Let’s be honest: hair loss can be intensely frightening. Even if you understand the root cause of your hair shedding — whether that’s an illness, medication you’re taking, stress, or genetics — it doesn’t make actually seeing clumps of fallen hair on your brush any easier. You may panic and rush to off to the store to stock up on biotin, herbal supplements that have been shown to help, or any number of hair serums and conditioners that are designed to strengthen strands. But in the process you could be overlooking mistakes that you’re making that make matters worse — including the foods and drinks you consume. These are the two kinds of drinks hair loss experts say you should avoid at all costs.
Alchohol
Having a few celebratory drinks here and there isn’t going to thwart your hair-growing goals, but if alcoholic consumption becomes a regular habit it could have an effect on, not just your health, but the state of your strands, according to Ghanima Abdullah, a hair loss expert and cosmetologist at therighthairstyles.com. “Alcoholic drinks can inhibit keratin-synthesis — so that’s bad news if you’re losing hair through breakage,” Abdullah says. “The hair follicles use keratin to make hair that’s strong and less breakage-prone.
When consumed heavily, alcohol also causes nutritional deficiencies. We all know that it’s important for the hair follicles to receive proper nutrition to make hair. That includes getting enough iron, vitamin B and zinc, among other nutrients. But alcohol depletes these. “
Because alcohol has a high-glycemic index, Abdullah notes that it also can cause a spike in insulin and other hormones. “These hormones attach themselves to hair follicles and cause hair fall,” Abdullah says. Play it safe by limiting the number of alcoholic beverages you enjoy in a week.
Sugary drinks
Similar to alcohol, drinks with a lot of sugar like sodas and juice-drinks have high-glycemic indexes, Abdullah says, and these cause a spike in insulin, which can bind to hair follicles and cause hair loss.
“Sugary drinks also decrease the nutrients in your circulatory system and slow it down, in general,” Abdullah says. “Because of this, fewer nutrients make it to the hair follicles. This can cause, or accelerate, hair loss. Sugar can also increase testosterone in the blood. Testosterone leads to DHT production on the scalp, which causes hair loss. Too much fat in the diet also increases testosterone levels.”
Moderation or abstinence is key when it comes to these beverages, especially if you’ve noticed hair shedding and want to combat the issue and strengthen hair follicles.
