Hair Loss and Shedding
Hair loss and shedding is common with weight loss.
Why it happens
If you lose weight faster than recommended, your body can interpret this shift as stress and temporarily divert energy away from hair growth and production. Another factor is the lack of nutrients from our food, as we are eating fewer calories.
How to prevent it
Don’t lose weight faster than recommended. More than 10 pounds per month can be a problem throughout your body. Make sure you are still eating nutritious food and supplementing with multivitamins, B vitamins, and D vitamins.
How to treat it
You can try adding beauty supplements like biotin, collagen, zinc, or DMAE, but most of the time, the growth stabilizes, and you’ll start to see baby hairs of new growth in a few months.
When to call a doctor
Patches, bald spots, or clumps are worth a trip to the doctor.
None of this is medical advice. It is educational material drawn from FAT BITCH: Killing the Willpower Myth by Cat Clark, and it does not replace your prescriber, your pharmacist, or your actual doctor. If something here does not match what your care team told you, go with your care team and bring this along to the conversation.