Could my hair loss be connected to my diet?

[Suiren]

LittleElefant
I never measure my blood sugar. Last it was measured in pregnancy and normal.
I don't know anything on the subject really. I hope you can figure out what causes the spike. It is hard to imagine fat could do it...:/

So you don't get any fat from butter or suet? I think I could not keep my weight or gain if it wasn't for the butter. I have been more stable weight wise even though I now consume less calories.

[jessica]

suiren/littleelefant have either of you ever had your cortisol levels tested? or any other hormones, estrogen, testosterone, dhea?  do you feel high anxiety? find it hard to relax? feel like you respond dramatically to certain things? how are your sleep patterns?

[Joy2012]

Yes I'm still loosing some hair I think
I don't eat so much coconut any more.
The hair loss might be caused by my extremely low weight.
My hormones are quite low, having Amenorrea for some time.
I change my diet every other day, I feel a bit lost.
Nothing seems to work. I always have to fight not to loose even more weight.
For some days now I tried low fat, moderate protein, high carb because I had so much inflammation in my body  quite dangerous, and it did not stop.
But with all this carbs I have blood sugar probems, I'm bloated, have water retention and I'm always hungry
Today I tried just huge salads with lots of fish and oil. Oliveoil and Coconutoil and lots of spices.
Feel better like this.

Jesica, where can I find your post about low carb, keto you mentioned.
Can I go keto with fat manly from fatty fish, olive oil and coconut oil?
I have some problems with beef and wild boar fat (ever the highest quality) it always made me very thick after some time. I can not do a lot of eggs, gives me inflammation.
I thought I can be low carb because of this problems but carb based I can not live neither because I'm supercarbsensitive, diabetic I think

There was a period of time in my life when my weight was too low and I lost much hair. When I came to my senses I ate a lot of seaweeds and my hair loss was reversed.

[Suiren]

suiren/littleelefant have either of you ever had your cortisol levels tested? or any other hormones, estrogen, testosterone, dhea?  do you feel high anxiety? find it hard to relax? feel like you respond dramatically to certain things? how are your sleep patterns?

Last I had it tested was when I was 19 and my doctor put me on the birth control pill.

I sleep pretty good, doze off within seconds and feel rested after about 7 hrs.
I think I am a little too relaxed at times - sluggish, but it has bettered with my diet change. No anxiety.

I just figured out that my iron supplements contain ferric instead of ferrous iron. I was taking Prenatal Vitamins until recently (ferrous fumarate), but then switched to German iron tablets.
When I noticed hair loss i first suspected iron, took my prenatals again for a few days to find for a German brand that is dosed higher (28mg).
My hair loss had stopped then, but later continued on the German iron tablets. I will have my ferritin levels tested thursday, along with other vitamins. Which ones would be most important?

I was told my insurance does not pay for having hormone levels tested ...wtf.

[goodsamaritan]

Last I had it tested was when I was 19 and my doctor put me on the birth control pill.

These birth control drugs cause a lot of malnutrition and imbalances.
How long were you on them?
Are you still on them?

[Iguana]

Hi LittleElephant ! 

[Suiren]

These birth control drugs cause a lot of malnutrition and imbalances.
How long were you on them?
Are you still on them?

For about 7 years, but I haven't used it because of the bad effects since 2009. When I stopped I experienced hormonal problems for the first time, especially hair loss and I was also diagnosed with Hashimoto's and the Pituitary tumor.

I am not on any other birth control either, I don't want hormones or copper or any of that.

[goodsamaritan]

These birth control drugs cause a lot of malnutrition and imbalances.
How long were you on them?
Are you still on them?

For about 7 years, but I haven't used it because of the bad effects since 2009. When I stopped I experienced hormonal problems for the first time, especially hair loss and I was also diagnosed with Hashimoto's and the Pituitary tumor.

I am not on any other birth control either, I don't want hormones or copper or any of that.

7 years of birth control pills seems to be the primary cause of your problems. 
Maybe it will help if you told us the brand of birth control pills you used.
We can check on the experiences of others who suffered side effects.
Who knows, you might even be able to claim damages from the birth control pill manufacturer.

