Fasting and hair loss


(KM) #1

Just in from Nick Norwitz, it has been shown that yes, both if and alternate day fasting can trigger hair loss or at least stunt hair growth. It may be possible to treat this particular reason for poor hair response with a topical antioxidant like vitamin e.

And for anyone coming in late, this is the source material from a Cell magazine abstract dated December 13th, 2024:

Intermittent fasting triggers interorgan communication to suppress hair follicle regeneration

Here, we report that commonly used intermittent fasting regimens inhibit hair follicle regeneration by selectively inducing apoptosis in activated hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs).

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(24)01311-4


(Edith) #2

I bet this is because people are not getting enough protein to promote hair growth when they are fasting too much.


#3

After decades of IF, my hair is super dense and grows very quickly :smiley:

I always eat high protein though (and too much food in general, usually) so maybe @VirginiaEdie has a pointā€¦ Actually, it makes perfect sense that itā€™s some nutrient problemā€¦? Or maybe part of the reason some people are incompatible with IF ā€¦? I am a born IFer, I must do IF, with a tiny eating window if possible. Occasionally I have a non-IF day and itā€™s definitely much worse.

Itā€™s good if there is some help for people who need IF but has hair loss due to itā€¦ I still would consider eating better firstā€¦


(Chuck) #4

I am 77 years old and have been doing intermittent fasting for many years and i have a full head of hair, though be it white now and not black.


(KM) #5

No, this is NEW information, itā€™s not about protein at all. Check the link. Itā€™s a free radical situation with the metabolizing of fat that overwhelming follicles and leaving them vulnerable.

image

ETA Nick Norwitz tends to use very annoying title graphics that make everything Very Eyecatching - and suspect, Dr. Evil is doing him no favors here - but heā€™s actually a medical student with a great mind and a lot of cutting edge information, the link is his latest substack post.


(Christian Voigt) #6

I really dislike titles like this. Just No.

Fasting does not cause hair loss.

Throwing stuff into a pot doesnā€™t make a meal. Following a recipe does.

Itā€™s not the fasting. Itā€™s the doing it wrong. Very important distinction. Titles like that are killing me, Iā€™m telling you. So confusing.

Whaaaat? One of the things that I do are harmful? OMG. Oh wait. Ah. Ok. Doing it wrong is bad. Who would have thoughtā€¦


(Alec) #7

I fasted for a day and it didnā€™t impact me at allā€¦
Before
IMG_0178

After
IMG_2583


(KM) #8

Lol. Did anyone actually click the link? This is a respected study in Cell magazine because yes, for some of us, hair loss or slow regrowth with fasting is a thing and we have also discussed that it does not seem to be protein related.

Intermittent fasting triggers interorgan communication to suppress hair follicle regeneration

Here, we report that commonly used intermittent fasting regimens inhibit hair follicle regeneration by selectively inducing apoptosis in activated hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs).

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(24)01311-4


(KM) #9

I should have just started with the Cell magazine abstract and left Nick Norwitz and Dr Evil out of it. I agree, heā€™s irritatingly sensationalist. But this is actually legitimate science, a lot of people, myself included, focus on protein during IF and nevertheless have hair issues. This is the first time Iā€™ve actually seen it addressed in a scientific journal, and they have a suitably geeky biochemical explanation.


(Doug) #10

:slightly_smiling_face: I think itā€™s quite well done, good and timely. Such things tend to be heavy going, as far as reading, and thereā€™s plenty of that in the study, but overall I think itā€™s sound and well-presented.

And maybe I was just in the mood to read something todayā€¦ :smirk: The mouse/human human correlation is addressed. I think thereā€™s a lot of interesting stuff in it.

"our findings uncover its (intermittent fastingā€™s) previously overlooked inhibitory effects on tissue regeneration in the skin."

This as many people fast for autophagy, and getting rid of loose/excess skin.

ā€œThe beneficial effects of intermittent fasting on body health are believed to stem from the periodic switching of metabolic fuel sources, which help optimize cellular energy utilization and induce adaptive cellular stress response. This response enhances the expression of antioxidant defense and repair mechanisms, inhibits protein synthesis, and reduces cellular inflammation.ā€

Obviously, a ketogenic diet already involves metabolic fuel sources. Itā€™s interesting to think about the trade-offs, if any. Iā€™d be interested to see the same study on really long fasts, versus intermittent ones.

They do say that ā€˜Metabolic switching to fatty acid oxidation induces hair follicle stem cell apoptosis and inhibits hair growth in humans.ā€™ But people on a ketogenic diet are already running on fatty acids for the most part, and obviously they donā€™t all have hair loss, so itā€™s a variable thing, to begin with, in humans.

"Importantly, we show that enhancing HFSCsā€™ antioxidant ability through the external supply of antioxidants can significantly alleviate the inhibitory effect of intermittent fasting on hair follicle regeneration, offering a promising strategy for counteracting its impact on hair growth in humans."

And also: ā€œEnhancing the antioxidant capacity of HFSCs, either pharmacologically or genetically, effectively prevents stem cell death and mitigates regeneration defects.ā€

So, for anybody concerned about hair loss, here, one may be protected from it by oneā€™s own genetics, or by adding antioxidants - in the study it was the application of antioxidant vitamin E to the skin.


(Chuck) #11

I am 77 years old, I have intermittently fasted my whole life without even knowing what it was until about 2 years ago. I have never been hospitalized, my worse illness has been a mild flu. I still have a full head of hair. My diet is real food no processed food, no fast food, and no soft drinks. I donā€™t care for sugar loaded desserts. What i have found with just about every lab results and experiments that the academics do is a lack of common sense. And I know that every scientist will find the results that their benefactors want found. So I normally laugh at the stupidity of most scientific documents.


