Having healthy hair is an important factor for both men and women. Not only genetics and environment, but your diet plays a significant role in your hair health. To maintain healthy hair and scalp, it is important to eat a balanced diet. Your hair is mainly made up of protein, so make sure you eat plenty of protein every day, as well as zinc and omega-rich foods.
Can Foods Cause Hair Loss?
The average person sheds about 100 hairs per day. With age, people lose more and more hair. However, atypical hair loss can be caused by many factors, including deficiencies and dietary issues. There is no scientific evidence, per se, that specific food can cause hair loss. Nonetheless, your diet may influence the health of your scalp and, by association, the growth of your hair.
Not getting sufficient protein, nutrients and minerals can affect your hair health, similarly, consuming an excessive amount of different vitamins can also lead to hair loss. Consuming foods that are detrimental to health can also have adverse effects on hair health. The best diet is a balanced one.
While food alone may not directly cause hair loss, it plays a much larger role than most people realise. Think of your diet as the fuel for your scalp and follicles poor-quality fuel can slow the engine. Deficiencies in vital nutrients such as protein, zinc, iron, and essential fatty acids weaken the follicles, making them more susceptible to breakage and shedding. On the other hand, consuming too much of certain ingredients, like processed sugars or unhealthy fats, can trigger inflammation, disrupt hormone levels, and increase sebum production, which clogs hair follicles. It’s a delicate balance, and paying attention to what you consume can help maintain a healthy scalp environment for stronger, longer-lasting hair growth.
8 Foods That Cause Hair Loss
The food you consume is answerable for the nutrients your hair receives. So, that in itself indicates the significance of consuming healthier food. So what kind of foods can cause hair loss?
Many people overlook the fact that their daily diet might be contributing to hair fall. Excessively processed foods, sugary treats, and high-fat meals all quietly impact follicle health over time. These foods can increase inflammation in the body, cause hormonal imbalances, and reduce the absorption of essential hair-friendly nutrients. Without realising it, you might be consuming ingredients that disturb your body’s natural balance, leading to an unhealthy scalp and weakened strands. Avoiding or moderating these problematic foods while focusing on whole, nourishing alternatives can make a noticeable difference in overall hair vitality.
1) High Sugar And Refined Carbs
Simple carbohydrates and high sugar content can be found in cakes, candies, and desserts. It's also found in bread, white rice, and even pasta. Studies have proven that a diet that includes excessive sugar, starches, and refined carbohydrates can lead to insulin resistance that can make you lose hair or maybe result in complete balding.
Insulin resistance also leads to diabetes and obesity. Eating sugars can also increase sebum (oil) production on the scalp, which can further lead to itchiness and a higher risk of developing dandruff.
Consuming excessive amounts of sugar and refined carbohydrates does more than impact your waistline — it can severely affect your hair health too. These foods cause spikes in insulin levels, which, over time, can trigger insulin resistance. This resistance affects blood flow to the scalp, depriving hair follicles of essential nutrients and oxygen. Additionally, a diet high in sugars tends to increase inflammation and oxidative stress, both of which accelerate follicle aging and shrinkage. As sebum production ramps up alongside sugar intake, scalp health deteriorates, often resulting in dandruff and clogged follicles, which can further hinder healthy hair growth.
2) High Glycemic Index (GI) Food
Foods that are prone to increase blood glucose levels rapidly are called high GI foods. Sugar and dairy items are highly glycemic, of which dairy contains a lot of fat in it. An excessive amount of fat can increase the testosterone levels in the body - which further leads to hormonal and oil-production issues. A diet with a lot of highly glycemic foods can lead to bad hair follicle health. Dairy also exacerbates eczema, dandruff, and other scalp issues, hence, leading to hair fall.
High GI foods rapidly elevate blood sugar levels, which subsequently spike insulin production. This chain reaction influences the balance of hormones, particularly increasing androgen levels, which are directly linked to hair thinning and loss. Dairy, often high in fat and glycemic load, further complicates this by exacerbating scalp issues like dandruff and eczema. Long-term consumption of such foods creates an environment of chronic inflammation in the body, undermining follicle strength and potentially leading to premature hair shedding.
