The Healthiest Diets for Your Hair

We all start new diets for a variety of reasons—trying to lose weight, dealing with inflammation, understanding food allergies and more. But when you go on a diet, a lot of different things happen with your body beyond your digestive system. For example, there’s a link between diet and hair loss and all your new diets will affect your hair—though it’s not always bad.

A lot of weight loss diets, however, can be really harmful to your hair because they’re restrictive. Depriving your body of vitamins and nutrients needed for hair growth means your hair will be crying out for nourishment. On the flip side, a diet for healthy hair can keep your hair strong and shiny. Keep reading for a look at some of the most popular diets and what they can do to your hair, as well as our pick of the best diets for healthy hair.

Dieting Often Causes Hair Loss

A major problem with dieting, when it comes to hair health, is that it so often leads to hair loss, simply because diets usually cut something out of your daily eating plan. This is why, unfortunately, diet and hair loss often go hand in hand. So it’s important when dieting to make sure you’re still eating well-rounded meals and getting all your vitamins and nutrients in. Let’s take a look at some popular diets and see why each one can cause hair loss.

Keto Diet

There are a few ways the keto diet can affect your hair if you’re not careful. Keto diet hair loss is a very real thing. The keto diet is a very low-calorie diet that’s high in fat, but if you cut your calories too much, you can shock your system and essentially stunt hair growth because of that. You also may not be getting enough protein, and you know how crucial protein is to hair growth (keratin is protein!). Plus, any time you lose weight too quickly, your hair can fall out, simply because it’s not a healthy process for your body. Keto diet hair loss doesn’t have to happen, though. If you very closely and carefully follow the keto diet without cutting too many calories or carbs and make sure to get all the proper vitamins needed for hair growth, you can prevent hair loss on the keto diet.

Veganism or Vegetarian Diet

Similarly, vegan diet hair loss is also a thing. There’s a chance of hair loss on a vegan or vegetarian diet if you’re not getting the vitamins and nutrients you need. Cutting animal products out of your diet doesn’t directly cause hair loss, but cutting important vitamins can cause vegan diet hair loss. Iron deficiency is common in plant-based diets because iron is largely found in animal products. Low iron can possibly contribute to hair loss. Protein and zinc are others to make sure you’re getting enough of. Because it’s harder to get protein on a plant-based diet, it’s important to keep an eye on protein intake so it doesn’t dip too low. If done correctly, though, plant-based diets and veganism can actually promote really healthy hair.

Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting, or only eating during a short block of time each day, is a popular weight-loss method that isn’t quite as restrictive as some other diets. However, if you’re losing weight too quickly while doing IF, you could cause hair loss. Any rapid weight loss is a shock to the system, which can cause hair to fall out.

Paleo Diet

The Paleo diet requires you to eat like a caveman, focusing on whole, clean foods and nothing processed. This diet is notoriously low in vitamin B, which can be found in rice and grains, two foods not permitted on this diet. The B vitamins, including biotin, are very important for your hair health. Not only do they keep your hair strong and healthy, but without them, you can experience hair loss. If you’re on a Paleo diet, it’s important to supplement the B vitamins you’re missing in food.

But Not All Diets Are Bad for Your Hair

Diets that are less restrictive and instead focus on simply eating healthy foods are often not linked to hair loss, making them a good diet for healthy hair. Here are some eating plans that can support both your diet and hair growth goals.

Whole30

The Whole30 diet is where you eat clean for 30 days to jump-start your system, and it seemingly doesn’t show any ties to hair loss. While similar to the Paleo diet’s food restrictions, the short duration of this diet—designed to reset unhealthy eating habits as well as help identify food sensitivities—is what safeguards the body from any harmful consequences. The only possibility here would be if you rapidly dropped weight, but because this diet only lasts 30 days, it’s unlikely that it would cause any lasting effects on your hair.

Mediterranean Diet

Another good diet for healthy hair is the Mediterranean diet, which is rich in heart-healthy foods and shouldn’t lead to any hair loss. In fact, studies have linked this diet to reversing hair loss in some people. Because it’s a well-rounded diet with plenty of good fats, protein and whole grains, it shouldn’t cause you to be deficient in important vitamins.

Galveston Diet

The Galveston Diet rounds out the list of top diets for healthy hair. Commonly referred to as the menopause diet, it’s similar to the Mediterranean diet as well, in that it’s well-rounded and gives you the vitamins and nutrients your hair needs while focusing mainly on anti-inflammatory foods that allow our hormones to help us in our fat loss goals. It requires intermittent fasting, though, so it’s important to keep an eye on how fast you might be losing weight, as that can damage hair.

So What Do I Do If My Diet Is Hurting My Hair?

It can be difficult to pin your hair loss to your diet, but if the diet is new and the hair loss is new, there could be a correlation. If this is the case, the first thing you want to do is really examine the foods you're eating to make sure you’re getting enough protein, vitamins and minerals. Try eating foods that are known to promote full, healthy hair so you’re giving your strands the best chance of growing.

In addition to keeping an eye on your diet, thicker hair and healthier hair can be helped along by the hair-care products you use, like the proper shampoo and conditioner. Use shampoo and conditioner formulated for your hair type, like curly hair or damaged hair, so that your hair and scalp get the exact ingredients they need to be nourished.

Our Second Chance Repairing Duo is designed to rejuvenate hair, which can be especially helpful if your diet has weakened your locks and roots. And if you’ve already begun to see breakage, our Wake Up Call Volumizing Duo is a terrific option as it has been clinically proven to reduce breakage by 98%.

And we don’t call our Superpower Fortifying Hair & Scalp Serum a superpower for nothing. The proprietary blend of ingredients, including caffeine, niacinamide and oleanolic acid, in this best-selling serum feeds your follicles with the hair- and scalp-nourishing nutrients they need to promote thicker, healthier hair.

Tell Us: Have you experienced hair loss or growth associated with dieting? Share in the comment below!

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Better Not Younger offers a complete collection of hair-care products that are designed to support your healthiest hair even when you’re dieting. From vitamin- and mineral-rich supplements to shampoos and conditioners that strengthen strands, our products are the perfect complement to your diet and hair growth goals.