Could my hair loss be connected to my diet?

[Suiren]

I recently posted about hormone related issues and PMS. One thing that I thought was hormone related was my recent hair loss.
But now I had it stop several times for a few days, which makes me think it is not necessarily all hormones.

One day I got in contact with wheat on accident. I had ordered all meat but it seems the chicken was lightly coated in flour. I react to it Celiacs do. I get really sick, stomach pains, nausea, pains in joints and muscles, brain fog, acne, and the last time ai also noticed hair loss, after it had been gone for 4 days.
It stopped after 1 1/2 days and I started feeling more normal again too.

But I also had this when I did not eat any wheat, so I don't think it is only that. Maybe my body reacts to something else (the only "cheat" food I had when out was peanuts, but I have been on a very strict diet). It might also be a lack of something, I don't eat a lot of meat due to the costs, but I thought enough to be okay, once or twice a day about two to three pieces (not sure of the grams).

My PMS was better this time when I ovulated, like almost not there and my acne has improved dramatically since taking milk thistle, burdock root, DIM and chasteberry. My hair loss was reduced, but not stopped when increasing my Vit. D3 intake from 2000 to 5000 IU. Not sure if more Vit. D would help, it is a lot to take with supplements, but increasing it naturally never worked for me. That said, the hair loss was gone for a while on 2000 IU, so I don't think that alone is the problem either.

What else could be a cause for on and off hair loss?

[TylerDurden]

I and a few others have noticed some hair-loss after going rawpalaeo. This might be an unfortunate example of detox. The hair-loss reported seems always to be  a case of overall, slight to moderate thinning in certain areas, rather than specific areas going completely bald.

Since hair-loss is not an issue for me and switching back to SAD diets involves a lot of health-problems recurring, I'm happy with my current situation re hair. However, if others have any suggestions, I'm happy to hear them, if they are of a natural, non-processed kind.

[Suiren]

Do you think it could appear almost a year later? I have been sticking to my diet pretty well since early 2012, with just rare cheating (back then I hardly reacted) and lately I have not cheated at all.
My hair was fine until late fall pretty much. I have lost a lot already.

I have been paranoid about getting in contact with any wheat/ gluten/ grains lately because I react to the tiniest amount of it. I can't even touch bread.

[Projectile Vomit]

I had never thought about the connection between hair loss and diet before, but now that you bring it up my hair has gotten noticeably thinner over the years since raw foods, particularly raw animal foods, came to dominate my diet. I personally don't have a problem with it. I dislike hair, and would be quite happy if my hair, minus perhaps my eyebrows and eyelashes, which service useful purposes, were to fall out.

[Suiren]

Umh... okay...I like my hair.

I read some People that eat a regular Paleo Diet experience hair loss with either low or high carb. Depending on the person.

[Projectile Vomit]

I'm fairly moderate in my carb intake, with most of it coming in the form of raw brain and fermented vegetables. Not sure how valuable that piece of information is, but I thought I'd offer it.

[Suiren]

Mine has been lower lately, I used to eat honey plus sweet potato plus carrots.
Not sure if the decrease could be contributing to it. I only eat honey now, about 3-4 tbs a day.

[littleElefant]

Me also I lost a lot of hair . Realized it some weeks ago. Never had thin hair, never lost hair visible. Now I see my hair all over the place, on my coat and shirts?
I'm more or less raw for some years now, had never a problem with it. I thought it might be too much selenium. Coconut has a lot of it and I ate so much coconut all year. one coconut more or less  per day.
Also I  am very much on a seafood diet, eating loads of seafood everyday, also fish-eggs, clams, fishheads, things like this superhigh in selenium.
Or is it the low carb thing I try again and again and fail.
Everytime I go low carb it makes me thick and I lose a lot of musclemass.
It seems that my body is not able to thrive on low carb.

[Suiren]

Are you still experiencing hair loss right now?

I eat a lot of coconut flour pancakes (egg + coconut flour), about 4tbs.  But it never caused me problems. Only thing I changed was that I have been eating less veggies, carrot, sweet potato bc it did not help weight gain.

[cherimoya_kid]

Are you still experiencing hair loss right now?

I eat a lot of coconut flour pancakes (egg + coconut flour), about 4tbs.  But it never caused me problems. Only thing I changed was that I have been eating less veggies, carrot, sweet potato bc it did not help weight gain.

Coconut is very good for losing weight. Is that your goal?  Why are you eating so much coconut?

[Suiren]

No, I am trying to gain weight so I eat my fat and carbs (butter and honey) on pure coconut bread. I did not know it causes weight loss. It is the only "flour" I can digest.