The primary hurdle is to be 100% RAW paleo diet with high quality foods and variety in the right proportions.
What do your smell instincts tell you?

[Suiren]

For about 7 years, but I haven't used it because of the bad effects since 2009. When I stopped I experienced hormonal problems for the first time, especially hair loss and I was also diagnosed with Hashimoto's and the Pituitary tumor.

I am not on any other birth control either, I don't want hormones or copper or any of that.

7 years of birth control pills seems to be the primary cause of your problems. 
Maybe it will help if you told us the brand of birth control pills you used.
We can check on the experiences of others who suffered side effects.
Who knows, you might even be able to claim damages from the birth control pill manufacturer.

The primary hurdle is to be 100% RAW paleo diet with high quality foods and variety in the right proportions.
What do your smell instincts tell you?

I was on the german pill "Belara", the manufacturers name is Grunenthal I think. It has more progesterone than other products and the claims were it is beneficial for skin and hair. That is why my doctor wanted me to take it. I had some hair loss and skin problems. They went away and I never had proble while on the pill.

What do yous mean by smell instincts?

[goodsamaritan]

Smell Instincts... I was referring to Instincto / Instinctive eating.
There is a section in this forum.
Eveheart and Iguana is into it.
Your body may instinctively know what it needs right now.
You can do this if you are 100% raw.

[Suiren]

Yes I know instincto! I think my instincts are mostly dead because my body only craves bad foods
Sometimes fruit too, like apple, but rarely meat.

Last time when I tried eating more raw foods I had trouble absorbing them. Could this be because I am still healing? My problems were stomach pain and rapid weight loss.

[goodsamaritan]

I would suggest you do the basic detoxes:

- colon cleanse
http://www.curemanual.com/detox-protocols-and-treatments/colon-cleansing/
A foreign equivalent may be colosan or oxypowder or castor oil but they are not the same as our local Dr. Tam's Miracle Tea.

- kidney cleanse
http://www.curemanual.com/detox-protocols-and-treatments/kidney-cleansing/
Avocado leaves tea, Watermelon Fast, Coconut juice fast.

- liver flushes (5x spaced 1-2 weeks apart)
http://www.curemanual.com/detox-protocols-and-treatments/liver-gall-bladder-flush/
apple juice+lemon+olive oil / without the apple juice or lemon+egg yolks or coffee enemas

You may also look into vco detox if you are not allergic to VCO... it will resolve the candida / yeast issues in 3 days.  Candida is a very common side effect of long term birth control pill use.  Candida makes people crave sweets.  I for example today would not be able to consume the 3-4 tablespoons of raw honey you could and I consider myself an omnivore.
http://www.curemanual.com/detox-protocols-and-treatments/stomach-healing-intestinal-cleansing-yeast-elimination/virgin-coconut-oil-detox/

Once cleansed, the body is able to absorb nutrients properly.
For example this young lady I just helped again for the 3rd time with colon cleansing and her GERD.
She was losing weight fast and sickly and in foul moods.
2 weeks ago she finished her colon cleanse, I met her lately and she's bounced back in weight with a happy glow.
And she's on SAD.
http://www.myhealthblog.org/2013/01/19/gerd-cure-testimonial-for-the-3rd-time-with-dr-tams-miracle-tea/

I will be posting a new testimonial of colon cleansing with my driver.  I just did the interview this morning.

++++

If you have not been eating fermented foods, you might want look into them as they will immensely help you absorb nutrients.  Home made and they are cheap cheap cheap.

++++

Regarding baby / toddler safety of breast milk when doing colon cleanses, liver flushes or vco detox... you might look into breast pumping and storing your milk in the refrigerator / freezer.  During the liver flush day and the following day, throw away your milk.  On vco detox, during the 3 days and the 4th day, throw away your milk.  During the colon cleanse day and the following day, throw away your milk.

[Suiren]

I will look into them! Can I do the liver cleanse while i am taking herbs for cleansing the liver and blood? (Milk thistle, burdock root) they have helped me a lot in terms of PMS and skin.

