I have been vegan now for almost 1 year and I am noticing that recently my hair is getting really thin and falling out a lot... I started taking a vegan multivitamin to see if this would help as maybe it’s due to some deficiency? But I am scared in case it gets much worse. Does anybody have any advice for certain vitamins or supplements to try to help this? I’m thinking it could possibly be anemia. I’m going to call my doctor tomorrow and see if I can get bloods taken.
possible vitamin deficiency?
- Thread starter 2sliceh
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Hello 2sliceh, welcome on board, and congrats on going vegan!
What do you typically eat in a day? Do you cook mostly from scratch? Do you eat much in terms of pulses?
Which multivitamin did you get?
Also, has your life become more stressful recently?
What do you typically eat in a day? Do you cook mostly from scratch? Do you eat much in terms of pulses?
Which multivitamin did you get?
Also, has your life become more stressful recently?
Lou
Forum Legend
I've seen this question a bunch of times.
There are a bunch of reasons for hair loss that have little or nothing to do with diet or vegan diets.
Stress, genetics, and hormones all can be factors.
Getting a check up is a very good idea.
There ARE some nutrient deficiencies that can cause this as well. So you are right to suspect that it could be diet related. Even if your blood test come back normal its still a good idea to analyze your nutrient intakes.
There is a website/app called CronOmeter. With it you can do a very good job at looking at your nutrient intakes. A lack of protein, zinc, iron, and/or B12 can affect hair loss. And many vegans struggle with getting adequate amounts of some of those.
there is a bit of a learning curve in Cron0meter. most of it is pretty intuitive. it does have a good manual and a nice FAQ section. but if you need help with it, come back and ask. I am almost a CronOmeter expert.
There are a bunch of reasons for hair loss that have little or nothing to do with diet or vegan diets.
Stress, genetics, and hormones all can be factors.
Getting a check up is a very good idea.
There ARE some nutrient deficiencies that can cause this as well. So you are right to suspect that it could be diet related. Even if your blood test come back normal its still a good idea to analyze your nutrient intakes.
There is a website/app called CronOmeter. With it you can do a very good job at looking at your nutrient intakes. A lack of protein, zinc, iron, and/or B12 can affect hair loss. And many vegans struggle with getting adequate amounts of some of those.
there is a bit of a learning curve in Cron0meter. most of it is pretty intuitive. it does have a good manual and a nice FAQ section. but if you need help with it, come back and ask. I am almost a CronOmeter expert.
Hello and thank you!!!
I have cereal with soya milk and I’ll have avocado toast for lunch and some fruit and almonds as snacks, lots of dark chocolate, sometimes a smoothie? For dinner I’ll usually have pasta, homemade pizza or something with rice or just something random I find at the store.
I dont eat a lot of pulses, maybe once or twice a week i’ll have some with dinner.
The multivitamin is called vegan essentials by nutravita. I was stressed out with a family issue last week so didn’t eat as much as I should've, maybe only around 600 calories for a few days. I am unsure whether this could be the cause since it was so recent. I’m starting to think my calorie intake may be the cause of it? I only get around 1100 every day but I struggle to eat much more than that.
Some time after I went vegetarian back in 1996 (this was 8 years before I went vegan), my parents pressured me to see a nutritionist. She asked me to record everything I ate for a week. It was a big pain, especially since this was before smartphones and apps, but I stuck with it, and in the end she gave my diet a pass mark, which was reassuring to both myself and my parents.
I was thinking today how I've never in my life seen more young people, women in particular, with obvious hair loss! Really large parts!
Have you changed your diet? Are you eating from all the whole plant food groups-beans, nuts, seeds, dark leafies, veggies fruits?
Hair also goes through periods of growth and loss, and stress is a contributor
This might help---
Many vitamins work with, and against each other. Take more of one and it can interfere with another.
i only take B12, D (based on tests) and algae DHA
Have you changed your diet? Are you eating from all the whole plant food groups-beans, nuts, seeds, dark leafies, veggies fruits?
Hair also goes through periods of growth and loss, and stress is a contributor
This might help---
Many vitamins work with, and against each other. Take more of one and it can interfere with another.
i only take B12, D (based on tests) and algae DHA
Sounds like a decent start to the day, at least! I usually eat oatmeal with unsweetened soya milk, a banana, occasionally a few berries and/or Alpro plain soya yogurt.
I agree that you very likely need more calories. 600 calories or even 1100 is way too little. The NHS recommend 2000 calories per day for women. (Depends of weight etc, of course.)
Understanding calories
Calories found in food and drink give you energy to do every day things. Find out why they are important and get tips for being aware of calories.
www.nhs.uk
And you should aim to have some pulses/legumes or products which includes pulses/legumes with your dinner every day.
To help increase your calories, perhaps you could have some snack meals in between the main meals? Peanuts and chickpeas are legumes/pulses, so perhaps a few oatcakes (like Nairns, I love them!) with peanut butter, or perhaps hummus on toast. Maybe with a glass of (fortified) Oatly to get an extra boost of calcium.
Do you like lentils? Lentil soup? Did you know there is such a thing as pasta made from beans? Do you like tofu? Have you tried any of the many types of vegan burgers? There are lots of options here in the UK!
Just some ideas there, but you have to figure out what works for you, of course.
Also, don't stress, it's bad for you
Lou
Forum Legend
When I was in college I took a class on nutrition. this was in the early 80s. ( I'm not sure - were there even nutrition labels back then?) After we kept a log of everything we ate for a week we had these huge books. USDA databases. We looked up each food and filled out our own tables of all the nutrients we were tracking. And then we had to do all the math. (small inexpensive calculators had just come out the year before). And then we made our charts and graphs. and wrote our reports. It took hours.
My memories are actually pretty fond of those hours. You see all my lab partners were nursing students.
Maybe this is why I love Cronometer so much. It looks up everything for you, does all the math, and makes really nice charts and graphs and reports. In minutes.
Urban Gardener
Forum Legend
I would take a B12 supplement and see if you start to feel better. B12 deficiency can cause hair loss. It can be hard to get enough on a vegan diet even if you eat fortified foods. You can’t go wrong with supplements. Unlike iron, which a multi should contain enough of, it’s hard to over-do B12. It has no toxicity threshold.
It might be a lack of b12, if so look at this article. It's how I found out that I wasn't getting enough B12 on a daily basis.
tasking biotin might help with the hair loss, id suggest looking further into biotin, hope it helps
You are definitely not getting enough calories. If you don't like beans, there are plenty of other options: Tofu, Beyond Beef (yum), black bean burgers (double yum), salads with black beans, etc.
One of the issues with new vegans is that they just remove the meat, fish, pork, chicken, and dairy, and leave an empty place on the plate. There is just fruit, veggies, and grains, which means they are only getting half of the calories they need.
I'm a big proponent of home cooking, but if you are not getting enough to eat; you should try many of the "prepared options," like pre cooked rice and frozen vegan quick meals,. Most of the supermarkets have them.
I have big scoop of organic pea protein in my morning smoothie or oatmeal, just to make sure that I am meeting my daily needs. I recommend NorCal organic. Just my preference.
Also, my B12 source is nutritional yeast. It goes into EVERYTHING. Sprinkled on popcorn, makes great faux cheesy grits, on spaghetti (vegan meatballs), in a soup for extra flavor, or sprinkled on a vegan burger for cheesy flavor.
You need to get a meal plan, so you aren't winging it, and just looking in the fridge to try to put something together. Many vegans do all their meal prepping on the weekend, so they just walk in the door, and there is a fried (or baked) tofu bowl with veggies, sauce, and rice.
I bought one of those attachments for a food processor that chops up all my veggies. Carrots, celery, onions, etc, are all chopped up and waiting to be cooked later in the week. Sometimes, when I walk in the door, I don't like messing with meal prep, but if it is just reaching in the fridge and throwing it in the pot; I will do it.
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