Iron Supplements and Hair Loss in Women

It is well known that lack of vitamins and nutrients in the body can cause adverse reactions such as the paling of the skin and thinning of the hair. I noticed that many experts often listed lack of protein and iron in the diet as some of the causes of hair loss in both women and men and decided to write a piece to highlight the importance of a balanced diet.

Diet and Female Hair Loss
So many women are taking up new and fad diets that allow them to eat what they like but still lose weight. Quite often, a growing proportion of women are resorting to taking dieting pills that claim to aid weight loss - we are pressured to look 'perfect' (according to the media) but are sacrificing our overall health in order to lose a few pounds.

All too often we hear that there is a new diet around, there was the Atkins, the Zone, the Cabbage diet - more recently the GM diet and I read lately about a high carb diet. Not to credit or discredit any of these diets, but surely we all realize now that a balanced diet is key to our overall health and wellbeing - and most of all, key to keeping healthy skin, nails, hair and body.

Iron deficiency is rather more common than I would have thought. Tests have shown that those suffering from certain forms of Alopecia (hair loss) also have lower levels of Iron and Zinc in their blood. It can be all too commonly related to the menstrual cycle where the levels of Iron are depleted through the monthly loss of blood. Commonly, lack of Iron is seen in those people that are not eating enough red meats such as vegetarians, or myself (I eat meat but rarely red meat, urgh), who eat very little meat or none at all. In this case, both Iron and Lysine are required by the body to overcome female hair loss.

The only way to help this is to increase the amounts of Iron in our diet. By eating increasing amounts of red meats or taking iron supplements, we can prevent or improve the symptoms of hair loss and return the scalp to its healthy state although not everybody will respond to this and need a little extra Lysine in their bodies. Once taking iron supplements, or Lysine is given with other nutrients, shedding of the hair will often return.

When Improvements Are Noticed
It can take months to see an improvement as your body takes on the process of repairing itself. The hair follicles need to be stronger so that hair can grow normally and this takes time, but the sooner you seek help the better. It could take up to six months to see a substantial improvement in re-growth and thickening of the hair, although older women that have gone through the menopause can often not see results for a few years afterwards - depending on the level of hair loss they suffered.

If you are concerned about loss of hair being linked to diet or anything else, then seek help from your Doctor. He or she can then rule out underlying causes of thinning or hair loss and can offer further help in the way of supplements of Iron or other things that your body requires.