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Diet and Weight Loss Diet

Can Your Diet Help You Keep Your Hair?

Summary & Participants

Hair loss can be caused by genetic factors, certain illnesses or medications like chemotherapy. But you may be surprised to know that your diet can also play a big role in how much hair you lose. Join our experts as they explain why a healthy diet is an important factor for maintaining healthy hair.

Medically Reviewed On: June 19, 2008

Webcast Transcript

SHARI LIEBERMAN, PhD: Walnuts, which people aren't eating every day. So these omega-3 fatty acids are a little hard to get from food, and then we have other things like B6, B12, folic acid, which are not terribly uncommon. I would say B12 and folic acid are actually fairly common, and you need B12 and folic acid for the cell renewal to grow hair. Things like zinc, a classic deficiency, might also cause hair loss.

However, with nutritional deficiencies, I wouldn't only look at their hair. I'd also look at their skin. I might look at their nails. I would look at the whole picture. If we look at things like crash dieting, it's notorious for hair loss. If we look at people that aren't eating enough protein, that can also cause some hair loss. So I wouldn't rule out some of the simple things, and even if they cleaned up their diet, I still believe that it would make whatever treatment they're using, whether it be if they're doing a hair transplant or they're doing medical or they're doing herbal, or whatever it is, I think that looking at their diet is very important. I wouldn't overlook something that simple.

DAVID FOLK THOMAS: Crash dieting, because you're eliminating maybe a whole range of things you should be eating --

SHARI LIEBERMAN, PhD: Food.

DAVID FOLK THOMAS: And then specifically you were mentioning certain things -- B6, zinc.

SHARI LIEBERMAN, PhD: And magnesium.

DAVID FOLK THOMAS: What are the certain vitamins that we know are really good for healthy hair?

SHARI LIEBERMAN, PhD: Biotin is something that you'll find in a lot of hair formulas. You'll also find protein in a lot of hair formulas. Biotin deficiency is not common, so a biotin deficiency is something that I would look for, and if someone took antibiotics for a long time, they could be at risk. So then I would go back to look if someone had a history of acne, that's the kind of person that would be on an antibiotic for a long enough time that it could affect their biotin. I've also seen in my practice strict vegetarians who, after two years of being vegetarian, their main complaint was hair loss and also skin breakout. So I would look at these things in someone, as well.

DAVID FOLK THOMAS: Peter, when you're treating somebody who comes to you with hair loss, how do you balance the diet, the whole thing we're talking about now? Do you recommend that to them, or is that up to themselves to explore that on their own?

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