This is Part 1 of 2 for HEALTHY HAIR FOR HOTTIES.
Once you’re done reading this, be sure to also check out PART 2 where we address the changes to your diet, lifestyle, and hormonal balance to help foster healthy hair growth.
Are you tired of spending too much money on hair supplies and products wishing for thicker fuller hair only to realize that they continuously don’t work? Do you frequently look at other women and wish that you had hair like them? You shouldn’t have to suffer any longer or be held captive of these feelings of jealousy. You can have beautiful thick hair without having to spend thousands of dollars or going years wishing you could have your hair back! The solution is right here, the years of jealous are over!
I’ve always been known as someone with really thick hair, “horse hair” some may say, or as we would call it “Unicorn Hair”, but in the last 5-6 years, the years I have been taking a more serious approach to my cleansing strategies, I’ve noticed my hair has nearly doubled in strength, thickness, and resiliency. It wasn’t until I took the time to heal my gut, ignite my hormone endocrine system, and really focus on cleansing out the toxins in my body, that my hair reached its full potential.
My hair has gotten so thick that my hairdresser is about to divorce me since my appointments have gone from 2 hours to now 3-4 hours long! Lucky for me, she is one of my best friends and we have turned these appointments into really productive conversations about hair thinning and loss. Between the people that she sees on the daily plus the people that ask me about hair problems, it dawned on me that this a widespread problem amongst many women! So many of us have toxicity issues, thyroid problems, and malnourished vitamin levels and we are not realizing the effects it has on our whole body, including our hair! A big part of my new luscious locks is due to having a healthy gut!
So this is where this article came from, it was created because we had so many inquiries on this subject from people like you. All of you asking us for advice and ways to help hair loss and thinning, this one is for you! Stop wasting your money on extensions and hair products, these are just a band-aid, let’s address why your hair is not growing strong in the first place!
For a good portion of men, blading is just a natural part of aging. But far less discussed is the reality that women suffer from thinning and hair loss, too. In fact, 30 percent of women experience serious hair loss by the age of thirty, and that percentage climbs to at least half of all women by age fifty!
If you notice thinning or hair that’s falling out, there could be a whole host of reasons, including diet, hair care products, stress, autoimmune problems, and especially hormonal imbalances such as thyroid, insulin, or testosterone. So before you go to your doctor or look for a magic pill at the drugstore to slow or even reverse your hair loss, it’s wise to find the actual root cause and begin the treatment there.
In this blog, we’ll look a the 15 most common reasons women lose hair, and in part two, we’ll cover the changes you can make to your diet, lifestyle, and hormonal balance to help foster healthy hair growth.
Here are the 15 most prevalent causes of hair loss for women
1.Thyroid problems
When women lose their hair rapidly, it can be a sign of a serious thyroid issue. Other than thinning and shedding hair, women know something is wrong because their hair is dry, coarse, and tangled more than usual. The good news is that with proper treatment, hormonal levels can be stabilized and the hair loss will slow and soon stop altogether. But be wary of synthetic hormones used to treat hypothyroidism like levothyroxine, which has the side effect of prolonged hair loss.
2. Low iron and lysine
A lack of the important amino acid lysine, which helps transport iron and facilitates other metabolic processes, as well as low iron levels, contribute to hair loss in women. In fact, one study revealed that 90 percent of women with thinning hair were deficient in iron and lysine.
3. Androgenic alopecia
Androgenic alopecia, or hereditary female-pattern hair loss, is the most common type of hair loss, In fact, this noticeable thinning of hair over the mid-frontal scalp, affects 30 percent of all women. While this may appear to be normal among a good portion of women, it should be closely watched, as women with androgenic alopecia sometimes also suffer from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), with symptoms like ovarian cysts, irregular periods, weight gain, blood sugar problems, infertility and yes, even hair loss. Studies show that 22 percent of women with PCOS have androgenic alopecia, too.
4. Shortage of protein
A lack of protein in your diet could cause your body to slow or shut down non-essential functions as it goes into survival mode, including hair growth. Many times, people don’t see the correlation between not getting enough protein and hair loss because it could take two to three months to manifest.
5. Too much vitamin A
Eating vitamin-rich foods is always a good idea, but sometimes, those multi-vitamins and supplements we take actually deliver too much vitamin A, which could trigger hair loss.
6. STRESS!
The hormones our body produces from too much physical or emotional stress can cause hair loss, disrupting the natural cycle of a growth phase, rest phase, and shedding phase, causing the body to become stuck in the shedding phase.
7.Reproductive changes and birth control
Hormones can spike, drop, or fluctuate when women are pregnant, going through perimenopause, or starting or stopping birth control pills, leading to irregular hair loss.
8. Menopause
Unfortunately, a common symptom of menopause is the shrinking of follicles, causing hair to thin and shed. Also called “miniaturization,” studies point to an imbalance in the ratio of estradiol-to-testosterone as the culprit.
9. Vitamin B deficiency
We just learned that an overabundance of some vitamins (like vitamin A) could cause hair loss, but a deficiency in vitamin B can also lead to hair loss, aggravated by stress or taking birth control pills.
10. A low-fat diet
That low-fat diet probably will leave your body short of essential nutrients, including fatty acids, omega 3 and 6, all of which nourish the scalp and promote hair growth. Similar to a lack of protein, not getting enough fat can force hair follicles to enter the telogen phase, signaling to the body to cut back and preventing the growth phase.
11. Autoimmunity
An overactive immune system, or autoimmunity, causes the body to treat hair as a foreign and harmful substance, and therefore attack it. Two examples of this are alopecia areata, which causes hair loss in round patches, and autoimmune thyroiditis.
12.Prescriptions and medications
Whether you got them over the counter or your doctor prescribed them, a good deal of medications can lead to hair thinning and falling out, including beta blockers, antidepressants, lithium, blood thinners, methotrexate, and even NSAIDs like ibuprofen.
13. Damage from hair care and products
All of the chemicals, additives, and unnatural ingredients from our hair dyes, treatments, and other products can damage follicles and lead to hair loss. Shampooing too frequently and over-styling can also contribute to unhealthy and thinning hair.
14. Blood sugar and insulin problems
Hair growth is affected by many things including insulin, the hormone that helps regulate blood sugar levels. In fact, about 50 percent of females and 60 percent of males with androgenic alopecia also have symptoms of insulin resistance, blood sugar problems, hypertension, and abnormal cholesterol.
15. Aging
It seems that the natural degeneration from aging could contribute to hair loss in women, as well as men. While the most prevalent theory is that hair follicles slow down and get depleted as you get older, more research is needed to discover the exact cause of age-related hair loss.
SO WHAT CAN I DO TO FIX IT?
I’m so glad you asked. We wrote a HUGE checklist of things you can try to get your Locks back, in PART 2 where we address the changes to your diet, lifestyle, and hormonal balance to help foster healthy hair growth. Before you head over there, a great place to start is with our LOVE MY HORMONES SHAKE, a perfect way to start your day. We surveyed 100 women and 100% of them reported HUGE symptom relief and beauty upgrades by simply changing this ONE thing in their day.
If you still want more, join our Facebook group, UNICORN WELLNESS WARRIORS, for a tribe that really gets you! a group that understands and supports you on this journey for a better healthier body.
xoxo, Diane
