Hair Loss And Women's Nutrition

Losing hair is a disappointing and emotional experience. Eating disorders, stress and bouts of illness contribute to hair loss. Even a very low-calorie diet and poor nutrition can cause women to shed hair. Research published by Dr. D.H. Rushton suggests nutritional deficiencies of iron and protein and excessive intake of vitamin supplements without a deficiency diagnosis are linked to hair loss.

Nutritional Causes of Hair Loss

Too much processed food and poor digestion of food can affect your body's ability to process nutrients. Eating too many processed foods that lack nutrients will cause low mineral stores in your body. Sometimes when iron is low in your body, so is zinc, and this can be because of low-quality protein. Animal sources of protein are easily absorbed and are good sources of iron and zinc. Biotin, a B vitamin, has a role in preventing hair loss and is found in cooked eggs.

Iron Deficiency and Hair Loss

Iron deficiency is one of the most common nutritional deficiencies in the world. An iron deficiency can cause non-scarring alopecia, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Non-scarring alopecia involves broken hair, receding hair line and inflammation. You do not need to be anemic to have low stores of iron and suffer hair loss. Fatigue and hair loss are symptoms of an iron deficiency. Iron helps red blood cells deliver oxygen to the body and is needed in energy production.

Zinc Deficiency and Hair Loss

Rushton asserted that there is no evidence to support a link between low serum zinc and hair loss. However, the National Institutes of Health states that severe zinc deficiency causes hair loss, although measuring zinc levels using lab tests is challenging. Zinc is distributed in your body as protein and nucleic acids and performs major work at the cellular level. Zinc plays a role in over 100 enzymes, supports growth in pregnancy, childhood and adolescence and assists in protein synthesis.

Pregnant and lactating women and vegetarians are at risk for zinc deficiency based on information from the National Institutes of Health. Pregnant women need more zinc in their diet to meet the high fetal requirement, and lactating women have zinc stores that are depleted by breastfeeding. Eating meat enhances the absorption of zinc. Vegetarians' bioavailability of zinc is lower because of a meatless diet and their diet is high in legumes and whole grains -- which bind and inhibit absorption of zinc.

Dietary Sources to Prevent Hair Loss

The recommended daily intake for iron is 18 mg and for pregnant women 27 mg. Iron is best absorbed from animal sources of protein such as chicken, turkey and red meat, but good sources of plant-based iron are beans and iron-fortified cereals. The recommended daily intake for zinc is 8 mg and for pregnant and lactating women, 11 and 12 mg respectively. Food sources of zinc: 3 oz. of Alaska king crab, 3 oz. of pork tenderloin and 1 cup of low-fat, fruit yogurt.

Recommendations

Eat a well-balanced diet of whole grains, diverse proteins and dark leafy vegetables to increase natural sources of iron, zinc and B vitamins in your diet. Avoid foods that are possible allergens such as dairy, wheat, corn, soy, preservatives and food additives. Limit your intake of refined foods -- pastas and white breads -- and processed foods. Increase consumption of fruits and vegetables that are good sources of antioxidants, such as blueberries, tomatoes, squash and peppers.