Hair can be a good signifier of general well-being and is often one of the first signs of an underlying health problem. There’s lots of evidence to link stress and anxiety to hair loss as well as auto immune diseases such as type 2 diabetes or thyroid disorders.
Diet also plays a key part in maintaining our general health and it stands to reason that it can also have an effect on hair growth and loss. There is mounting evidence that the certain toxic metals in water such as thallium are linked to alopecia and there is also a growing body of thought food allergies and intolerance to certain types of product could also be leading to hair loss.
Gluten intolerance can stop vital nutrients from being absorbed
Gluten allergies can indirectly cause hair loss by damaging the gut wall and stopping the body from absorbing the nutrients it needs to create healthy hair follicles as well as triggering auto immune responses which can lead to alopecia areata.
Whilst maintaining a healthy diet is always going to be recommended, if you’re suffering from severely thinning hair or the rapid onset of baldness it’s generally unlikely that food intolerance or something toxic in your diet is likely to be the cause though.
Sometimes the cause of hair loss just remains a mystery
In most cases of alopecia it’s impossible to get to the root cause of the problem. Stress and anxiety are known to trigger sudden hair loss and if there’s a problem running in families then sometimes it can be predicted with reasonable accuracy but often there’s no obvious reason for it.
Eating the right foods is never going to harm your hair but if you are concerned that your shedding more than 100 hairs a day when you shower or brush then it might be worth seeking some expert advice and not just relying on a change of diet to solve the problem.