3) Greasy, Fried Food
Some experts have stated that greasy, fried foods can negatively affect your hair health because they cause the overactivity of oil glands. Hence, avoiding too much of fried foods and red meat can be important for hair health. The scalp releases an oily substance called sebum. This sebum moisturizes our scalp and helps the pores remain healthy.
However, when you eat a lot of greasy food - the sebum glands become over-productive and hair hence becomes very greasy and may even look limp. This grease also blocks the hair follicles and stops hair growth. Simply put, fried foods can make the scalp greasy and sticky and will eventually, lead to clogging of pores and miniaturization of hair follicles.
Greasy, fried foods don’t just weigh down your digestive system; they can also weigh down your hair health. Excessive intake of fried snacks or fatty meats overstimulates sebaceous glands, causing an oily, clogged scalp. The overproduction of sebum traps dirt and dead skin, creating a breeding ground for scalp conditions that compromise follicle integrity. Over time, blocked follicles restrict the healthy growth of new hair strands and can even accelerate miniaturisation, the process where hair follicles shrink and stop producing healthy hair.
4) Fish: Mercury and Selenium
While seafood is very nutritious, fishes are prone to have a lot of mercury. Mercury, in a small amount, is beneficial - however, mercury interacts with zinc. So, when we intake mercury, it leads to lower absorption of zinc - which is required for healthy hair.
Hence, mercury can inadvertently lead to hair fall. Fish and poultry also has selenium - which is good in small amounts, but it's fairly common to overdo it by taking supplements which leads to selenium toxicity - leading to unhealthy hair follicles, and weaker hair strands.
While fish is typically praised for its protein and omega-3 content, certain varieties like swordfish, mackerel, and shark have dangerously high levels of mercury. Elevated mercury levels in the body interfere with zinc absorption, which is crucial for hair health. Furthermore, excessive intake of selenium — whether from fish or supplements — can lead to selenium toxicity, a lesser-known but real contributor to hair thinning. Overexposure to these elements weakens hair strands from the root, making them more prone to falling out and breaking.
5) Certain Nuts
Even though nuts are very rich in nutrients and extremely healthy - some individuals do not realize that they are allergic to some of the nuts, and the side effects often involve hair loss. If you are aware of your allergies and the number of nuts that need to be consumed - you are good to go. Hence, adding a healthy dose of nuts to your diet will help reduce thinning and promote hair growth, but disbalance can cause issues.
Nuts are undoubtedly nutritious, but for those with undiagnosed allergies or sensitivities, they can trigger inflammatory responses that impact hair health. Even in individuals without allergies, overconsumption of selenium-rich nuts like Brazil nuts can lead to toxicity, which has been associated with hair shedding and brittleness. The key is moderation and awareness of your body's unique reactions to specific varieties of nuts. Balanced intake supports hair growth, but excess or allergen exposure can have the opposite effect.
6) Carbonated Drinks
Carbonated drinks, sodas, or pops are not only high in sugar, but they also interact with the insulin in your body and increase your blood sugar, leading to lower blood circulation which may be followed by hair pores being blocked. Diet sodas also incorporate a synthetic sweetener called aspartame, which researchers have found can harm the hair follicles.
Carbonated drinks, especially sugary sodas and even their diet counterparts, can silently sabotage hair health. These beverages not only flood the bloodstream with excess sugar, disrupting insulin balance, but also contain additives like aspartame, which some studies suggest can negatively affect hair follicle function. Furthermore, carbonated drinks often contribute to dehydration, making the scalp dry and more susceptible to flaking, irritation, and reduced circulation — all factors that weaken hair follicles over time.
7) Alcohol
It is known that alcohol isn’t very healthy for us. But, it also isn’t good for our hair health. It dehydrates the hair strands, and dries them, which makes them brittle and easy to break. Hence, the hair either falls out or gets damaged. Researchers have also found that alcoholic drinks also can remove zinc from the body, which is a vital micronutrient for healthy hair.
