Is it normal to be loosing hair?

[Shawrf2]

I've been on the Atkins diet since December and lately I've noticed that my hair is falling out, not a lot, but somehow I feel the amount of hair I'm loosing isn't healthy. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks.

[Lessara]

Hi, I just wanted to let you know that I started losing my hair about 3-4 months after I started LCing. From what I see on the board. This has happened to others.
Another thing you will notice after a while is that even though you find lots of hair on your brush, your hair isn't any thinner. That's because Lcing increases the growth cycle of hair (Nails as well). This is for some and you might be one of those.
Do a search for hair for other people thoughts.

[gwilson38]

Yup me too. I noticed about 4 months after starting to low-carb I was losing hair. Now I took the active route and added some extra supplements. Some that come to mind that can help hair loss is, choline, biotin, lethicin, omega-3 EFA. On the other hand Im not sure if they really work. I have great news for U tho! My hair thinned for almost 5 months [ it never became noticable] and now since the end of febuary its stopped! Yup just the normal amount of hair coming out say after a shower. So hang in there...it will get better.

[tofi]

Yes, it is very common to lose a noticeable amount of hair about 4 months after losing a bunch of weight ON ANY DIET. It's just that people don't lose as well on most other eating plans. (VBG) There are threads on this board which explain things - do a search for 'hair loss'. And yes, the loss will stop and new growth take over.

Advice from Doreen T:
I noticed that I seemed to be shedding more. But the problem for me was breakage, not that the hair was actually falling out from the follicles in the scalp. And the new growth that replaced it has been strong and great condition.

Normally, hair and skin cells are completely renewed and replaced every 4 to 6 weeks. Stress - even good stress - can affect the growth of hair cells in the follicles, causing the hair strand to actually fall out, or the new hair that grows will be weakened and brittle at that particular point, and thus will break. An abrupt change in diet can potentially "stress" the system enough to cause such changes. But with the 4 to 6 week cell growth, you won't notice a change in your hair until a month or two into the new diet.

If the thinning is at the scalp level, and you're noticing bald areas, this may indicate some other health problem ... low thyroid springs to mind.

Biotin is a good idea ... also a source of essential fatty acids such as flax or fish oils, or best of all, a blended mix of nutritional oils, such as Udo's Choice, which provides a balance of omega-3, 6 and 9."

And here's a URL for more info:
http://www.lowcarbluxury.com/newsle...07.html#letters

[CrazyCurly]

Hi everyone! Great post tofi. :)
First of I want to say woo hoo to Shawrf2! Great stats you have! It sounds like you have done wonderful! :cheer:

I am losing my hair also. I also keep hearing everyone talking about how their nails are growing faster. I have found the opposite for me. I cut mine over a month ago to start growing them out for a party for May 4. They are still really, really short. They have barely grown at all. Before this WOE they would have been super long by now. I was just wondering if anyone has experienced this?

[butterfly7]

I asked my dr about the hair loss and he said that a high protein diet should make your hair and nails healthy! ;) He also said to take a good multi vitamin or at least a b-complex and vit-E but with the vit-E make sure it is NOT a synthetic? You can tell by reading the ingred. Real vit-E will be called d-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate. the fake stuff will be called [/I] dl-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate. It is good for your heart and skin hair etc... :daizy: you'll look great

[Lena gal]

I'm sure glad iI read this, I will be on guard, I really don't want to go gray but I don't want to be bald either!!!!!!!!!