FTC Disclosure: If you make a purchase through a link on this site, I may receive a small commission on the transaction. Clicking these links doesn't cost any more to you, and it does help me with my small business so I thank you so much for any support you want to give!
Hair Loss With a Vegan Diet?
by Anonymous
Question:
I followed a vegan diet for about six months and about 25% of my hair fell out. I was not eating vegan junk food but rather, loading up on veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds and legumes. In addition, I supplement with a vegan multivitamin, additional B-12, flax, etc. I've heard hair loss can occur due to weight loss or stress, but I was not overweight or stressed. Your thoughts?
Answer:
Hmmm. This is a puzzle to me. Many people who go vegan actually report the opposite-- thicker, fuller, healthier hair and nails. I would definitely recommend talking to a registered dietician or doctor for a better idea of why that might have happened.
I did some quick research and saw that sometimes zinc deficiency can cause hair loss. You get good amounts of zinc in beans, nuts, seeds, wheat bran, and wheat germ.
You said you took an extra vitamin B12 pill, so I would highly doubt that you had a deficiency there. Vitamin B12 can be found in nutritional yeast, tempeh, and other fortified dairy subsitutes.
Another thing I can think of is just making sure you had enough protein. If you ate a good amount of beans, whole grains, and whole vegetables, you should have had no problem getting enough protein.
The last thing I can think is that perhaps your body didn't feel like it was getting enough food. If you were not overweight before going vegan, you might have needed to compensate by eating more food than you did when nont vegan. Sometimes the body can perceive "stress" not just by external sources like overbearing bosses at work, but by internal things like not getting enough food.
I am going to ask for other readers to answer here if you have any ideas on why this person might have lost hair on a vegan diet.