Having a full, thick, healthy head of hair is dependent on a variety of factors. Age, genetics, environmental conditions, hair products, and styling techniques can all impact our hair's health. Another factor that can have a dramatic effect on our scalp and hair's health is our diet.
How Does Diet Impact Healthy Hair?
While you can't control things like age and genetics, diet is one factor that you can change. A diet that is lacking in essential vitamins and minerals can lead to a variety of health issues, including thinning hair and hair loss.
A full, healthy head of hair begins with a healthy scalp and hair follicles. When your diet begins to lack certain vitamins and minerals, the body starts to divert the available resources away from non-vital functions such as hair growth. A poor diet can affect the health of hair follicles and the hair growth cycle. Unhealthy or damaged hair follicles produce hair that is brittle and breaks easily, which can often lead to visibly thinning hair.
Your body requires the proper vitamins and nutrients to ensure that cells reproduce and function correctly, and this is very true for your hair. A well-balanced, healthy diet with the proper nutrients can improve your scalp's health and repair damaged hair follicles. A balanced diet is a critical factor in maintaining a full, healthy head of hair.
Will Eating Too Much Sugar Cause My Hair to Thin?
While a well-balanced diet can help you maintain a healthy head of hair, excessive amounts of some foods can lead to thinning hair. Sugar-based products and other empty-calorie foods often have little or no nutritional value. Eating too much sugar can impact your diet and cause you not to take in the nutrient-rich foods that your hair needs to remain healthy.
Most doctors and medical professionals agree that sugar is not good for you. High sugar diets can cause or exacerbate various health conditions and contribute to thinning hair and hair loss. In addition to inhibiting proper nutrition, research shows that sugar also promotes inflammation, damaging hair follicles. When the body metabolizes sugar, it creates a sudden increase in insulin and androgens. Androgens are a group of hormones that adversely affect hair growth by binding to the hair follicle and causing the hair shaft to fall out.
Having an extra piece of cake or splurging on ice cream won't cause thinning hair. Still, inflammation that is continuously driven by high sugar diets can play a role in hair loss and hair thinning by permanently damaging hair follicles. As hair follicles become damaged, the hair shafts become thinner and more prone to damage, and eventually, the follicle is no longer able to produce hair. Although sometimes short-term effects of too much sugar may occur when people try fad or crash diets, these issues typically resolve themselves in a short time with adequate nutrition.
Solutions for Hair Loss at Mane Image
Sugar, especially the type found in refined food products, everything from white bread to soda and snack foods, is bad for your body. Most experts agree that too much sugar in your diet can lead to a variety of health issues, including thinning hair and hair loss. If you are noticing changes to your hair, it may be time to consult a professional hair specialist to get solutions for your hair thinning or hair loss.
At Mane Image, our team of experts can help identify the cause of your thinning hair or hair loss and help customize a treatment plan to help you reach your goals. To learn more about how eating too much sugar can contribute to thinning hair and schedule your FREE initial consultation, contact us today.