Which reminds me, my liver levels were supposedly elevated during my  last blood test. Could this be because of my liver detoxing?

Are any of the detoxes okay while breastfeeding? I get very little milk with a pump. Definitely not enough for a day. The pump does not stimulte ny milk letdown well and I have not been able to pump and store since 3 months postpartum.

As an omnivore, is it still possible to keep the carbs low and the calories high? I am trying to figure out which is the best type of RPdiet for me.
 

[goodsamaritan]

>> I will look into them! Can I do the liver cleanse while i am taking herbs for cleansing the liver and blood? (Milk thistle, burdock root) they have helped me a lot in terms of PMS and skin.

Those supplements are fine with liver flushing.

>> Which reminds me, my liver levels were supposedly elevated during my  last blood test. Could this be because of my liver detoxing?

I'm not familiar with those test results.

>> Are any of the detoxes okay while breastfeeding? I get very little milk with a pump. Definitely not enough for a day. The pump does not stimulte ny milk letdown well and I have not been able to pump and store since 3 months postpartum.

You can try the AVENT brand of manual breast pumps, my wife swore by them.  Maybe they have cheap China copies today.

You can produce more milk by eating:

- Malunggay Leaves supplements (in capsules)
- Making beef soup stocks
- Eating raw live clams or souped clams

>>As an omnivore, is it still possible to keep the carbs low and the calories high? I am trying to figure out which is the best type of RPdiet for me.

Raw omnivore can vary from very high carbs to very low carbs.  What is bad is too high fructose, bad is too high protein.  There are starchier fruits and root crops.  You also need to follow the seasons.  Winter weather I heard should be minimal fruit to none... though I have no experience with winter.  I do know it helps to eat warming foods.  Check the internet for warming foods.  The chinese may have a good list.

You might as well try Inclined bed therapy to optimize your sleeping http://inclinedbedtherapy.com/

[Suiren]

I DO have enough milk, but pumps don't work for all women because it is a different kind of stimulation than a baby suckling. I have tried different pumps, electric and manual. I might have to wait with the cleanses because it will take time to pump enough milk with my problem. My son does also not drink from a bottle so that is the next hurdle. :/


Atm I am eating low carb correct? (59 g). I used to eat more carbs with sweet potato and carrots added to my diet, and I wonder if my body was doing better on it? Not sure if it is related, but my problems started after going low carb.

Do you know anything about heart palpitations? It is getting more frequent and I wonder what it is...

[goodsamaritan]

extremely low carb is not for everyone.
although in the last food list you gave, that was not low carb.

Heart palpitations?  I would look more at hydration. 
I'm not a fan of plain water.
I usually put drops of lemon in the water.
Also try a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in the water.
Don't drink tap water.

If you need salt, get the best salt, like from blood, from clams the seawater in them, fermented fish, himalayan salt, sea salt, etc.

If you have hydration problems really... you can try the water cure (it comes with salt).  See http://www.watercure2.org/

[Iguana]

Yes I know instincto! I think my instincts are mostly dead because my body only craves bad foods
Sometimes fruit too, like apple, but rarely meat.

You didn’t read  GCB’s book, did you ?

Since Neolithic, modern, cooked and processed foods are excluded, there’s no such things as “bad” or “good” foods in the instincto theory. Everything depends on the amount and the current state of the person.

Our cravings are driven by memory. As we all have eaten cooked stuff for years, ours cravings are totally distorted and unreliable. Instinctive nutrition doesn’t rely at all on cravings; as a matter of fact they should be completely discarded, especially during the first years. Smell and taste are the only reliable indicators, and it works for everyone from the first day on. 

It’s even always at work ever since birth, but it is fooled by processed, mixed, cooked, Neolithic (dairy, cereals) and modern stuff. 

Meat can smell and taste very different depending on the kind, part, state of freshness, etc. I’m extremely attracted by gamy meat ; after it’s been aged hung for a month or two in my fridge it becomes really delicious for me.   

Last time when I tried eating more raw foods I had trouble absorbing them. Could this be because I am still healing? My problems were stomach pain and rapid weight loss.

