Many women begin to notice increased hair loss during the diet and soon after it ends. How to lose weight without damaging your hair? What to eat for hair? And is it possible to have both a slim figure and thick hair? We will answer in this article.
Why does hair fall out when people go on a diet? The answer is very simple. Most people choose a diet without consulting a nutritionist, having read advice on the Internet or heard from friends. Such a diet, as a rule, turns out to be unbalanced and can lead not only to hair loss, but also to other health problems. Moreover, hair may not begin to fall out immediately, but several weeks and even months after starting the diet, when the supply of nutrients in the hair follicles is completely exhausted.
Why are diets insidious?
After going on a diet, the body gets rid of extra pounds and toxins and the outline of the figure improves. This is a generally accepted fact that no one dares to argue with. Unfortunately, after rapid weight loss, hair loss is quite common. After losing weight, hairs do not fall out immediately, but after about three to four months. This is easy to explain, since approximately one hundred days pass from the moment the hair stops growing to its complete loss of connection with the follicle. And if you add to hair loss those hairs that have simply outlived their time due to circumstances independent of diet, then the loss will become more than large-scale.
After express diets, hair suffers more than other parts of the body. Indeed, in case of acute deficiency of nutrients, the body reconsiders their distribution, and the hair is the last to be nourished by them. If you lose more than five kilograms in a month, then there is a high chance of losing a lot of hair in three months.
Menu for hair
Here is a sample menu that will help you avoid gaining extra pounds and strengthen your hair. It is offered by British trichologist Philip Kingsley. But changes in diet will begin to have a beneficial effect on the condition of hair follicles no earlier than three months later.
Breakfast
Fresh fruit plus one or more of the following:
- porridge or muesli with milk (low or low fat) plus yogurt;
- at least 2 slices of wheat toast with cottage cheese, low-fat cheese, lean ham or bacon;
- 1 or 2 eggs, fish or chicken.
- lean meat, fish, chicken or cottage cheese (110–140 g);
- vegetables plus baked potatoes, salad with various ingredients;
- dessert, preferably fruit.
Dish to choose from:
- chicken, or fish, or lean meat;
- roasted or steamed vegetables or salad;
- baked or boiled potatoes;
- fresh fruit with yogurt and honey.
And a few more recommendations:
- Drink plenty of water.
- Keep salt and sugar to a minimum.
- Every 4 hours, have a “snack” of fruits or vegetables.
- Avoid black tea.
- Moderate your alcohol consumption.
How to avoid hair loss?
What should women do who do not want to give up losing weight and do not want to have problems with hair loss after that? The answer to this question is very simple - do not exclude the following foods from your diet, and then your hair thickness will not decrease after the diet.
- You should consume at least one tablespoon of olive or sunflower oil daily.
- The minimum amount of meat and liver that should be consumed is 100 grams per day.
- Eat at least 100 grams of seafood per day.
- Eat 200 grams of fresh vegetables daily.
- The daily norm is 100 grams of fresh fruit and at least 20 grams of dried fruit.
- The daily intake of low-fat cottage cheese is also 100 grams per day.
- Oatmeal can be taken not too often - half a glass every other day.
- A handful of any nuts daily.
This list is a minimum of products that will supply the body with the required amount of nutrients every day.
Why does hair fall out after losing weight?
You went on a diet and lost weight. This means you managed to comply with all the restrictions for a long time. But you lost weight in order to become beautiful, and not in order to ruin your hair. Of course it's a shame. But the worst thing is if you ruin your health on this diet.
The first reason for hair loss is gastrointestinal problems and nutritional deficiencies that may be associated. That is, nutrients do not flow from the intestines into the blood not only when you do not eat anything, but also when you eat, but due to pathology, absorption does not occur properly.
The most common reasons:
- Iron-deficiency anemia.
- Latent iron deficiency, when hemoglobin is normal and ferritin is reduced (that is, iron reserves in the body are depleted).
- Lack of proteins. This is the main component that makes up hair, so there simply aren’t enough “building materials” for hair growth.
- Lack of fat. Fats are used for the synthesis of cholesterol, a precursor of sex hormones, and progesterone deficiency causes hair loss.
- Vitamin and mineral deficiencies: zinc, magnesium, selenium, copper, biotin, silicon, iodine, vitamin D, B vitamins.
- Gastrointestinal diseases lead to nutrient deficiencies, imbalance of intestinal microflora, and growth of pathogenic flora.
You may have had gastrointestinal diseases before or may have been triggered by your diet. Reduced stomach acidity (hypoacidity) occurs in many people, which is why protein and iron are not absorbed properly.
Due to the growth of pathogenic flora, systemic candidiasis may occur, dandruff, increased oiliness of the scalp, and hair loss.
Delicious vitamin cocktails for hair growth >>>
How to eat?
Hair loss occurs in those who categorically deny themselves certain foods. If you do not eat seafood and nuts, your hair will lose its elasticity, and soon you will notice how it breaks and falls out, which will happen due to copper deficiency.
Vegetarians, after a long period of abstinence from animal foods, develop a deficiency of silicon and iron, which causes fragility and split ends.
After a long diet and refusal of most foods from the above list, you can become deficient in zinc. The result is hair loss and slow regrowth.
What is not recommended to do if you have hair loss?
Human hair has long lost its biological purpose - it does not protect us from cold and wind and other negative factors. The only function that hair continues to perform is aesthetic.
