People that lose weight often can find themselves losing something else than the weight they set out to lose, their hair, for example. Is it common? Yes. Does it always happen? No, but fairly often. Is it a coincidence? Not at all. So, hair loss and weight loss, are they related? There’s a link between them.
How Are Hair Loss and Weight Loss Related?
Our hair grows out in phases in a cyclical manner. There are two phases that are particularly important: anagen and telogen. During anagen, known as the growing phase, the hair does just that, grow. The hair spends years of this face until it ceases to, then enters another phase.
Telogen, known as the resting phase, happens once the hair stops growing altogether and it’s awaiting its replacement. Most of our hair is normally on the anagen phase while little more than 10% is on the telogen face most of the time. This can change, however.
A number of stressful situations for the body can trigger a change in the amount of hair that is currently growing and resting. Thus, pushing hair that is not done growing into the resting phase earlier than it’s supposed to.
Therefore, it effectively shortens the life cycle of the hair since now it will fall faster than it should have otherwise. Just so happen that many situations that trigger such hair loss are related to weight loss.
Hair Loss Triggers from Weight Loss
Usually, if you go over a weight loss in a measured manner of proper dieting and exercising, little hair loss will be a loss. However, starving crash diets and excessive exercising would cause a rather aggressive hair loss.
Some of the specific ways that weight loss causes hair loss are:
Malnutrition: as indicated previously, the loss of weight should occur measuredly. In order to do this, you can limit portion size according to your daily caloric consumption. Simply not eating and remaining active will lose your weight but at the cost of your hair. Forcing your body to function without proper food will deprive it of the nutrients much of it runs on. Your hair will be one of the victims of this. Not receiving the proper levels of vitamins, iron, and zinc sends your hair prematurely into the resting phase to await falling. Don’t let this be you; go over your weight loss carefully.
Physical and psychological stress: obviously, weight loss stresses the body, if it wasn’t, then you wouldn’t be doing it right. The adjusting of your metabolism to the changes might result in some hair loss. But the real stress can come over psychologically. Some people get so invested in carrying out their weight loss that anxiety wrecks them emotionally. Thus, leading to psychic stress, this releases a hormone called cortisol which in excess, throws your hair into the telogen phase. Keep calm and lose your weight calmly.
Hormonal Imbalance: severe cases of the two previous reasons can even affect your hormone levels. Hormonal levels need balance; besides the previously mentioned cortisol, other hormones play a part in hair loss. Malnutrition reduces hormonal levels, including follicular stimulating hormones (FSH) responsible for hair growth. Having your nutrition and stress levels under control will maintain your hormonal levels just right.
Treating Hair Loss Caused by Weight Loss
In the case of having endured much hair loss due to weight loss, do not despair. It will grow back to its former state six to twelve months after your stress and/or nutrition level are back to normal. If that does not happen, contact your physician, there might be a more serious, underlying condition causing it.
You should expect some measure of hair loss caused by weight loss due to the trauma the body is subject to. However, going overboard with it is definitely going to aggravate it a little too much for your liking. Go over your weight loss carefully, and your hair will be just fine.