My problems may be related to my thyroid though actually. My doctor called with bad news and said I need to start on medication again.

[cherimoya_kid]

No, I am trying to gain weight so I eat my fat and carbs (butter and honey) on pure coconut bread. I did not know it causes weight loss. It is the only "flour" I can digest.

My problems may be related to my thyroid though actually. My doctor called with bad news and said I need to start on medication again.

Generally weight-gain problems happen with an OVER-active thyroid, not underactive.  However, some people with a weak thyroid are very thin.

I would try combining your fats and carbs with either some vegetable matter (like celery), or with a little bit of lean meat or fish.

[Suiren]

I know, Hashi's usually gain fast. I think my problems with not gaining weight might be related to my past diet and the ability to absorb nutrients and calories might have been impaired. I have been doing better, I gained a little and have been maintaining on less calories after fasting just a little.
I am also taking herbal supplements to detox the liver.

So you think the coconut flour may be bad? I have been able to make raw flat breads from it in a dehydrator (takes ages)
I have been doing better on it than before and it helps me add about 4 eggs to my diet a day. I started gaining when I started eating lots of honey with it too.

[cherimoya_kid]

I know, Hashi's usually gain fast. I think my problems with not gaining weight might be related to my past diet and the ability to absorb nutrients and calories might have been impaired. I have been doing better, I gained a little and have been maintaining on less calories after fasting just a little.
I am also taking herbal supplements to detox the liver.

So you think the coconut flour may be bad? I have been able to make raw flat breads from it in a dehydrator (takes ages)
I have been doing better on it than before and it helps me add about 4 eggs to my diet a day. I started gaining when I started eating lots of honey with it too.

Coconut really speeds up the metabolism.  I wouldn't recommend it to ANYONE who was having trouble gaining weight.

As an example, I am about 5'8" tall and around 140 pounds.  when I was in Costa Rica, eating lots of raw coconut, I'm pretty sure I got down to around 110 pounds, or even a little less.  I was still strong and felt good, but I was really thin.

In fact, there are a lot of diet books that use coconut and coconut oil as their main method of losing weight.

[jessica]

i would take out the honey and replace it with more protein and some fats.  i notice that when i eat anything that is sugary (honey, carrots, sprouted corn tortillas) along with fats during a meal overwhelms my insulin, my body inflames, i lose hair (although dairy like raw soured cream, does not seem to induce inflamation, only weight gain).  i have been gradually cutting out almost all carbs, except from eggs, green leafy veggies, green olives, and lemon juice and feel better, more even energy, better skin, less hair loss, level mood.  i even had a period after almost 3 years.  when i have uped my carbs for a day or so my eyes get very dry, i have no energy, i feel like my skin is gritty and i seem to shed more hair get more little whiskers on my chin.  supplementation with gelatin (and a few other nutrients for myself personally) has helped a great amount in growing back hair and keeping it.  i also sprinkle my food with kelp powder, or eat raw dulse (frontier or maine coast brand) and add liberal amounts of salt, i am sure i am not iodine deficient at this point. 

[Suiren]

Coconut really speeds up the metabolism.  I wouldn't recommend it to ANYONE who was having trouble gaining weight.

As an example, I am
  about 5'8" tall and around 140 pounds.  when I was in Costa Rica, eating lots of raw coconut, I'm pretty sure I got down to around 110 pounds, or even a little less.  I was still strong and felt good, but I was really thin.

In fact, there are a lot of diet books that use coconut and coconut oil as their main method of losing weight.

I never knew! Weird that I gained weight on it. Who knows, I might be fat without it
It helped me consume a lot of fat without getting nauseated.

[Suiren]

i would take out the honey and replace it with more protein and some fats.  i notice that when i eat anything that is sugary (honey, carrots, sprouted corn tortillas) along with fats during a meal overwhelms my insulin, my body inflames, i lose hair (although dairy like raw soured cream, does not seem to induce inflamation, only weight gain).  i have been gradually cutting out almost all carbs, except from eggs, green leafy veggies, green olives, and lemon juice and feel better, more even energy, better skin, less hair loss, level mood.  i even had a period after almost 3 years.  when i have uped my carbs for a day or so my eyes get very dry, i have no energy, i feel like my skin is gritty and i seem to shed more hair get more little whiskers on my chin.  supplementation with gelatin (and a few other nutrients for myself personally) has helped a great amount in growing back hair and keeping it.  i also sprinkle my food with kelp powder, or eat raw dulse (frontier or maine coast brand) and add liberal amounts of salt, i am sure i am not iodine deficient at this point.

