Stress, poor diet can cause hair loss

Q: Suddenly, my hair seems to be thinning — I’m only 40. What could cause it to happen? Connie R., Birmingham, Alabama

A: There may be several reasons you’re experiencing hair loss. Stress can do it — either from what is called telogen effluvium (we don’t make these names up!) or alopecia areata. Telogen effluvium happens when high stress levels — and lots of stress hormones — push hair follicles into their resting stage and keep them there for longer than usual. Hair falls out but doesn’t regrow. Alopecia areata happens when your immune system attacks hair follicles, killing them off. Chronic stress can dysregulate the immune system and may cause this to happen.

During this pandemic, folks have reported unexpected hair loss — the associated stress was at the root of the problem. If that sounds like your experience: 1. Exercise 30 to 60 minutes most days — sweat out that stress. 2. Take up mindful meditation — 10 minutes morning and night to learn to let stress go. 3. Consider talk therapy to learn new ways to respond to stressful situations. The good news: Your hair can grow back once stress levels are under control.

Your diet also can cause sudden hair loss. The hair growth cycle is driven by stem cells within each hair follicle.

But when you eat an inflammatory, high-fat diet or have obesity, the stem cells are negatively affected and instead of stimulating new hair growth they cause hair thinning and loss. According to new research in the journal Nature, feeding lab mice a high-fat diet for four days is enough to trigger damage to hair follicles’ stem cells and trigger hair loss. So is a deficiency of certain B vitamins, iron and zinc.

Your best bet is to get a blood test to check for nutritional deficiencies that may cause hair loss, and eliminate red and processed meats, excess saturated fat, added sugars and highly processed foods from your diet. Avocados, berries, fatty fish, legumes, nuts and seeds supply good fuel for hair growth. When your body is healthy, your hair is too.