Hair Loss Vegetarianism

Is there a correlation between hair loss and vegetarianism?

Because I started eating more vegetarian meals over the summer. I probably had 4 oz. of meat every week (so 1 meal out of the whole week had meat in it). That was unusual for me as I used to eat meat almost every day. Now it’s the Fall and my hair is starting to fall out. I think I might be deficient in iron because I have all the symptoms.. I feel fatigued and tired. And I recently ate beets and it turned my urine red (a sign of iron deficiency).

I know that you MUST have your B12 in ya and other vitamins and essential oils (sea lipids) you need to be getting. On Ask Alice.com:

Dear Alice,

I have been a vegetarian for two years. Since last year, I have been losing quite a bit of hair. I have no pattern of male baldness in either side of my family. I do take multi-vitamins everyday. My diet is fairly nutritious. Could there be any correlation between my vegetarianism and the hair loss? Some books point to folic acid deficiency so I have made an effort to buy vitamins with 100%-200% RDA recommended folic acid. Do you have any ideas on what might be causing this?

—Where’s my hair?

Dear Where’s my hair?

You can expect to normally lose between 100-200 strands of hair each day. If your hair is coming out by the handfuls however, you do have cause to worry and should see a physician for a complete medical workup. A large loss of hair can indicate more serious bodily malfunctions. Stress can also be implicated as a cause of hair loss, and if things have been extra stressful for you lately, you might want to see a counselor to help you reduce your stress levels.

If your hair loss is more moderate, you are right that your nutrition and diet have a lot to do with it. Zinc is an important mineral for your hair, and a deficiency would probably show up as excessive hair loss, lack of sheen, and difficulty with control. A zinc supplement might help you here. The RDA suggested minimum is 15mg and maximum without professional supervision is 25-40mg. Zinc is found naturally in beans, seeds and nuts, legumes, milk, and wheat bran and germ. Also, in terms of your vegetarianism, you might very well be taking in insufficient levels of vitamin B-12. This is common among vegetarians, and the results of a deficiency include dandruff, scaling, and hair loss. Most of the naturally occurring B-12 is in animal products, but can also be found in nutritional yeast and sometimes in fermented soy products (i.e. tempeh). As for supplements, the RDA suggested minimum is 3 mcg and the maximum without professional supervision is 25 mcg. So, you have options like taking supplements or adding nutritional yeast to your foods. It’s not too bad on cereal or in yogurt shakes and the like.

If updates to your eating plan don’t seem to help, perhaps a visit with your health care provider is the next step. S/he can run some tests to check for a number of other possible options. Never fear, hope is not lost. Happy eating and a speedy solution to your concerns.

Hair Loss & Growth with RawMatt