Alcohol is a well-known dehydrator, stripping moisture from the body and leaving the hair strands dry, brittle, and prone to breakage. Beyond dehydration, alcohol consumption impacts nutrient absorption, particularly zinc, vitamin B12, and folic acid all critical for robust hair growth. Regular alcohol intake also elevates estrogen levels and can increase cortisol (stress hormone), both of which are linked to disruptions in the natural hair cycle, pushing more follicles prematurely into the shedding phase.
8) Crash Diets
Fad diets usually involve the reduction of food and it ends up being nutrient deficient. They lack vitamins like protein, zinc, and others which are extremely important for hair growth, deficiency of these vitamins can result in hair getting weaker and weaker. Researchers have found that people who restrict their diets to these crash programs often end up having hair loss- not just from the scalp but other parts of the body, too. Crash diets lead to a lack of energy, which further stops hair growth.
Crash dieting may promise quick weight loss, but it often comes at the cost of essential nutrients. Sudden calorie deficits and elimination of whole food groups deprive the body of protein, iron, zinc, and vitamins vital for hair production. These diets force the body to redirect energy towards essential survival functions, leaving hair growth on the back burner. As a result, follicles enter a resting phase, and increased shedding becomes inevitable. Over time, repeated crash diets can weaken the follicles to the point where regrowth slows significantly.
Takeaway
Hair loss, even if genetic, can be managed if not reversed. Making actual dietary changes and being more aware of what you consume and how you consume it goes a long way. Some small lifestyle modifications will also slow down hair loss. Care has to be taken, in terms of which ingredients to avoid and which to consume to have healthy, bouncy hair. You have to consider eating a nutrient-high diet, which plays one of the key roles in dealing with hair loss or hair thinning.
Diet is a powerful yet often overlooked contributor to hair health. While occasional indulgences are unlikely to cause noticeable damage, habitual consumption of problematic foods steadily erodes scalp and follicle health. Being mindful of both nutrient deficiencies and excesses can go a long way in maintaining healthy, resilient hair. Pairing balanced nutrition with a holistic hair care routine empowers you to take control of your hair journey. After all, beautiful hair starts with what you feed your body every day.
FAQ
Q1 - What are the foods to avoid while facing hair loss?
Foods high in refined sugars, unhealthy fats, and heavy metals like mercury should be limited. Fried snacks, high-GI foods, sugary sodas, excessive dairy, and alcohol all compromise scalp health and weaken hair follicles. Moderation is essential to maintain a healthy balance.
Q2 - Are there foods that cause hair loss?
While no food single-handedly causes hair loss, several foods can create an internal environment that promotes hair thinning. Foods that spike blood sugar, trigger hormonal imbalance, or interfere with nutrient absorption contribute to weakened follicles and increased shedding over time.
Q3 - Which foods and drinks cause hair loss?
Sugary snacks, greasy fast food, high-mercury fish, carbonated beverages, and excessive alcohol consumption are known culprits. These choices either increase inflammation, block follicles, or deplete essential nutrients required for healthy hair growth.
Q4 - Does Rice Cause Hair Loss?
Highly processed white rice, rich in simple carbohydrates, can contribute to insulin resistance when consumed excessively. This metabolic change negatively impacts blood circulation and nutrient delivery to hair follicles, potentially leading to thinning hair over time.
Q5 - Does Oily Food Cause Hair Loss?
Yes, consuming large quantities of oily food stimulates overproduction of sebum, making the scalp greasy and prone to clogged follicles. When follicles are blocked, the natural hair growth cycle is disrupted, leading to potential hair fall.
Q6 - Does Salty Food Cause Hair Loss?
Although research is still ongoing, high salt consumption is generally linked to poor overall health, which indirectly impacts hair. Processed snacks loaded with salt can contribute to dehydration and nutrient imbalance, both of which undermine hair strength.
Q7 - Which Foods Are Good For Hairs?
Focus on a diverse diet rich in fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and healthy fats like those found in avocados and nuts. Hydration plays an essential role too — water keeps your scalp and strands moisturised, while antioxidant-rich foods like berries combat damage from free radicals.