About how much fat, carbs and protein should one eat when wanting to gain weight?
A while back I had a thread here about not being able to gain weight and I was told that to gain I need some carbs. But I never knew how much exactly, so I worty I added too many carbs into my diet.
I thought honey was the kind of sugar that is okay. What amount would be okay anyway? So it could have spiked my insulin and have caused the inflammation I am dealing with possibly?
That would really suck if it was self inflicted.

[Joy2012]

What part of raw paleo diet could cause hair loss? My hair is still intact, but I don't want to lose any part of it.

[Suiren]

What part of raw paleo diet could cause hair loss? My hair is still intact, but I don't want to lose any part of it.

I don't think it is my diet. It only started after 10 months into the diet.
My guess was it is related to postpartum hormones, since I got my period back and the body needs to regulate things again.

The right nutrition and vitamins keep the hair loss down a bit for me.

[jessica]

But I never knew how much exactly, so I worty I added too many carbs into my diet.
I thought honey was the kind of sugar that is okay. What amount would be okay anyway? So it could have spiked my insulin and have caused the inflammation I am dealing with possibly?
That would really suck if it was self inflicted.

for me personally honey, especially 3-4 tbsps would cause high blood sugar and imflamation, i am super carb sensitive and really in any form they are not ok unless i am having extreme physical demands(riding bike/hiking upwards 20 miles a day, farm labor) and even then it is not something i would be able to tolerate daily.  like i said before, if you do experiment with lower carb you will lose water weight, but you should be able to keep all fat and muscle if you keep fully hydrated with broths and lots of seaweeds/salts/potassium/cal/mag.  add gelatin, multivitamin, fermented CLO.  i went over it in the other post pretty throughly, you are the only one who is going to be able to figure out what works for you, but as far as im concerned, going lower carb (less then 50g a day) is a really excellent way to regulate hormones.

[Suiren]

I see. thank you! Where should I get the potassium, calcium and magnesium from?

[littleElefant]

Are you still experiencing hair loss right now?

Yes I'm still loosing some hair I think
I don't eat so much coconut any more.
The hair loss might be caused by my extremely low weight.
My hormones are quite low, having Amenorrea for some time.
I change my diet every other day, I feel a bit lost.
Nothing seems to work. I always have to fight not to loose even more weight.
For some days now I tried low fat, moderate protein, high carb because I had so much inflammation in my body  quite dangerous, and it did not stop.
But with all this carbs I have blood sugar probems, I'm bloated, have water retention and I'm always hungry
Today I tried just huge salads with lots of fish and oil. Oliveoil and Coconutoil and lots of spices.
Feel better like this.

Jesica, where can I find your post about low carb, keto you mentioned.
Can I go keto with fat manly from fatty fish, olive oil and coconut oil?
I have some problems with beef and wild boar fat (ever the highest quality) it always made me very thick after some time. I can not do a lot of eggs, gives me inflammation.
I thought I can be low carb because of this problems but carb based I can not live neither because I'm supercarbsensitive, diabetic I think

[littleElefant]

oh my god, this is so frightening.
I just took my BG and it was 213  1/2 hour after dinner.
I had 3 huge salads today, lots of lettuce with onions, fennel, cabbage, carrots, leek, garlic, lemon with the peel and kohlrabi, with every salad ca 200 gr of Fish and Clams and lots of olive and cocosoel on top.
I felt so great and my belly is calm but BG is totally high.
It was the same last week with lots of macadamianuts and coconutoil and fatty fish and veggies. My Bg in the evening was 240 and in the morning still 130.
After it I cut out all fat and managed to stay under 110 all the time. Had lots of veggies, the green ones mainly, raw and cooked, with fatty fish in every meal.
I don't understand it?
Adora, what is going on here?
Sorry I don't want to change the subject here,  Please help. I don't want to caramelise
Suiren, do you ever took your BG? I started now and I'm totally amazed. Might be the reason why I have such an issue gaining weight.

[aLptHW4k4y]

I think it's normal that blood sugar is high after a meal.. you should measure it fasted in the morning to determine if there's some problem.

[eveheart]

I think it's normal that blood sugar is high after a meal.. you should measure it fasted in the morning to determine if there's some problem.

She did... she reported that her fasting blood sugar was 130. That is not in the right range.

Little Elefant, you apparently knew that something was wrong or else you wouldn't have tested your BG levels. If I were you, I would go to a doctor for blood tests and more information. Then you can decide whether you want to go it alone or use proper diet in addition to what the doctor advises. If you want the knowledge to help yourself, read Dr. Richard K. Bernstein's book, Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution.