Losing hair

[nana2six]

Have been on low carb diet for 5 months. Lost 34 pounds. About a month ago I started losing my hair. I am now losing clumps. Have read comments on this site about others doing the same thing. What can I do to stop my hair from coming out? Can I remain on the diet and it stop coming out or do I have to get off the diet before it stops. Please help me. What can I do to stop this hair loss?

[Sarina D]

Re: Losing hair

Have been on low carb diet for 5 months. Lost 34 pounds. About a month ago I started losing my hair. I am now losing clumps. Have read comments on this site about others doing the same thing. What can I do to stop my hair from coming out? Can I remain on the diet and it stop coming out or do I have to get off the diet before it stops. Please help me. What can I do to stop this hair loss?

Hi there,

First I would say this is something you should talk with your doctor about and receive counsel from him/her, that is most important.

I personally went through the same thing starting this summer....apparently this can happen with weight loss and hair can/will start growing back between 3 to 6 months.

Mine is coming back but I was pretty surprised when it happened...I can appreciate where you are coming from. Although I can't tell you what to do, that will have to be your decision I can tell you that I have remained eating this way...never stopped and my hair is growing back. I also have a friend who lost 85 lbs who started to lose her hair and she never was on Atkins...my mom lost over 200 lbs in the last 5 years and this happened to her as well...so my point is, I don't think one only loses their hair from eating the Atkins way but I am not a professional regarding the matter.

In the meantime, I would suggest the following:

1) Make sure you are taking vitamins so you are getting the proper nutrients. Also be sure you're getting the proper amount of nutrients from the food you are eating.

2) Massage your skelp as often as possible so that you promote good blood flow to your skelp.

3) Be careful how you brush your hair...don't rake through it with a comb or a brush...be gentle.

4) There are hair products on the market that can be looked into that can apparently aid in hair loss.

5) Don't put your hair up in a ponytail or elastic if your hair is long...keep it down and loose. Don't cover your head with a hat or a scarf....keep these things off so your skelp can breathe properly.

Sorry you are going through this, I feel your concern and frustration.

I don't think I've been of much help but I felt compelled to let you know it's happened to me to as well as others I know.

All the best,
Sarina
------------------
Heaviest weight - 403 lbs. (2007)
April 1, 2008 - 387 lbs. (This is when I initially started to lose weight…but was not on Atkins at this point)
Atkins start weight – 347 lbs. (July 19, 2008 – began Atkins)
1st major goal met -----100 lbs. lost as of Oct 2, 2008 - Hit 300 lbs. on this day – From April 1-08 when I initially begin to lose weight.
2nd major goal met - 151 lbs. lost as of Jan 13, 2009 - Hit 249 lbs. on this day.
3rd major goal met - Wed, May 13-09 - Reached losing 200 lbs. in just over a year and a couple of months.
4th major goal met – Reached “Onederland” June 6-09 – 198 lbs.
5th major goal met - My 1 yr. Atkins anniversary - Weighing 184 lbs. this day
Current weight – 173.2 lbs.
Goal weight - 150 – 160

My personal Journey -
http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...-done-yet.html (Before and during - From 400 lbs. to 247 lbs. Not done yet!!!) (Before and during - From 400 lbs. to 247 lbs. Not done yet!!!)

My Journal -
http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...s-valleys.html (My journey through peaks and valleys) (My journey through peaks and valleys) (My journey through peaks and valleys)

[Georgiana]

Re: Losing hair

Welcome to ADBB!

low carb diet

Atkins?

[Suzanne_H]

Re: Losing hair

I strongly encourage you to enter your menus into FitDay (FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal) and see if you are eating the proper nutrients. Print out your menus and take them and yourself to your doctor as soon as possible. Your body may be undernourished.

If the problem is nutrition, then it's unfortunate indeed because Atkins practiced correctly is an extremely healthy diet. You mentioned "lowcarb diet" but gave no specifics. If by this you mean you've been eating nothing but meat, eggs and cheese for the past 5 months well then yeah I'm surprised your darned teeth aren't falling out much less hair. BALANCE. Atkins is all about balance. If you're doing Atkins, and if you are still eating an induction type of menu, please for your health move into OWL and get some balance and good nutrition.

But please do see your doctor. Hair loss is not, to my knowledge, one of the expected results of doing Atkins.

[jcapulet]

Re: Losing hair

This happened to me when I did Atkins the wrong way several years back (all meats, zero carbs). I lost large clumps of hair like you are describing. I don't know if this is for the same reason, but please be sure you're eating veggies, taking your vitamins and eating according to the book. Good luck.

[The Hair Loss Guy]

Re: Losing hair

The problem with going on High protein diets is that there is a limited number of nutrients involved with just pure protein. and your body needs those nutrients to survive and flourish. here are some suggestions..

Vitamins needed to stop and reverse hair loss:

Inositol:
Biotin:
Zinc:
Protein:
Vitamin E:
Choline:
Lecithin :
Vitamin A:
Pantothenic Acid:
Cider Vinegar:
Amino Acid L Tyrosine:
(PABA):
Folic Acid:
Coenzyme Q10:

Minerals for Hair Loss:

Copper:
Iodine:
Iron :
Selenium :
Silica:
Zinc :

most people make the mistake of not ingesting any carbs as they start there weight loss journey. Hair needs energy to reproduce and grow and carbs are energy. the whole idea of the low carb diet and how they work comes from the idea is your body needs energy to function and live, Without any carbs or low carbs your body will have to convert fat in to energy throught the liver and other organs thus after time reducing body fat..

