Food
Reviewed: 2021-07-12

Dermatologist and skin specialist
MBBS with 15+ Years of Experience in Dermatology

FOODS THAT CAUSE HAIR LOSS

The food you eat is responsible for the nutrition your hair receives. So, that itself shows the importance of eating healthy and how important it is to control hair loss, right? Well, it’s a little more complicated than that because contrary to popular belief, many things that seem healthy might not actually be all that healthy.

Now, after that is said, another natural question that arises is, how to control hair fall? Let’s surf through the foods that may lead to damaged hair.

Dairy

One of the top healthy hair tips that we’ve all heard is that milk proteins work substantially well when it comes to preserving hair health. A lot of professionals agree on this point, and we aren’t trying to negate them.

However, it must be noted that dairy contains a certain amount of fat in it. What fat basically does is, it increases the testosterone levels in your body. High glycemic foods increase testosterone secretion. This is one of the many hair fall reasons that has troubled quite a few people around the world.

Additionally, if you are prone to dandruff, eczema, or psoriasis, then dairy products tend to exacerbate this problem. This, in turn, causes hair fall.

Sugar

No matter how much we talk about the importance of reducing sugar intake, it doesn’t seem to go down. So, here we are, talking about how sugar causes hair fall.

Sugar causes you to have poor blood circulation. Once your circulation is affected, it becomes difficult for your blood to reach all the way up to your hair follicles. Another problem that arises is that the nutrients that circulate in your blood, which means that the nutrients don’t reach the hair follicles properly.

Some people, due to excess sugar intake, also experience what is known as ‘scalp inflammation’. As opposed to the burning sensation, scalp inflammation leads to you having a very cold scalp caused due to poor blood circulation. This, again, leads to damaged hair.

Sugar also tends to raise testosterone in your blood, which is also one of the major reasons for hair fall in the world. So, if you ask, ‘how to control hair fall?’ the answer is to try and reduce sugar from your diet.

Refined Carbs

Probably the best-tasting food ever, these refined carbohydrate, unfortunately, are one of the many causes of hair fall. Food including breads, cakes, pastas, pizzas, and other refined carbs block your defenses against stress. So, if you are already facing stress-induced hair fall, these foods aren’t doing you any favors.

Moreover, these turn into sugar once you consume them. And well, we’ve already discussed what sugar does to your hair.

Nuts

You are probably wondering how nuts are damaging to your hair. After all, they are high in protein and healthy fats, which is basically what your hair needs anyway, right? Well, it’s more than that.

Some people are extremely allergic to nuts and experience a reaction as soon as they consume nuts. But that’s not the case with everyone. Some people are only mildly allergic to nuts. What that means is that they have a rather delayed reaction to these nuts. Often, this translates into a receding hairline. So, it’s probably a good idea to get tested for any such allergies.

Most nuts also contain selenium, which while required in traces, can become one of the causes of hair fall if consumed in large quantities. One nut you should be aware of, that consists of high quantities of selenium, is the Brazil nut.

Swordfish

Being seafood, swordfish is definitely a great source of protein. However, it is also one of the richest fishes when it comes to mercury. And here’s the catch – mercury is one of the top hair fall reasons!

So, what really happens is that mercury interacts with the other mineral traces in our body. The main metal you should be worried about is zinc. Let’s just say that mercury and zinc don’t like each other very much, which leads to a zinc deficiency. As zinc promotes hair growth, its deficiency can cause thinning of hair and hair fall problems.

Some other fishes that are rich in mercury, that you should beware of, are Mackerel and Tuna.

Greasy Food

We all love the grease, don’t we? The texture it adds to our food basically warrants the ‘yummy’ tag. But here’s the problem. Greasy food is, well, greasy. Ever heard the saying ‘you are what you eat’? Exactly our point.

As you probably know, the scalp releases an oily substance called the ‘sebum’. This sebum provides moisture to the skin on your scalp as well as to your hair. However, when you load your body with grease, this sebum also tends to get greasy. This causes your hair to look a bit too greasy and limp. But more than this is happening.

With the grease covering your hair follicle, it becomes difficult for your hair to grow, which turns out to be one of the many hair fall reasons. To avoid oily hair, indulge in regular cleansing regime of scalp and hair; the Pantene lively clean shampoo deep cleanses scalp as well as hair.

Carbonated Drinks

How many parties do you remember that didn’t have carbonated drinks’ options? What we perceive as fun, these drinks are quite harmful for health.

What carbonated drinks basically do is that they interact with the insulin in your blood and make it less responsive to sugar. This leads to an increase in the sugar in your bloodstream, which later goes on to hamper your blood circulation and lower the nutrient supply to your hair follicles; causing hair loss. It is because of this property of carbonated drinks that it is considered to be damaging to hair.

Alcohol

Probably the chief ingredient of every party ever, alcohol is not very hair friendly. On a very basic level, alcohol dehydrates your hair. Once your hair doesn’t have as much moisture as it requires, it becomes brittle, leading to damaged hair. Use a hair nourishing shampoo like Pantene total damage care, it restores hair moisture and prevents further hair damage.

Another problem with alcohol is that it diminishes the zinc levels in your body. As we have established earlier, zinc is a pretty important mineral when it comes to hair growth and hair volume.

Your diet majorly affects your hair health, and if it’s not proper, then you might also be faced with the problem of damaged hair. So then, how to control hairfall? You can controll hairfall by understanding the food ingredients your hair is fond of.

Best Hair fall Products

One of the best healthy hair tips here is to consume hair fall control foods, and along with that, you also need to use the right shampoo that contains the two ingredients that your hair is fond of. One shampoo that you can use is the __Pantene Hair Fall Control Shampoo__, which goes well with the __Pantene Hair Fall Control Conditioner__. Among more healthy hair tips, the __Pantene Open Hair Miracle__ is great as it helps rejuvenate your hair giving you ‘salon ready hair’ everyday.

The reason these products are great for your hair is because they contain Fermented Rice Water and Pantene’s Patented Pro-Vitamin formula which makes for a hairfall miracle and helps you have healthy hair and fights in the face of many hair fall reasons.


Hair care problems are varied for different people, so your hair care products should also be so. Take a look at our diverse range of Pantene Shampoos and Pantene Conditioners and pick your choice!
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