Vegetarian Progress
by Vegetarian Guy
Okay. So I first came to this website almost 2 years ago now. I feel i should write what I have experienced so far. It was my sadness and I guess depression that drove me to find any solution to my problem, and so I found this website.
In the beginning i started with reducing all sugars. I would eat as what was posted as advised food on this website. I felt a lot better, and I thought i would soon see results. I saw results that a lot less hair fell off. But I counted at least 20 hairs falling every day, and that was not including counting hairs falling in shower and so on.
After a couple of months my diet went towards more or less the paleo diet. I would eat a ton of chicken and salmon. I could eat salmon for breakfast along with some spinach, then chicken for lunch and fish for dinner again. I also ate a lot of veggies and fruits.
I felt better and healthier and I saw some progress in my hair I guess, but it was not satisfying. I was patient and went on with the paleo diet for about 1.5 years. I had slowed down hair loss pretty much and my hair was not as good as I wanted it, but it was not too bad.
Now six months ago i met some vegetarian people who motivated me to watch some vegetarian documentaries on YouTube, Netflix, and so on. It really messed with my head.
The animals were treated really bad. I felt like I was in trouble. I wanted to get enough protein from fish and chicken but still felt like cruel and bad as a person for eating them and seeing for the first time how many animals are treated in slaughter houses.
So I googled "is vegetarian diet good for hair" most of the results was negative, concluding that vegetarianism is bad for hair and will cause hair loss.
I still wanted to be vegetarian for a lot of other reasons as well, not only animal abuse. It's good for the environment, costs far less energy to produce beans, rice, and so on, compared to red meat, fish, chicken.
A little worried, I started to eat vegetarian 3 days a week. I felt so good in my hart because i knew fewer animals was killed because of me eating less meat.
I then started to find documentaries and articles online that suggested that vegetarianism might be beneficial for hair growth. I then went full vegan/vegetarian. I felt a little weird in the beginning but my conscience was so good for not eating any animals. So I felt stronger in my belief that this was the right path. I reduced hair loss even more. Nowadays my hair is falling almost not at all. On average less than 10 hairs I think. Sometimes none at all. My hair is better than ever and I feel great.
So this is just me, and i know people are different, but I feel this has really helped me, and i know by experience how bad and hopeless one can feel when hair is falling off the head. At times it really messed me up, and I was really low. But at the worst I felt comfort by reading posts at this forum and I told myself that one way or another i will stop hair loss and NEVER EVER stop until my hair is back.
What I think is that when I started this journey, my diet was bad, but not extremely bad. I didn't eat chocolate for breakfast or anything. I ate some candy in the weekends, and sometimes processed food, but not a lot. I also liked ice cream once in a while. But this is why i think i didn't see great results when i went paleo, because my diet wasn't that bad in the beginning.
Why I think I'm seeing better results now is that I have learned that meat and pretty much all animal products cause the body to be acidic which is a bad environment for the hair. I also have read that continuous meat eating causes the body to produce too much testosterone, and thus too much free testosterone that converts to DHT.
But i know vegetarians can be unhealthy as well, only eating cheese and bread. But if you go for whole food plant based , I think that is the best diet possible for the body.
I know a lot of people are skeptical for the vegetarian diet, but i just thought i should share my thoughts as i know how this forum helped me motivate for my hair loss battle, i wanted to share back and tell people what worked for me.
PS, i also use/make flax seed gel by boiling flax seed in water. This is a great styling product, and has A LOT of omega3 fatty acids, which is really healthy for the hair.
Vegetarian Guy, 23 years old.
Never give up, and never quit, it will get better soon :)
Vegetarian with Hair Loss
by Shiv
(US)
Hi Sheree, your website is absolutely amazing. I have spent months and months pouring over everything that is on this site. I also check it frequently (at least once every couple of days) for updates. I find your positive attitude to be so encouraging - this is what keeps me going every day!
A little bit about me - I started experiencing hair loss (telogen effluvium) when I graduated college a few years ago. The TE made sense given my diet and the stress in my life at that time. Since then, my hair not only never "regained" the volume, but I have noticed a gradual decrease in hair volume over the years.
This became extremely obvious when I became pregnant and my hair started thinning - I started seeing my scalp! Breastfeeding just made it worse! This is when I discovered your website. I realized that nutrition and stress likely has a key role in my hair loss - until recently, I survived on pasta, pizza and bread. I was a vegetarian that hated vegetables!
I just recently stopped breastfeeding (about a month ago) and I'm seeing a major increase in hair shedding which is very stressful!
Since reading your website, I have completely changed my diet. I drink green smoothies everyday and eat lots of salads with greens(spinach, kale, arugula) and chick peas / beans. I have been doing this on and off for 3-4 months.
My hair loss is very unique in my family - no one in my family has hair loss. Everything on the internet (and in real life - my dermatologist) seems to indicate that this is genetic and that I'm doomed with androgenetic alopecia - even though there is no genetic linkage in my family!
I struggle to stay positive and feel like I'm trying to "convince" myself that I won't go bald. It is so hard to be around my cousins - they all have beautiful long black hair. Even my mother has decent hair for her age (she has thin hair but this is after a hysterectomy, issues with her thyroid medicine and menopause!)
I'm not sure if this is relevant but my periods have also been off - My periods decreased a few years ago to 3 days and were lighter. I got checked by a doctor and she said everything is normal (she also checked me for PCOS).
My period came back 8 months ago (while breastfeeding) and last month it only lasted 2 days! I have been checked several times for my thyroid and the results come back normal. I have also been checked for PCOS before I had my son and was confirmed to not have it. I don't know if my hair loss and periods are related - I have a feeling they are but I don't know the answer and neither do the doctors!! It might still be the aftereffects of breastfeeding??
My question for you is - what are some good recipes/foods for vegetarians we should eat regularly? My concern is that I'm not doing enough? I already know and eat beans, chickpeas and greens every day. I'm not sure about tofu - I've heard a lot of bad things about eating tofu, so I'm weary of eating it all the time.
Also, I put hemp seeds, chia seeds and flax seeds to get Omega 3's and 6's. I also take Vitamin D, Ho Shu Wu, Borage Oil and L-Lysince supplements. I have been doing this since January (granted I fall off the wagon a few meals by eating some bread). I'm getting concerned because my hair is actually getting worse!! It's so stressful that I'm starting to do yoga and run to relieve some of this stress.
Also, what are your thoughts on wheat grass juice? And cottage cheese and flax seed oil? Wheat grass is a great source of natural chlorophyll. However, I haven't found too much on wheat grass and hair growth. Cottage cheese and flax seed oil - there is a lot online about using this for cancer patients to rejuvenate your body at a cellular level. I haven't tried either of these but wanted to get your thoughts on these?
Thank you again for your website - this is literally the only website out there that is my source of encouragement. I agree with so many others that you truly are a saint!!
Thanks,
Shiv
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