Can a healthy diet help with hair loss and can a poor diet be one cause of it?

The answer is yes to both parts of your question.
Eating a balanced diet is essential for maintaining good hair health and also your overall body health. According to nutritionists, people who have nutritional deficiencies in their diet have dull, stringy, or thinning hair and can at times suffer from a temporary case of hair loss.
A diet, which is very low in calories, can affect your hair. Eating too much of only certain food groups and eliminating others from your diet, can also cause hair loss. Studies have shown that a deficiency of Zinc (and magnesium) can severely affect your hair and cause it to fall. Zinc is present in meat, seafood, and eggs; so you should try and incorporate these in your diet.
For vegetarians, a zinc supplement may help.
Hair, to remain healthy, needs essential fatty acids. The omega-3 fatty acids provide the hair follicles with the nutrients necessary for good health and to keep the hair and scalp from drying up. If the hair follicle will not get its share of these fatty acids, it becomes weak and this results in hair loss and thinning of hair. Thus a diet, which all but eliminates fat, is not good for the hair. Omega-3 fatty acids are present in mackerel, salmon, flaxseed oil, macadamia nuts, and walnuts.
Another constituent of the Vitamin B complex, known as Biotin, is very essential for healthy hair, along with magnesium and zinc. If you take a magnesium supplement, take in in the magnesium citrate form. A deficiency of biotin is known to cause hair loss. Any foods which give you a good amount of protein such as meat, eggs etc, should take care of your biotin requirements for preventing temporary hair loss. Vegetarians can take milk products, cereals, cottage cheese, and tofu to increase their protein and biotin intake.



Some shampoos with biotin can also help stimulate hair growth. One reason why several dermatologists suggest using Biotin supplements is because thousands of calories are needed daily to keep our hair healthy.The positive effects of Biotin are that it helps maintain healthy hair. It provides protein in the body from rich foods in the diet.


Other main sources of biotin are liver, kidneys, milk, cheese, butter, poultry, cauliflower, bananas, watermelon, peas, brewer's yeast, nuts, beans, oat bran, salmon, and mackerel.



Hence, from all the above, it can be seen that people who have a poor diet or eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, are at an increased risk of temporary hair loss due to nutritional deficiencies that weaken their hair shafts and follicles. Thus it is important to have a proper diet. A healthy and balanced diet will definitely help in improving your hair condition as well as stop it from falling due to any diet related deficiency.

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