Malnutrition Hair Loss: What to Know

Hair loss can happen for many reasons, from a person’s genetic makeup to their hormones — but is malnutrition hair loss possible? It can definitely happen.

Essential nutrients and enough protein are critical elements of a healthy hair diet. Your body needs these things to produce hair-loving collagen, sebum, keratin, and other things to make sure your hair grows thick and long.

Read on to understand how diet affects hair strength, thickness, and the hair growth cycle.

Dieting itself doesn’t cause hair loss. However, some side effects of dietary changes can lead to stress and malnutrition, both of which can cause hair thinning or create brittle hair, increasing your risk of breakage.

You might experience hair loss after losing weight, and some conditions make this more likely to happen. Telogen effluvium, a type of hair loss caused by stress, is a well-known side effect of sudden weight loss.

Telogen effluvium usually occurs in people who’ve had sudden or rapid weight loss from surgery or crash dieting (which is associated with malnutrition).

Restricting your calorie intake, for example, could result in not getting the right amounts of micronutrients (essential vitamins and minerals) and macronutrients (think proteins, fats, and carbohydrates). These are vital for many bodily functions.

A study of 104 people who went on a low-calorie diet found that many had nutrient deficiencies after three months.

Restrictive diets or significant weight loss (particularly after weight loss surgery) can also impact the nutrients your body is getting.

Our guide to weight loss and hair loss goes into more detail on how one affects the other.

Hair follicle cells happen to be the most rapidly dividing cells in the body, meaning hair growth uses a lot of energy. Nutrient deficiencies might contribute to hair loss — although the why behind this isn’t entirely clear.

What you eat — or don’t eat — can have some impact on hair loss, specifically nutritional deficiencies through vitamins and minerals affecting hair structure and growth.

Vitamins and minerals from food play an important role in the hair growth cycle, according to a review of multiple studies.
These studies suggest nutrient deficiencies in iron, zinc, protein, and several vitamins are associated with hair loss.

Low Iron Hair Loss

An iron deficiency may cause hair loss. Why? Iron helps carry oxygen for the growth and repair of cells. This includes cells that produce hemoglobin (a protein in red blood cells), which is crucial for hair growth.

Good sources of iron, like fortified cereal and red meat, can prevent anemia by helping you maintain your iron levels. Red meat also contains protein, zinc, and essential B vitamins like vitamin B12.

Vitamin D Deficiency Hair Loss

This fat-soluble vitamin plays an essential role in bone health, reducing inflammation, and a healthy immune system. A vitamin D deficiency could damage the health of your hair, resulting in hair loss.

A review of multiple studies found that vitamin D levels were lower in people with hair loss conditions, including diffuse hair loss (that’s thinning all over) and a medical condition called alopecia areata — an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss.

Good sources of vitamin D include fatty fish, egg yolks, mushrooms, and bananas.

Hair Loss From Inadequate Protein

Your protein intake is also paramount for healthy hair growth, with deficiencies in protein resulting in hair loss or thinning.

When you consume a source of protein, your digestive system breaks it down into essential amino acids that then create and repair tissue, among other functions.

Without amino acids from adequate protein intake, your body and all its proteins — including those that make up your hair — wouldn’t be physically possible.

Lean meat is a good source of protein, as well as poultry and eggs. Beans, tofu, and nuts are excellent plant-based options.

Zinc Deficiency Hair Loss

An essential mineral the body can’t produce on its own, zinc can be found in many foods such as beef, pork, chicken, beans, and nuts.

Research has found that some men with male pattern baldness have a zinc deficiency. However, there’s no definitive proof that zinc can slow down or reverse male pattern baldness.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Omega-3 fatty acids are a common oil found in many kinds of fish. They’re vital for several bodily functions, including possibly hair growth.

A study from 2018 found that mackerel oil extract lengthened hair fibers and promoted growth. That said, this study was conducted on mice, and there’s currently no credible research done on humans.

Hair loss can be fairly common with weight loss surgery (also known as bariatric surgery. A review of multiple studies found that 57 percent of those who had undergone weight loss surgery experienced a loss of hair afterward.

Research suggests that hair loss after weight loss surgery can occur within three months of the surgery or six or more months after the procedure.

Surgical procedures may sometimes cause telogen effluvium due to the stress they put on the body. But hair loss experienced six or more months after bariatric surgery is more likely to have been caused by nutrient deficiencies from eating substantially less food than the procedure itself.

Dieting hair loss is a possibility. However, some hair loss conditions — androgenetic alopecia, for instance — are primarily caused by genetics and hormones rather than dietary practices.

In other words, a healthy diet by itself won’t stop you from getting a receding hairline or going bald if you’re genetically prone to hair loss.

There’s no cure for hair loss caused by male pattern baldness and androgenetic alopecia. But there are several proven treatments that can either stop or reverse hair loss in men.

Medications like finasteride block the hormones that cause genetic hair loss. And topical treatments like minoxidil encourage hair regrowth for thicker, fuller locks.

We offer both finasteride and minoxidil as part of our full range of pattern hair loss treatments.

There are absolutely recommended foods for hair growth you might want to incorporate regularly into your diet.

To give you a cheat sheet, experts recommend:

• Leafy greens such as spinach and kale

• Legumes like lentils

• Flaxseeds and chia seeds

• Whole grains like quinoa and brown rice

• Red meat

• Sweet potatoes

• Fatty fish

• Tofu and tempeh

You should also get healthy fats from meat and oils and antioxidants like vitamin C and vitamin E from citrus fruits and nuts, respectively.

See our guide to the best foods for hair growth for more.

Using supplements to try and reverse a nutrient or vitamin deficiency may be tempting. But you might want to consult a healthcare provider for medical advice first.

That’s because consuming certain dietary supplements might actually cause hair loss if you don’t already have a deficiency.

Another common solution you might see for hair loss is biotin supplements.

Biotin gummies may help those who have thinning hair from a biotin deficiency, but this is quite rare for most people. Beyond a potential deficiency, there’s limited research on the benefits of biotin for hair regrowth.

Hair-growth supplements also aren’t regulated by the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) in the same way as medications, leaving safety and effectiveness reviews up to the companies that make them.

Some supplements may also interact with medications, so be sure to talk to your healthcare provider before taking any for hair regrowth.

They say you are what you eat. So, can you experience hair loss on a diet? Maybe.

Consider these facts about malnutrition hair loss:

• Hair loss has been associated with significant weight loss over a short period, especially in those who had weight loss surgery in the past year. These surgeries can result in acute hair loss or hair loss six months after the weight loss.

• An extremely restrictive diet (of calories, main food groups, or nutrients) might affect hair growth. Fewer calories and nutrients can impact many bodily functions.

• Micro- and macronutrients play a role in hair health, such as iron, protein, and vitamin D. While more research is needed on the connection between diet and hair loss, eating a balanced diet of foods rich in the above-mentioned nutrients may help promote hair growth and at least improve your overall well-being.

Diet is possibly just one of many factors involved with hair loss and may or may not affect your specific type of hair loss. Many things are at play — a potential connection between marijuana and hair loss, for instance.

More research is needed to fully understand the effects of diet on hair loss.

Still, talking to a dermatologist or another healthcare provider can help you narrow down the possible causes of your hair loss and figure out the next steps to take for hair loss treatment. Explore your options at Hims today.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. The information contained herein is not a substitute for and should never be relied upon for professional medical advice. Always talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits of any treatment. Learn more about our editorial standards here.