Does the keto diet cause hair loss?

The keto diet is one of the biggest fad diets of the decade and has helped countless people around the world lose weight, fast.
Eating keto involves severely cutting down carbs to less than 5% of your daily caloric intake and increasing your fat intake to 75% of your daily caloric intake. How does this help you lose weight? Science-based nutrition website, Bulletproof, explains: “The keto diet forces your body to burn fat, rather than glucose, for energy. When your body can’t get glucose from bread and pasta, your liver converts body fat and fat from your diet into molecules called ketones, an alternative source of fuel. This puts you into ketosis, aka prime weight loss mode.”
But like most things in life, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
While the keto diet has certainly changed many lives, setting people on a healthier, happier path, experts are now saying there are many unfortunate side effects to such a drastic diet, a key one being hair loss.
We set out to investigate why this happens and what measures you can take to save your hair if you’re thinking about going keto.
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While the jury is still out on the health risks associated with the keto diet, many experts agree that hair loss and damage to your hair’s integrity is a very real possibility and can happen because of three main reasons: stress, lack of nutrients, and lack of protein.
Stress
The keto diet is restrictive in nature and can put a lot of stress on both your mind and body. Dr. Anthony Gustin of Perfect Keto outlines six main reasons you may be experiencing stress on keto, including: nutritional deficiencies, caloric deficit, calorie restriction, psychological stress, keto flu, and keto rash.
“The keto diet may put stress on a person in more ways than you might actually be thinking. It's a diet of restriction. That takes effort and could be causing stress,” Keri Gans, RDN, told Health.com. This may be particularly true for those trying to micromanage other aspects of their lives or who might be going through a big life change outside of the keto diet.
Physiologically, followers of the keto diet often experience rapid weight loss, which can lead to hair loss. Ali Miller, R.D., and keto dieter herself, told Mind Body Green Health that eating in such a calorie deficit way can put your body into constant fight or flight mode, “That can stress your thyroid, which can impact your adrenals, that can even drive an autoimmune reaction - all of which could contribute to hair loss.” Essentially extreme calorie restriction (in any form) will cause the body to go into conservation mode, spending less energy on hair growth.
How can we prevent this?
Speaking to Women’s Health, RD Erin Palinski-Wade says she suggests focusing on slow to moderate weight loss, no more than 2 pounds (0.9 kilos) per week, to avoid any acceleration of hair loss. Dr. Gustin also suggests off-setting side effects by transitioning to a low carb diet when your stress is at a minimum.
Lack of nutrients
Lack of nutrients can play a big factor in hair loss and unfortunately with keto, both calorie restriction and food restrictions can lead to nutrient deficiency. Alina Petre, MS, RD of Healthline outlines five nutrients that are critical to healthy hair growth: iron, zinc, linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid, vitamin B3 and biotin. You get these nutrients largely from fruits and vegetables, which are often restricted or completely cut out from the keto diet.
“Fruits and vegetables are good for us; they’re high in antioxidants and full of vitamins and minerals,” explains Annette Frain, RD, to Health.com. “If you eliminate those, you aren’t getting those nutrients over time.”
Dr. Gustin says the problem with low carb diets is they flush out essential vitamins and minerals within the first few days, and many people don’t realise they need to replenish these while on the diet. “As you eat fewer carbs, your body produces less insulin, and glycogen stores get depleted. When glycogen stores are depleted, your kidneys excrete water and electrolytes like sodium, zinc, magnesium, potassium and iodine in large amounts.” And if you’re not replenishing, your hair will suffer.
How can we prevent this?
Most experts recommend taking daily supplements, like a multivitamin or biotin, when on the keto diet and having regular doctor visits to ensure your electrolytes and nutrients remain stable during the diet. Miller also stresses the importance of scaling back on rigorous exercise like HIIT workouts in favour of low intensity ones like hiking or yoga. This will help lower your stress levels and help protect you from completely depleting yourself of essential nutrients when first starting keto.
Lack of protein
Finally, protein deficiency is a big concern for those starting out on keto and can lead to hair loss. This often occurs because those who aren’t consuming enough protein are actually iron deficient. Low iron can lead to hypothyroidism which directly impacts hair health and growth.
Miller explains that the classic keto diet was developed for those with epilepsy and neurological disease and is often extremely protein-restricted. “What happens, often with women, is that their appetite is regulated and they don’t have organic hunger. So they under-eat—and they under-eat protein pretty dramatically—and the first sign of protein malnourishment is hair loss.”
Dr. Gustin elaborates on this, stating that many beginners believe eating too much protein will knock them out of ketosis, which is not true. However, Dr. Joshua Zeichner told Women’s Health that while inadequate protein consumption may lead to hair loss (among other issues with skin and nails), in his experience, most people on the keto diet do consume enough protein and that the extreme calorie restriction is likely the bigger culprit for hair loss on keto.
How can we prevent this?
For most women, Miller suggests consuming 60-90 grams of protein per day. Both Dr. Gustin and Dr. Zeichner stress the importance of eating enough calories and replenishing your electrolytes. Dr. Gustin also provides a list of six essential foods and supplements you should consume on the keto diet to prevent hair loss and other adverse side effects including biotin, MSM, bone broth, collagen, zinc, coconut oil.
Have you experienced hair loss on the keto diet?
* As with everything health-related, please consult your doctor before making any lifestyle changes.
71 Member Comments
Omg what do you eat then..air? I need food to think!
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I am surprised that Keto reduces fruits and vegetables. I can understand the pasta and rice reduction though. So many people praise this diet though but I don't want to lose any hair, perhaps of my legs, yes.
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I don't believe in extreme diets of any sort . A little of everything seems to work for me and it is quantity and movement that needs good balance.
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I have friends that are on this diet and have shed lots of weight. I particularly don't like it and would never do it
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I have actually managed to stay KETO for a few weeks, prior to this I may have lasted till the late afternoon, so I was pleasantly surprised. I did actually lose weight, but it is hard to get back on the diet. I didn't lose hair, but maybe I was not on for long enough. I did like to say I am Keto and not have to eat rice and pasta which I don't enjoy eating at the time,
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i have never tried the Keto diet. I don't do diets. I just watch what I eat, cut back on sugar and fat. Drinks lots of water - I now it is cliche but it works for me.
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I have hair loss due to thyroid issues and I struggle with low iron so I found this article interesting. However I know my body very well and the Keto diet wouldn't suit me.
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Best way to lose weight is to simply stop eating. You will certainly drop the kilos. Doesnt mean it is healthy. Common sense has to play a big part and any diet changes you make need to be something that makes you happy and something you know you can do long term.
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Interesting potential side effect I just eat everything in moderation and if feeling heavy, simply make my portion sizes smaller
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I don’t think I would give keto a go personally but it might work for other people.
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I need to gain weight not lose weight. And I don't like the sound of diets...
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Looking back I should really start the diet
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I was tempted to try keto, but I prefer a balanced diet
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I have not tried the keto diet. I know people who have and they are constantly tired.
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Keto causes too many body and mind ills. If used in long term beware of risk of cancer, muscle loss, cardiovascular disorders, stroke risk, worsening diabetes, higher BP...etc. Just worst diet for human body ever "invented".
Just some science research on people, not rats:
https://nutritionfacts.org/?s=keto&is_v=1
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Oh wow, thanks for the info yohanna.
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I think all diets can cause nutritional deficiencies and they tend not to work in the long run. Best to just eat a varied, healthy diet that includes carbs, protein, fats, and a lot of veggies. It’s not glamorous or trendy but it is sustainable and best for the body.
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I tries doing the Keto Diet last year and it was an absolute flop! I felt less energized and I knew that I was loosing concentration at work because I kept thinking about what foods I can eat and can't eat.
I now just eat in moderation and have more fruits and veges (plus more water since I work out daily!).
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That sounds much better extreme diets are for short term loss
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It's a very unhealthy diet and I would never try it
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I don't diet as such so I don't need to worry about this. I think getting into a habit of eating healthy fresh food, drinking lots of water and doing some sort of exercise that suits your body is far more beneficial.
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Wow how terrifying to do something to your body that results in hair loss.
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An informative read, thanks.
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I hate these fad diets. Put clean, nutritious food and water in. Make sure you get moving. Weight loss is a simple calories in vs energy expended.
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It's just so restrictive I'd rather eat less but be able to eat everything than cut out entire food groups
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