Hair is of great psychological value for both men and women, and its loss becomes a severe emotional tragedy for most. It is necessary to have a good understanding of what is prohibited to do during hair loss, because incorrect behavior at this moment can affect the course of the hair loss process and lead to its aggravation.
How to restore hair?
After losing weight, hair often falls out, so many are interested in how it can be restored. This should be started immediately after finishing the diet. The ideal option would be when you start drinking a vitamin complex for hair, which your doctor will prescribe for you. If you don’t have the time or desire to run to the clinic to prescribe vitamins, then you can try to choose them for yourself. It is important that the vitamin complex contains:
- vitamins A, D, PP and B;
- calcium;
- zinc;
- iron;
- magnesium.
You will have to drink these vitamins for three months - this is exactly the period of time your hair needs to recover after a diet.
Take proper care of your hair: choose a good shampoo, a good conditioner, and do not neglect traditional medicine.
Dangerous diets for hair
This is what they call strict diets. A woman on a strict diet eats one product and does not eat carbohydrates, proteins or fats. Almost any modern diet can cause hair loss. In some cases, the effects of a diet on hair appear after a month or two, when you have already begun to eat properly.
If you do not get the necessary substances, the structure of your hair will be disrupted, it will become dull and weakened. Those hairs that are damaged will fall out, and new ones will not have time to grow. Sometimes this lasts for months.
Anti-loss masks
If, after a diet, despite taking vitamins, your hair falls out, and you are in search of an ideal remedy for this problem, then we suggest you pay attention to the following recipes for masks against hair loss that you can prepare at home.
Egg yolk and honey
Take two chicken eggs, separate the yolks from the whites, mix them with one tablespoon of burdock oil and two teaspoons of bee honey. Mix thoroughly and rub into hair roots.
With this product you will not only strengthen your hair, but also get rid of dandruff.
Nettle
The nettle oil mask is very simple to prepare. It is enough to purchase ready-made dried and packaged nettles at the pharmacy and mix it with any vegetable oil that you have at home. It happens that this mask is also made from fresh nettle, previously scalded with boiling water.
Whatever kind of nettle you have, take a half-liter jar, pour finely chopped nettle into it and fill it with vegetable oil. Infuse this mixture for a week, then strain.
A heated mask is applied over dry, dirty hair roots an hour before washing your hair.
Spoiled milk
Making this mask couldn’t be easier—just lubricate your hair along the entire length and put on a shower cap so as not to get dirty. Keep the mask on for an hour, then wash it off with warm water and lemon juice.
Aloe, honey, cognac, yolk
Buy aloe ampoules at the pharmacy, mix them with egg yolk, 10 g of cognac and a tablespoon of honey. Rub with light massage movements into the hair roots and wrap with a towel. Leave the mask on for twenty minutes and rinse with slightly warm water. To stop hair loss after a diet, this mask must be done at least once a week for three months.
Bread mask
Take a few slices of rye bread and soak them in boiling water. As a result, you should get a bread slurry, which you will leave for an hour. Apply the cooled pulp to the scalp, wrap in plastic wrap and a large towel. You need to achieve a greenhouse effect. Keep the mask on for an hour. Wash it off without shampoo with lukewarm water.
This mask will not only prevent further hair loss, but also eliminate excess oil from the skin.
Once you finish your diet and lose those extra pounds, don't forget to take care of your hair, even if it hasn't started falling out; this process can begin after a few months due to the body losing a lot of nutrients. It is much easier to prevent their loss than to grow new ones later. Therefore, take vitamins, wash your hair with high-quality shampoos and do not forget about the beneficial properties of folk remedies that perfectly nourish weakened hair roots.
Hair loss: special care
The diet is simply created to save money: on cakes, pies, ice cream, and in general - on restaurants, where there are so many temptations! But it’s better not to skimp on cosmetics during a diet. From now on, no more family shampoos or “3 in 1”! Shampoo, conditioners, and masks - all this should be selected in accordance with your hair type. And not only during the diet.
During the “fasting” period, the main thing is to carefully choose care products, reading the ingredients on the packaging. Look for ingredients that support the hair's protective sheath - lipids and keratin. What exactly should be written on the packaging? The former can be listed as ceramides, linoleic, linolenic acids;
Avoid junk food
Hair loss is a serious phenomenon. It is impossible to do without finding out the reasons.
However, this may take a long time. Therefore, it would be useful to play it safe and exclude some foods from your diet.
Firstly, this applies to raw eggs - they contain a lot of avidin. Avidin is a protein that binds and prevents the absorption of biotin, which is essential for healthy hair and scalp.
It is preferable to eat boiled eggs.
If you have hair loss, about seventy-five percent of your diet should be raw foods. It is better to avoid fried foods altogether, as well as various kinds of pickles and smoked foods. The same applies to semi-finished and canned foods. There is no need to get carried away with exotic products. A ban should also be imposed on the use of alcohol and tobacco if you want to have healthy hair.
Sweet and starchy foods harm not only your figure, but also your hair. This applies not only to food, but also to sweet drinks - in particular, carbonated drinks.
It is advisable to completely avoid such treats as chocolate and limit your sugar intake. However, the body simply cannot do without some types of complex carbohydrates.
The diet should include cereals, durum wheat pasta, and bran bread. Those who are worried about their figure can be advised not to consume the above products together with proteins.
Moreover, you should not sacrifice hair health for the sake of a beautiful figure. Beauty is unthinkable without healthy and shiny hair.