#12

Also causes metabolic slowdown in people, which is also a driver of hairloss, and then out course how much of that missed food was protein, which your hair/skin needs. The list goes on. Fasting did a ton of damage to me.


(Robin) #13

Waitā€¦ seriously? Is that first pic you?!


(Chuck) #14

Again I disagree the key is to eat your daily diet in a small windows and give your bodyā€™s digestive system time to fully process the food. I find that my body getting way more out of the food I eat because it has longer to process it. I even manage most of my exercise te while fasting, and I have do much more energy than if I exercise on a full stomach. I am not talking about going over 20 hours without eating. I am talking to limiting my daily windows of eating. I definitely donā€™t believe in long term fasting as in over 24 hours.


(Alec) #15

Yes, but letā€™s say it was ā€œsomewhatā€ doctored by one of my offspring for a larf! Fair while ago now. I havenā€™t had hair on the top of my head for a loooonnnnnnggggggg time :joy::joy::joy::clown_face::crazy_face::man_shrugging:


#16

Thatā€™s fine, but your you, not everybody. If I eat what I need to eat a day in a small windows Iā€™ll be eating WAY too much at one, even broken up. Everybody has different goals, and very different digestive systems. How much do you eat a day? What does exercise mean to you? How much muscle is on your body that youā€™re trying to maintain or add to?

My fasting lead to metabolic slowdown, bowel issues, and a ton of lost muscle. The larger meals lead to huge digestive issues that did actual physical damage. My system does way better with more frequent meals throughout the day which also helps my hunger.


(Chuck) #17

I am 77, I still walk and hike 5 to 10 miles each day. I am 6 feet and 200 pounds. By the stupid charts I should weigh 180. I have weighed 200 since graduating from Navy boot camp. I have always been a hiker, walker and hunter. I grew up on the farm eating real farm fresh food and that is still my diet. My first meal is breakfast between 10 and noon, my afternoon meal is between 3 and 6. I eat nothing after 6pm or before 10 am. I am flexible about how much I eat and when between the 10 am to 6 pm window. If I am out walking or hiking I donā€™t get hungry at all. My diet is fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, dairy, meat and seafood. I donā€™t eat anything with wheat. But other grains donā€™t bother me. I seldom eat a dessert with sugar but do to celebrate birthdays or other special occasions. I will have wine or beer occasionally. At 77 I am on no prescription drugs, and I have never been hospitalized. My ancestry is a mix of European and Native American.


#18

@lfod14: What you wrote sounds like the fault of undereating, not fasting. If one is starving (either consuming too little food or it has too little nutrient) on IF, they do it wrong. Maybe they shouldnā€™t do IF in the first place as they just canā€™t do it right but either way, itā€™s not due to not eating for a very small number of hours for a humanā€¦ As I talked about IF here. EF is different, one really shouldnā€™t overdo it but IF is safe if one can do it right. I never had any problem from it but if I donā€™t do it, thatā€™s quite bad. Each to their own but IF is vital for some of us, definitely not something dangerous.

So itā€™s not for you, easy. You surely need a lot of food and not everyone is fine with big meals or frequent eating.
My teeny tiny energy need (minus some deficit if possible or else I stay fat forever) doesnā€™t even make a single big meal and I canā€™t eat small ones. And if I eat a decent sized meal (like 1000-1500 kcal though 1000 is tricky as itā€™s tiny), I get hungry in 1-3 hours again. Of course we need a different approach. But donā€™t blame IF when the problem was you eating too little. If one is low-key starving, itā€™s always bad, no matter if they eat every 2 hours all dayā€¦

Clearly you need many little meals then.
They would keep me super hungry all day long.
I never said IF is for everyone. Even low-carb isnā€™t for everyoneā€¦ We should do what works for us - but it doesnā€™t mean all the other ways are bad. They may work just fine for others who can do them right. Even the actual type of IF matters a lot, obviously. And the diet. As I lower my carbs, my fasting abilities deteriorate (I still do IF) but with good food choices, I get satiated by smaller meals. But they arenā€™t as effective long term as bigger ones. But I am aware itā€™s just me. Some people (with a similar energy need) do 2MAD with a 12 hour eating window, weird for me but it works for them. Meanwhile my rare, hated (and weird) 5MAD days are almost inevitably IF days (probably with a 6 hour eating window).


(Chuck) #19

Many little meals is for me a fouls notion. Many little meals doesnā€™t give the human digestive system a test to digest the food before more is shoved on top if that. Most individuals that i know that continuously eat has huge bellies. The digestive system and in turn the body needs time to relax and rest. Even 12 to 14 hours without eating is useful. I find that 16 to 18 hours is ideal. Also exercising on a full stomach is a recipe for disaster. Yes even several of my previous doctors and a nutritionist preaching 6 little meals
You know what I noticed about them? Oversized bellies.
I am 77 years old, 6 foot tall. 200 pounds and i have a 33 waist. I donā€™t eat everything at one time, I eat 2 meals. I go to bed at night and sleep like a baby, because my whole body is relaxed and resting. I never eat within 4 hours of going to bed. And I never eat as soon as I get up. I need time to exercise and become ready for food.


#20

Yup, the ā€œrecommendedā€ weights they come up with for people are a joke. Iā€™m 5ā€™10" and if I weighed 180 I donā€™t know what would happen first, my wife firing me, or people on the street giving me food.