Hair loss with a keto diet: what to do, personal experience

The situation with hair loss on keto came as a complete surprise to me. It all started after about 4 months of the keto diet. I have had my hair fall out before, but this period has never lasted so long. I am well aware that hair loss can happen from a million different reasons. For example, the last time my hair fell out was during the smoke in Moscow from burning peat bogs. But now I was sure that it was in the keto diet that there was a problem and the answer must be sought in the diet. I realized that somewhere I was mistaken and that I was doing something wrong.

What to do if your hair falls out on a keto diet

So, I'm telling you how I solved this problem. I want to remind you that I am not a doctor, but only share my personal experience.

1. Step one. I tried increasing my carbs up to 50 grams per day. There was no effect, returned at 20-30.
2. Step two. Of course, you need to pass basic tests to check if everything is fine. I donated complete blood biochemistry, TSH, T3, T4, lipid profile, C-reactive protein. All indicators were within the normal range.
3. Step three. I stopped missing the basic dietary supplements recommended for the keto diet: Omega 3, vitamin D, magnesium.
4. Step four. Added dietary supplements that were recommended specifically for strengthening hair: selenium, biotin. I also added the good old "Aevit" (vitamins A and E), which once helped me to quickly stop hair loss. Sometimes I drink potassium, but more often I forget about it.
5. Step five. In fact, he was both the first and the second, and I was doing this all the time, but I had to wait a long time for a clear, good answer. In general, I began to read a lot about this from every keto guru in a row. As a result, I can retell their opinions as follows. Option A: on keto it is normal, hair falls out 3-6 months and the prolapse stops as quickly as it began. But by that time, 6 months had already passed for me, and the loss was not over. Option B: check hormones, drink biotin / selenium... I have already gone through this too. Option B: you eat too little protein.

Here I started thinking. Since I already had a very bad experience with a protein diet (click on the blue link for more details about my personal experience on the keto diet and other diets), I really did quite strictly control the protein in the diet and tried to eat around 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of weight. But I do sports regularly, maybe I really need more?

I tried drinking collagen powder, no effect. Then I began to try to eat meat / fish every day, in portions of at least 200 grams. Sometimes twice a day. I chose not semi-finished products, but ordinary fresh meat. Oven, pork / chicken / halibut / beef, 200-220 degrees, 25-45 minutes, some marinade, spices, salt. And so every day. But I didn’t abandon either selenium with biotin or “Aevit”. That's when the hair loss stopped! Quite quickly, by the way. In about 10-14 days.

My findings

I can't say for sure what exactly helped me, dietary supplements or an increase in protein levels, or just the moment came when the body adapted to the keto diet and stopped scattering hair. But I know for sure that if the situation repeats itself, God forbid, I will start by increasing the protein in the diet. I found this advice from one of the world's leading keto coaches, Maria Emmerich, who has been on keto for over 20 years, and have you seen her hair ?! They are beautiful! And I will remember the advice about protein for the rest of my life.

I took selenium and biotin temporarily, for about a month. Selenium was bought by some of the most common in the local pharmacy, and the link is my biotin with Iherb.

Of course, it was a very difficult period. Every time I looked at the comb I just wanted to cry. I also encountered a misunderstanding of my concern. You know, it's easy to joke about other people's problems or say “it's just stress for you” (it was a shame to receive such answers from some specialists). I don’t know why I didn’t give up keto during this period. Probably because the other advantages for health and appearance pleased me more than hair loss. And I advise you not to give up, but to look for a solution.

I have lost about half of my volume and I do not know when it will recover. I guess a couple of years will pass for sure. I am very sorry that I waited so long for "it will pass by itself", it was necessary to start actively fussing earlier, read more information on the topic and eat meat / fish. Don't be like Olya, don't repeat my mistakes!

I know that the problem is relevant for many, this is one of the most frequent questions that I receive in private messages. If after this post you still have questions, ask on Instagram, Facebook or here in the comments. All fat and lush hair!