Hair Loss? - Raw Food Chat

RawGuru · 04-29-2006

Does anyone experience any hair loss on the raw food diet?

veganman · 05-06-2006

I have a question in a similar vein....

have any men who were previously suffering from hair loss noticed some regrowth after starting a raw diet?

rawallison · 05-07-2006

I am a female and I have written on this topic on my blog, Raw Odyssey because it's the one and only negative I've experienced from going raw. I've been told two things: that many women who have lost their hair from going raw have seen it come back more strongly and luxuriously later on (when????) and two, that it's low protein intake that is the main culprit.

Beause I had tracked for weeks what I was eating (you can see this in the first couple of months on my blog), I was able to see that my protein intake was indeed very low sometimes - below 25 grams some days. The recommendation by most people was to eat more protein, mostly in the form of romaine lettuce (which is a complete protein all by itself), other leafy greens, sprouted grains, and nuts. I started eating hemp bread, which isn't raw, but has 7 grams of protein a slice and is made from sprouted whole grains. I eat organic hummus (not always raw). I also added raw hemp seed to my diet, consume raw milk cheese, and have tried green smoothies (haven't perfected those yet). I've tried brewer's yeast but I can't stand it. I also take a multivitamin "just in case".

Now, it could be that rapid weightloss was a contributor to my hair loss; I lost 25 lbs in January when I went raw. But the hair loss wasn't really noticeable until weeks and weeks after that, so I don't know if that's the true reason. Could be a factor, is all I'm saying.

My hair is not growing back yet, but I'm hoping and praying I experience the regrowth I've heard about. I continue to watch my protein intake, but it is hard for me to get enough eating raw. I have read that not every human body has the same experience with protein, by the way- maybe we metabolize it differently. I'm a student, so it's in my nature to read to learn as much as I can.

Anyway, I speak only from personal experience; everyone has different experiences. Some don't lose as much weight as I have, some don't lose their hair, some get what might be enough protein for them, etc. etc. I feel really alone in this hairloss thing, but knowing you are out there makes me feel better (although I wouldn't wish hair loss on anyone just to make me feel better!). If you want to post your own progress, good or not so good, on Raw Odyssey, please do! I'm sure we can help other raw women out there and also report our experiences on this forum.

anisha · 11-07-2007

I know this is an old topic, oh well.

I am noticing that I suffer from some form of hairloss. Whenever I brush my hair or shampoo a lot comes out. Not too if it is from any one part of my head.

What foods should I eat to prevent this?

Anisha

greenbunny · 11-07-2007

I lose lots and lots of hair like Anisha describes. Some times I shed more than my dogs do! But then, I must also grow it at record speeds because it is always full and consistenty very thick.

Allison, did you happen to move when you started to lose your hair? I ask because of often times we attribute things to one cause (like going raw) when it might actually be something else that happened the same time. When I moved to Florida a water treatment company put chlorine into our water tanks without our permission and all the gunk from the pipes came out for months and I lost a lot of hair until it finished coming out of the pipes. I just wonder if there might be a coincidence. On the same note, did any other things change at that time like a change of life, hormonal changes from childbirth etc.?

How long have you been raw and how long have you been experiencing this hair loss? Are you still having this hair loss even with all the supplemental cooked and raw proteins? Has anything affected the hair loss that you have tried adding to your diet? How long after going raw did you notice the hair loss?

The other thing that i wonder more than about the protein, because what you described is quite a bit of protein, especially if you are supplementing, if the problem might actually be related to minerals. Do you do any kind of mineral supplementation? Do you eat celtic sea salt or eat seaweed?

Another question, do you like or eat raw fish or eggs? For me raw fish allows me to stay raw long periods.

Good luck figuring out that challenge!

Greenbunny

Double Helix · 11-07-2007

I haven't personally had a hair-loss issue but I've read a few testimonies about hair loss on a high fat raw diet, and the loss stopping after lowering the fat intake considerably.

There's an herb called fo-ti which supposedly helps hair growth and color loss as well. I've been putting it in my raw fake coffee drinks. My hair has gone prematurely "white".

Also have read that upping green intake helps.

greenbunny · 11-08-2007

I eat way more fat than most raw foodists (like we've talked about lots) and I have no hair loss (unless you call very thick hair coming and going at the same time loss) and my grey hair is going away. Bye, bye.

Just thought I'd throw in one case - me!

Greenbunny

anisha · 11-25-2007

I am still suffering hairloss. This morning in the shower a thick chunky strand came out and, yes, I actaully counted how many hairs it was - 24. Not a big deal, but that was on top of the hair that already came out. I know hair sheds, but I have never experienced this while being healthy. When I had typhoid I lost a lot of hair, but that was 10 years ago!

Okay I am going to lower my fat intake and see where that goes. I get the feeling that I should not dye my hair again... \=

message boards · 12-14-2007

Definitely, please stop coloring your hair. I dyed my hair from the time I was in 8th grade to my mid twenties when I finally said "enough!" I wanted to see my real hair color again before it would start turning gray (this was before I realized that gray hair can be avoided--see below). There are so many bad, bad chemicals in hair dye. Your hair may be falling out because your body is saying, "Help! No more chemicals!" I also bought a shower filter and my hair (now all natural) is sooo much softer. The one I use is by Enviro. It was only about 30 bucks. You can find it here: http://www.google.com/products?sourc...er+filter&um=1

Have you read "Green for Life," by Victoria Bountenko? Hair loss in women is a symptom of low HCL in your stomach. Of course it could be due to many other things, but low HCL should not be overlooked as a possible cause for your problems. ( For extensive talk on green smoothies and HCL, see the all the posts in the "rectal itching" thread--I know, I know, I'll probably forever be known as the one who had THAT problem, but I was and am detoxing and its now gone away, yay!) Gray hair is also a sign of low HCL. Anne Wigmore consumed blended greens and attributed that to her having no gray hair at age 82.