Is my hair loss due to my vegetarian diet?

Dear Where’s my hair?, 

It’s okay to let your hair down a little bit—some hair loss is normal! You can expect to lose between 100-200 strands of hair each day. If you’re losing more than this, there could be reason to think that other factors, maybe even your vegetarianism might be at the root of your problem. That said, your hair loss could also result from something entirely different like a stressful event. Working with a health care provider to figure out the cause of your hair loss may be your best strategy for solving this mystery. In the meantime, read on for more information. 

Hair loss has been linked to insufficient consumption of iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B7 (biotin), vitamin B12, and folic acid (vitamin B9).  While a vegetarian diet can be well rounded and considered healthy, the benefits can only be reaped if the foods you’re eating are balanced and diverse and this is often not the case. Most vegetarians tend to be deficient in vitamin B12, vitamin D, vitamin E, calcium, iodine, zinc, and iron (especially in people with uteruses). This may be because many of these nutrients are found in meat, fish, and shellfish products. Vegetarians often don’t get enough of the vitamins and nutrients they need. 

Given the overlap between which vitamins have been linked to hair loss and those that vegetarians often don’t consume, it’s possible that being vegetarian might be causing your hair loss. That said, more research needs to be done about the connection between consumption of the vitamin B complex (including folic acid) and hair loss, and whether these supplements can help with hair growth. 

If you think your diet is to blame for your symptoms, you might try eating plant-based foods that are naturally rich in these nutrients, like leafy greens, legumes, seeds, and nutritional yeast. However, the inclusion of foods like eggs and dairy products are also important as the nutrients present in these items can help your body to absorb the nutrients in the plant food you eat! Alternatively, you might consider adopting a Mediterranean diet, which research has shown to aid hair growth. While this diet includes some meat and animal products, it recommends limiting these items and instead emphasizes consuming other foods high in fiber, antioxidants, and unsaturated and omega fatty acid intake. 

You’ve shared that you take multivitamins and feel your diet is nutritious. This may mean that your diet's not at the root of your hair woes after all. There are other reasons, beyond diet and nutrition, that could be behind your hair loss. Some people lose their hair after experiencing stressful events, like the death of a loved one, a job loss, or illness. Others might lose hair due to the side effects of certain medications, an autoimmune condition, tight hairstyles, or a genetic predisposition to hair loss. 

To get to the bottom of this, you might want to ask yourself questions about your hair loss. For example, when did your hair loss start and what major life events happened? Is your hair falling out in a specific way (i.e. in patches)? Is it just hair on your head or on your whole body?  

After you’ve gathered some baseline information, you might find it helpful to speak with a health care provider like a dermatologist to talk about your hair loss. They might be able to examine your scalp and run tests to give you a diagnosis and treatment plan. If the two of you find that your hair loss is related to your nutrition, you might also consider working with a dietitian to include nutrients in your diet that you might otherwise be missing out on. 

Best of luck to you and your hair,