong changes in your eating and lifestyle. Including sufficient amounts of foods that are rich in nutrients but low in carbohydrate with sufficient amounts of protein is a good place to start. Instead of taking one big meal, eat 3 meals and a couple of protein-rich snacks throughout the day. If you’ve had bariatric surgery, you may need to eat 6-8 small meals each day. Either way, do NOT exclude any of the vital macronutrients (fat, protein, and carbohydrate); they are ALL important! Remember to accomplish this along with proper exercise (300+ minutes per week), hydration (8+ glasses of water per day) and rest (6-8 hours of sleep each night). This will allow your body to function in a more normal manner and will help prevent the diversion of the much needed building blocks required for hair growth.
Telogen effluvium is a type of temporary hair loss caused by a stressor or change to your body. Your hair has three stages of growth and loss (shedding):
Telogen effluvium affects your hair when it’s in the telogen stage. After a stressor or change to your body, up to 70% of your hair in the anagen stage prematurely enters the telogen phase, which causes hair loss.
Acute telogen effluvium lasts fewer than six months, and your hair loss tends to happen two to three months after a stressor or change to your body. In 95% of cases, acute telogen effluvium goes away (resolves). Chronic telogen effluvium lasts longer than six months. It affects your entire scalp and may not have a clear cause. You may lose your hair in handfuls during the early stages of chronic telogen effluvium, but it won’t cause total baldness.
Anyone can develop telogen effluvium. However, your chances of developing chronic telogen effluvium without a detectable cause increase if you’re a woman and are between 30 and 60 years of age. Telogen effluvium is one of the most common causes of rapid hair loss and is also one of the most common causes of hair loss in women.
Telogen effluvium causes hairs to enter the resting stage from the growing stage prematurely. Most people who are healthy lose up to 100 strands of hair per day. If you have telogen effluvium, you may lose up to 300 strands of hair per day. Telogen effluvium may affect the hair all over your scalp, but it most commonly appears on the top of your head rather than the back or sides of your head. It usually won’t affect your hairline or cause total baldness, but severe cases of telogen effluvium may affect other areas of your body, including your eyebrows and body hair. Occasionally, the hair-thinning can mimic male- or female-pattern hair loss. Telogen effluvium has heavy shedding and rapid loss, while male- and female-pattern hair loss has slow thinning.
Losing weight is a goal for many, but unexpected side effects, like hair loss, can be alarming. Hair loss due to weight loss is typically temporary, lasting anywhere from three to six months. However, if nutrient deficiencies persist or you continue to lose weight rapidly, hair thinning may last longer.
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