Hair Loss

[Lorraine P. Johnson]

For the past 3-4 weeks- if not longer- I have have been losing gobs of hair- not falling out in chunks or anything- everytime I wash or brush my hair. If I leave it down (as it is long) I find myself removing random hairs off myself and things around me frequently. 

Now when I say gobbs, I mean handfuls. I will empty my brush once when brushing my hair and after I shower I have one handful from washing my hair and another from brushing it out. And I do use conditioner. 

This has been bothering me for a while and I don't know what may or may not be wrong, or if I may or may not be deficient in something.  Has anyone else experienced this?

[Mallory Macy]

I have experienced this. For me, I was anemic and deficent in Iron. In addition, I was in a highly stressful situaiton and it wasnt until I found a way to handle the stress was when my hair started to come back. It took 1 1/2 years for my hair to return to "normal". At that time I was not raw, but vegetarian. Now as I get further into healing my body with raw and living foods I keep finding new growth.

As a woman it is stressful to lose your hair, but try to find a way to de-stress your life. Spending time with friends, find something to look forward to everyday and something special every week. Yoga, massage, music, bubble  baths find something that works for you and really enjoy it!

I am not as knowledgeable as others here as to what foods have more iron in them, I used supplements at that time. I think Beets? but dont quote me on that.

It will get better!!

[Michelle Joy Schulman]

Yes,  i lost quite a lot of hair on raw, too, and specifically i noticed it getting worse and worse when i was doing 80-10-10 or low fat raw.   Since I've been eating cooked, it grew back mostly.  But now that i'm back doing raw again, i'm wondering what will happen, too.  Yes, it is distressing for a woman to lose hair on raw especially since what we're eating is supposed to be the 'healthiest'.  I spoke with Doug Graham (author of 80-10-10) about it and he flippantly said, "buy a wig and don't worry about it."  That wasn't the answer I wanted to hear at the time, especially when you could see right through the top of my head like a horseshoe pattern of missing hair.  There is also the question of detoxification.  I had also lost 175 lbs on raw at the time and wondered...'is this hairloss  a symptom of my detoxifying...And am i just not done yet?'  I've heard it said that an obese person is not done detoxifying until they have rid their bodies of all of their body fat.  I had not yet.  Where I work at Arnold's Way Raw Vegetarian Cafe outside of Philadelphia, my boss Arnold says that losing hair is a part of the cleansing/detoxifying process and says it WILL grow back.  I didn't stay on raw long enough (3.5 years and i hadn't lost all of my weight yet) to find out.  I have heard of fruitarians losing teeth if they don't rinse after all of the fruit.  And a good friend of mine who used to be ALL raw and experienced terribly brittle nails and thinner hair, now eats a mostly raw diet because since adding in cooked foods (especially sardines with the bones) she says her hair and nails are SO much stronger.  I don't know.  It IS a worry.  I like having hair!  But I also like the benefits I receive from eating raw!  One idea would be to get your blood tested or get your hair tested to check for deficiencies.          

[InTheRawWithTiffany]

Hi folks.

I don't have any experience or direct knowledge of this, but just a reminder that hair and nails are made of protein.  Could it be that there hasn't been enough complete protein in your diet?  Just my novice 2 cents and [raw] food for thought...

[Wendy Geesey]

laxative abuse can cause hair loss- sometimes we can abuse a "natural substance" without knowing it- like senna or cascara sagrada. I believe that this is mostly due to the deficiencies they cause.

Hormones is another big one. I'm not sure if it was hormones for me or some deficiency, but the shampoo and conditioner Nioxin really helped- I never even used much in the way of hair products either that would cause follicle clogging (but I did workout quite a bit and sweat, so maybe the sweat was clogging the pores???)

[Michelle Joy Schulman]

Hmmm...interesting. 

InTheRawWithTiffany said:

Hi folks.

I don't have any experience or direct knowledge of this, but just a reminder that hair and nails are made of protein.  Could it be that there hasn't been enough complete protein in your diet?  Just my novice 2 cents and [raw] food for thought...

[RawSteps]

Eating a wide range of veggies, greens and fruits will make sure we get all our vitamins/minerals, too, and aren't missing anything important.

Most Raw Vegans probably do, but I know that living in a winter climate in the Midwest I don't always have access to a wide variety of produce  -- so that is an issue for some.

Just another thought!

[Lorraine P. Johnson]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I am glad that I am not alone in the hair loss department and while I am nowhere near needing a wig yet it has been a concern. I had originally thought it was stress and waited a while before posting but after decreasing my work hours I thought it was time for help!

Thanks again! 

[LaTricia E. Morris]

B vitamins. This is generally lacking in a raw diet (still too in many other eating lifestyles). You prob should get a good b complex from your local health food store or research good raw sources.