Need to know how to reverse Keto hair loss? The good news is that this is an entirely temporary issue.
The keto diet may sometimes cause some hair loss, but you can and will get your locks back sooner than you think.
I can talk from experience here: About four months after I first started on the ketogenic diet, I began noticing more hair than usual in my brush.
This didn’t cause me too much concern at first, but quickly I began to see a lot of hair loss in the shower too.
There was no ignoring this any longer; my hair was definitely falling out.
It seemed logical to me that the keto diet had caused this sudden hair loss, but at the time I didn’t know why this should happen.
It seemed strange when so far the keto diet had worked wonders for both my health and weight goals.
In fact, I had never felt more healthy and energetic: So why was I experiencing this hair loss?
Hair loss on Keto Diet
I wasn’t too keen on ending my keto way of eating, it was doing me so much good.
However, I couldn’t afford to let my hair continue to fall out.
Luckily, I discovered that there was no need to ditch my low carb lifestyle. What was happening to my hair was both normal and natural, and was nothing to worry about.
Sure, it wasn’t great to lose some hair, but it was going to be a temporary problem only.
In fact, hair loss is a common response to any form of stress.
While its true that I was feeling super healthy, its also true that I had lost a significant amount of body fat.
Now this is the thing:
Even though a new diet was so great for your health, your body will still register your weight loss as something of an emergency.
So, despite the fact that the keto diet was busy reducing my body fat including dangerous visceral fat, it was still a source of stress.
My levels of disease causing inflammation were going down, and my health was improving dramatically.
Nonetheless, my body was having to get used to a completely different way of eating.
The chances are that when you started with the keto diet, this was a complete change of eating for you too.
Your body will have had to learn to stop depending on glucose for all its energy needs. It will have had to become adept at using fat for energy instead.
While this has probably done wonders for your weight loss and health goals, unfortunately you may well be seeing some hair loss at this point too.
Stress and hair loss on keto
Any change, even super healthy change, such as a swap over to keto eating will be felt in your body as stress.
Every single dietary change in the book can and will cause this exact same problem. It is certainly not something that is limited to the keto diet alone.
You will see people all over the internet asking if a vegan diet, or weight watchers, or the Paleo diet is responsible for their sudden hair loss.
The truth is that you body isn’t particularly fond of change. And when that change is something as important as your diet, it responds accordingly.
What happens when you stress your body with a dietary change?
When you start on a keto diet ( or any other diet) your body notices straightaway that something has changed with regard to your nutrition.
Your body responds to this by deciding to conserve necessary protein, and concentrate on keeping as healthy as it can.
Unfortunately for you, you hair ( and sometimes your nails too) are not considered to be particularly important in terms of keeping you alive.
For this reason, your body will halt the production of new hair.
Fortunately, this is only a temporary reaction, and as your body adapts to your keto diet, this will no longer take place.
So how exactly does your body stop your hair growing on the keto diet?
Your hair grows in a number of separate phases, and each of these phases has to be working well if you are not to experience hair loss.
The Anagen Phase:
This is the first phase.
It is during this phase that that your hair actively grows. At any one time about 80% of your hair will be in this phase.
The Catagen Phase:
This is the next stage which can best be described as a transition phase. The hair follicles begin to shrink and the speed of your hair growth begins to slow down.
The Telogen Phase:
This is the resting phase. It is during this phase that your hair has completed its growth. This phase will last for several months under normal conditions.
The Exogen Phase:
This is the final stage. It is during this exogen phase that your hair will fall out.
This happens all the time. It’s a process that you don’t normally notice, as there are always new hairs growing in to replace those that you have lost.
Also, not every hair is at the same stage at the same time. Therefore, the loss of only some of your hair will be barely noticed. It happens at such a regular rate that you see this as your normal rate of hair loss.
Stress and its effects on the stages of hair renewal and growth.
When your body is under stress, for any reason, it will interfere with the normal phases of your hair growth.
Stress will cause the Telogen Phase and the Exogen phase to last much less time. What can normally take months for your hair to pass through can now be just a few weeks.
Therefore, the amount of hair that you would normally lose over a few months or more can now be activated over just a few weeks.
This is the reason for all that extra hair that you’re now seeing in your brush every morning.
This is absolutely nothing to worry about.
It is a temporary problem, which will not return. Your body will adjust to your new diet, and weight loss.
Once you’re at this point, your hair will return to its normal growth/fall pattern.
This keto hair loss is simply your body feeling that you may be in a dangerous situation which is causing you to lose weight. It doesn’t know you’re on a new diet, all it knows is your nutritional intake has changed.
Remember, at such a time your body won’t be wanting to waste energy on non-essential growth such as your hair or nails.
This doesn’t happen to everyone: For an unknown reason it does seem to affect women more than men.
However, if this does happen to you, your total hair loss will be about 10 -15%. You will not develop bald patches, and it will not continue past this first hair cycle.
There is no need to get worried about it. It’s not great to lose some hair, but all you need to do is relax and know that this will come right all by itself.
You certainly don’t have to give up your keto diet and all the weight loss and health benefits that come with it.
In fact, there is evidence that by eating a nutritionally balanced low carb high fat diet, your hair will grow back super healthy.
You may well find that after a month or so, your hair will look better than it has for a long time.
Remember that your hair will grow about 1 inch/ 2.5cm each month. You aren’t going to have to wait too long.
Can my hair loss be caused by something other than stress?
The quick reply is yes, it certainly can.
These other problems will only come up for you if you are not following the ketogenic diet properly.
It is very important that you eat whole foods and nutritionally dense low carb vegetables. The keto diet is more than able to meet all your nutritional needs.
However, you do need to make sure you’re not just living on bacon and pork scratchings.
Always include meat, fish, healthy fats and vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower and avocado. Add a few nuts too, as a great source of micro nutrients.
For more information about these causes of hair loss read:
Hair loss on Keto (and what to do about it)
Finally, make sure that you are eating enough.
The keto diet, with its high fat content is a very satiating way of eating. You’ll feel full for longer, and won’t want to snack as much as you may have done before.
While this is great news for your weight loss, you do need to make sure that you are eating enough to meet all your nutritional needs each day.
If your weight loss is too rapid, try increasing your meal portions and increasing your fat intake too. It is always better to keep a low but steady weight loss.
The Keto Diet is an amazing diet that will have you feeling healthier than you have in years. Plus it will help you to shift all your unwanted weight quicker than you ever thought possible.
Don’t let a temporary problem such as hair loss cause you to come of your diet.
Keep up the good work, and your hair will be back to its normal thickness within a few months.
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