Day 198 -- Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

I've written mostly about the positive effects of my new vegan diet.  But there are a few negative effects that I've experienced.  I noticed, recently, that I've been losing a lot of hair.  At first I thought it was because it was summer and I was shedding.  But I did a quick internet search and found out that hair loss is quite common -- and completely reversible -- for people who have begun a vegan or vegetarian diet.  It's so common that the problem is addressed on the Livestrong.com website.

Three possible causes are all deficiencies in the diet -- protein, amino acids or iron.  I could be deficient in any one of these three.  Or all three.  But I suspect iron might be the culprit since I don't eat a lot of greens and that's the best source for iron.  I sometimes struggle with amino acids and I know I get plenty of protein.

 

The most likely cause of my hair loss is something called telogen effluvium.  This is a transitory increase in the number of hairs in the telogen or resting phase of the hair growth cycle. This can occur spontaneously, but it can also come as a result of a high fever, stress from surgery, or shock.  From a nutrition standpoint. the condition can also come from malnutrition or "crash" dieting.  The sudden switch to a vegan diet may cause the body to react as if it were experiencing a crash diet.

The good news is that this condition usually reverses itself in a matter of a couple months.  So, for now, I'm not going to worry too much about it.  I'm going to pay closer attentions to my intake of protein, iron and amino acids and make sure that I'm getting what I need in nutrition.