Trouble is caused by raw foods ingested in excessive amount or of a kind which shouldn’t be eaten at all by the person in her current state.

[Suiren]

GS

I think my carb intake was still under 70 and having been on much higher carbs before that might have still been a big change for me?

I never had heart palpitations though and I have been drinking water and herbal tea...it would surprise me if I was suddenly dehydrated?
Palpitations are also a sign of a thyroid underfunction.

Iguana
Thank you for explaining!

I have been reading about low carb paleo and thyroid like problems related to it and I wanted to know what everyone thinks:

Some people (a very small percentage of my clients) who jump into low carb from a very high carb diet will experience some thyroid-like side effects a few weeks or few months after switching such as fatigue, coldness in extremities, hair-loss or other problems.
In my experience, these clients are also ones who went low-carb for weight-loss reasons and often have an underlying hormone issue to begin with.
For a long time, I considered this slow-transition a problem, and was able to find some things (adding more natural salt into the diet, taking magnesium and gelatin, etc)  that made the transitions easier.

While these supplements do help the transition, and I’d recommend them anyway, a recent article by Dr. Cate Shanahan helped me understand why some individuals experience these thyroid like-symptoms after going low-carb for a while and explains why the slow-transition might actually be the best thing for these people.

Dr. Shanahan explains that advanced thyroid testing will often reveal that these individuals have an extremely elevated reverse T3 level (rT3) and at this point, most doctors will prescribe T3 and think that the problem is solved. Dr. Shanahan explains the rT3 has the opposite effect of regular T3 and essentially makes the body think it needs to hibernate and prepares for such (weight gain, fatigue, brain fog, etc).
She goes on to explain that this phenomenon is similar to bears before hibernation, and this drop in rT3 caused when berries and other readily available carbs disappear creates the fatigue needed for hibernation. Unfortunately, for those of us not interested in hibernation, this can be a problem.

If you are part of the group that suffers from severe carb flu when you remove carbs, or if you’ve gone low-carb for a while and then started to lose energy and gain weight, it’s possible that your rT3 is elevated.

Fortunately, while suddenly removing carbs shocks the system, doing it gradually often helps the system adjust. Dr. Shanahan recommends that patients who suffer from these symptoms go low-carb slowly beginning with breakfast and slowly reducing overall carbs over a period of time.

From what I’ve seen with my own clients, this can be helpful and necessary, especially for those who already have an underlying hormone struggle or who have a severe reaction to removing carbs.

Source: http://wellnessmama.com/4352/is-low-carb-healthy/

....
 they develop fatigue, sometimes accompanied by symptoms of low thyroid function including cold extremities, hair loss, and digestive problems. Only by consuming more carbs again can they reduce these symptoms.

Because their fatigue and other symptoms are classic for thyroid malfunction, many will get their levels tested,....



The reason low carbing triggers thyroid changes

In doing research on rT3, I ran into a fascinating article on a group of little-understood compounds called thyronamines (pronounced thigh-row-na-meens). The key to understanding rT3, and unlocking the relationship between carbohydrate consumption and thyroid function, may lie in these newly discovered compounds.

Thyronamines have powerful effects on energy metabolism

Studies performed in 2010 showed that injecting thryronamines into the belly cavity or brain tissues of experimental animals cause the following physiologic and behavior changes:

Impaired ability to utilize sugar as an energy source
Insulin resistance
Lowered basal body temperature
Weaker than normal heart contractions
A marked decline in activity (We can’t ask the lab animals, but presumably this would be induced by what we would describe as feelings of extreme fatigue)....

Source: http://drcate.com/going-low-carb-too-fast-may-trigger-thyroid-troubles-and-hormone-imbalance/

Could this be my problem? I checked my food diary (my fitness pal) and until September, when I felt great and had no PMS or hair loss (my periods were better then too), I was eating more carbs, mostly around 100 g, and more sugars from honey and fruits. My thyroid was doing fine too.

Then I got tired of carrots and sweet potato, and trying to gain weight with them, and so I stopped eating them abruptly.