[mizski]

Re: Losing hair

The problem with going on High protein diets is that there is a limited number of nutrients involved with just pure protein. and your body needs those nutrients to survive and flourish.

most people make the mistake of not ingesting any carbs as they start there weight loss journey. Hair needs energy to reproduce and grow and carbs are energy. the whole idea of the low carb diet and how they work comes from the idea is your body needs energy to function and live, Without any carbs or low carbs your body will have to convert fat in to energy throught the liver and other organs thus after time reducing body fat..

Dear Hair Loss Guy, when randomly posting on Internet boards it is very helpful to know something about that board. FYI, Atkins is neither no carb nor high protein which negates the info in your post. Just saying...

[ziggy]

Re: Losing hair

everyone say hi to the new Troll The Hair Loss Guy who made his name after this very post!

but ya like mizski said atkins is not high protein its high fat, medium protein, low carb

anyways maybe this link will help

The Atkins Diet and Hair Loss – Is There a Link?

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Losing hair

Are you still on Induction? If so, why after all this time?

[matawguro]

Re: Losing hair

This question pops up so often it should be FAQ'd

From Dr. Mike Eades ' Blog...
He talks about Kimkins but it applies to any radical change in diet as well.

You are experiencing a common problem called telogen effluvium, which is the medical term for acute hair loss due to a metabolic, hormonal or drug stress.

So you can better understand what has happened, let’s take a look at the normal hair growth cycle. Hair has a growth phase call anagen and a resting or dormant phase called telogen. Typically for hair on the head, anagen lasts around three years followed by telogen that lasts about three months.

During anagen, the growth phase, the hair follicle is active and the hair grows; during telogen the hair follicle becomes dormant and the hair quits growing. But the hair stays in the hair follicle, and since you can’t really measure the growth of a single hair, you don’t know that the hair is actually dead and the follicle dormant. When the follicle reactivates during anagen, the new hair growing in pushes the old, dead hair out, and the hair falls from the scalp. That’s why we all find hairs on our pillows, in the shower, and other places it’s noticeable. Those old are hairs pushed out by the new hair growing in.

This waxing and waning of anagen and telogen is why we continuously lose hair and yet our head of hair doesn’t continuously thin. And, I suppose, it goes without saying that not all of our hair is in lock step in this cycle otherwise we would have hair for 2-3 years, then it would all fall out at once. The estimate is that about 10% of hair on the head is in telogen at any given time, which means that the other 90% is growing normally. And even the 10% in telogen appears normal if you looked at an individual hair. It’s just not growing and will ultimately be pushed out when the follicle converts to anagen.

But sometimes this cycle can be disrupted.

A number of stresses can send hairs from anagen to telogen before their time. Pregnancy, a major illness, a high fever, an injury, surgery (usually from the anesthesia), some medications and a major change in diet, ...

...

The nutritional stress from ... the diet shocked your hair from anagen into telogen prematurely. You didn’t even notice it when it happened because you lost no hair. Months later when your follicles again went into anagen and became active, the new hair growing in began to push the old hair out. And because the nutritional stress sent much more than your normal ongoing 10% into telogen, you seemed to lose hair by handfuls.

...

So, the take home message is that if you lost a lot of hair during your time on Kimkins (or any other diet), don’t sweat it. It will come back. If it doesn’t, then you’ve got something more going on than telogen effluvium, and you need to pay a visit to your doctor. But usually if you look closely at your scalp (or have someone look for you), you’ll see little hairs growing back in. If you’re a female and have long hair, it will take a long time for your hair to grow back to its full length, but it will.
Is their anything you can do to hurry it along? Just make sure you get plenty of good quality protein and essential fats. And don’t worry about it.

[THLG]

Re: Losing hair

Any time that you are cutting calories / fat / carbohydrates the body is not used to getting what it want or needs thus a lack of something. unless you are mapping exactly what you are doing (intake of everything) you may be are most likely are deficient in some minerals or protein or vitamins the list goes on and on..I would recommend taking a multivitamin/ mineral and a b-complex at the minimun I must also suggest to follow the Atkins plan exactly as it is a tested diet program. just my 2 cents worth

[ROJAS]

Re: Losing hair

Vitamins B12 and Biotin, also Calcium citrate while you are induction. Sometimes you can find vitamin B12 with Biotin. Make sure your calcium says citrate NOT gluconate.

[Carne!]

Re: Losing hair

This may not help with the actual hair loss but coconut and olive oil show overwhelming evidence of being very beneficial for hair strength. At least until your hair grows back, you can keep your hair strong and healthy and prevent breakage. Coconut oil also has anti-fungal properties which helps people with certain fungi on their scalp (it happens more than you'd like to think) kill the growth and resume hair growth.

Two Natural Oils That Make Your Hair Shiny and Strong

[msanjelpie]

Re: Losing hair

I would stay the course until you reach your goal weight. Being at a healthy weight is more important than having a full head of hair. Once you reach goal, stop losing and start eating maintenance foods, your hair should start growing back in and be back to normal within a year...

[Georgiana]

Re: Losing hair

Once you reach goal, stop losing and start eating maintenance foods, your hair should start growing back in and be back to normal within a year...

Why do you think one needs to eat at maintenance levels for this?