9 Foods That Are Increasing Your Hair Fall

The diet that you follow has a direct impact on your body and mind – and scalp.

For example, there are certain types of food you need to consume in less quantity or cut out totally from your diet to control hair fall. These include refined flour, sugar, meat, fish with high mercury content, and greasy food. Smoking and alcohol consumption also play a role in this condition.

You must have them in smaller quantities or avoid them entirely if you want to control your hair fall. (1)

Foods That Contribute to Hair Fall

Here’s a list of foods that are increasing your hair fall:

1. Refined carbohydrates

A diet rich in simple carbohydrates stimulates excess sebum production by the sebaceous glands.

Sebum is good for the hair, but excess amounts of sebum attract microorganisms and cause a breakdown of triacylglycerols and output of a higher amount of fatty acids, which in turn cause scalp inflammation.

Instead, consume a low-glycemic diet consisting of full-grain bread, rice, whole-grain pasta, veggies, and fruit to combat hair loss. (2)

2. Sugar

A high intake of sugary foods induces the pancreas to increase insulin production in the body. Such an increase in insulin levels harms the blood vessels responsible for nourishing the scalp, thus leading to hair loss. (2)

3. Coffee

There’s nothing bad in grabbing a cup of coffee in the morning, but excessive consumption of it can lead to hair fall.

Researchers found that chronic coffee consumption increased the concentrations of the hormones testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in the body. DHT weakens the hair follicles and causes hair to fall out. (3)

4. Fish with high mercury content

Fish is known to have benefits for the hair, but consuming fish with high levels of mercury can lead to hair fall.

A case of a woman experiencing hair loss was investigated, and it was found that she had high mercury levels in her blood due to eating fish. She was suggested to stop consuming the fish causing the alopecia, and her hair loss improved after.

Examples of mercury-rich fish are shark, tilefish, king mackerel, bigeye tuna, and Chilean sea bass. Opt for seafood low in mercury levels such as shrimp, salmon, oysters, and scallops. (4)

5. Meat and fried food

While we all love to binge on fried food because it is so yummy, it comes with a hefty penalty for your health. From causing obesity to cardiac problems, it can also affect your scalp and hair.

Excessive consumption of meat and fried food is the cause of hyperactivity of the sebum glands that can lead to more production of the DHT hormone responsible for hair loss. (5)

6. Soft drinks

Foods with artificial flavors, additives, and artificial sweeteners are responsible for forming free radicals in the body. Hence, you should avoid drinking soft drinks such as colas to prevent hair loss. (5)

7. Chinese food

Ouch! This is going to make someone angry. Yes, Chinese food containing MSG has been proven to cause hair loss.

MSG can have harmful effects on the scalp, including an increase in oxidative stress and protein modification, which increase hair loss in some people. (6)

8. Smoking

To control your hair loss, you must quit smoking because it contains nicotine, which is known to lessen the blood flow to the scalp hair follicles through vasoconstriction.

The resulting limited blood supply leads to a higher number of free radicals in the hair roots that damage them. (5)

9. Alcohol consumption

There’s still some more bad news for long-term alcohol consumers; apart from affecting your heart, liver, kidneys, and brain, alcohol is now proven to cause alopecia areata, a type of hair loss that causes bald patches on the scalp.

Alcohol is also one of the causes of atopic dermatitis because it contains metabolite acetaldehyde, which generates large amounts of histamine to be released in the body, resulting in skin redness, itching, and inflammation. (7)

What Does the Science Say?

Researchers have found a link between nutritional imbalance and hair structure and growth.

Moreover, not consuming the right amount of nutrients can lead to hair loss problems. For instance, acute telogen effluvium (TE) is caused by sudden weight loss or inadequate protein intake, and diffuse alopecia is caused by a deficiency in niacin intake.

Some studies have also revealed a link between nutritional deficiency and telogen effluvium, androgenetic alopecia, alopecia areata, and female-pattern hair loss. (2)

General Queries on Foods That Are Increasing Your Hair Loss

Final Word

Following a balanced diet prevents deficiency of nutrients that are crucial to the hair-building process. You will need to start cutting out all the harmful foods mentioned above from your life to reap a rich crop of hair.