Maybe after getting off of carbs from grains and pasta, it was too abrupt of a change to go on low carb paleo a half year later?

[Iguana]

Iguana
Thank you for explaining!

You’re welcome.

I have been reading about low carb paleo and thyroid like problems related to it and I wanted to know what everyone thinks:

I don’t know. I just wonder what the “low carb” and “zero carb” ideologies have to do with a “paleo diet”. I fail to see any relation because the sorting of nutrients between protein, fats and carbohydrates is modern knowledge which our ancestors of the Paleolithic era had absolutely no idea about. Thus there was no way they could have any sort of “zero carb” or “low carb” diet. They must have eaten whatever they found that smelled and tasted fine — not excluding a transmission of information between them (elder and younger) for a quicker learning of which stuff were the most palatable, where and how to get them.

[Suiren]

Iguana
I agree, the only reason I ever looked into it was for weight gain, because I was hoping to gain a few pounds on Paleo when eating more carbs.
The way I was eating felt good to me, although my instincts are warped, because I crave a variety and naturally sweet foods (my son does too, he likes meat but wants a lot of fruits and sweet, flavorful  veggies, herbs and roots. He never had any standard food and we always offered plain.
I hated fruits prior to eating Paleo, that has changed. I also hardly ate meat and I like it much better now. Maybe my instincts will eventually start working.

Anyhow, going from high carb SAD to low carb Paleo within six months might have not been a good idea? Way back people would have never encountered the problem of transition, I assume their carbs levels varied a bit, nothing drastic, which was normal to their bodies and it did jot cause problems?

[Iguana]

Iguana
I agree, the only reason I ever looked into it was for weight gain, because I was hoping to gain a few pounds on Paleo when eating more carbs.
The way I was eating felt good to me, although my instincts are warped, because I crave a variety and naturally sweet foods (my son does too, he likes meat but wants a lot of fruits and sweet, flavorful  veggies, herbs and roots. He never had any standard food and we always offered plain.
I hated fruits prior to eating Paleo, that has changed. I also hardly ate meat and I like it much better now. Maybe my instincts will eventually start working.

Anyhow, going from high carb SAD to low carb Paleo within six months might have not been a good idea? Way back people would have never encountered the problem of transition, I assume their carbs levels varied a bit, nothing drastic, which was normal to their bodies and it did jot cause problems?

It would have been ok if instinctive. 

I tell you, our alimentary instinct is our senses of smell and taste and it is always at work for everyone ever since birth. The problem is that it doesn’t work properly with mixed (for example, lemon juice on oysters is something completely artificial), cooked, processed and “new” foods such as dairy and heavily selected products, the worst being wheat.

Sweet foods are no evil as long as they are natural and raw. We’ve just got to be aware not to eat too much of the most heavily and artificially selected fruits, but no problems at all with roots, tubers, sugar cane, real raw honey (from bees not fed with industrial sugar - difficult to find), wild or almost wild fruits.

If I can dare an advice: if you are really too thin and want to gain weight, forget about gaining weight quickly, steer away from focusing on it. Just eat whatever raw paleo food you like, as much as you like. Accept that you might perhaps initially loose some weight in the short run: it’ll make you able to gain weight in the long run. It’s somehow like we have to invest money in an enterprise to make this enterprise profitable in the future.

[Suiren]

If I can dare an advice: if you are really too thin and want to gain weight, forget about gaining weight quickly, steer away from focusing on it. Just eat whatever raw paleo food you like, as much as you like. Accept that you might perhaps initially loose some weight in the short run: it’ll make you able to gain weight in the long run. It’s somehow like we have to invest money in an enterprise to make this enterprise profitable in the future.

I actually did that last September and stopped eating carbs from carrots and sweet potato. A month later I started shedding hair, developed acne and my PMS have been bad ever since. Maybe it contributed to my current problem.
I did gain some weight on a low calorie diet, but I suppose it is because I am hypothyroid now.

I think it will be hard to find the reason for my problems...there are so many possibilities it is making my head spin.

[LePatron7]

I actually did that last September and stopped eating carbs from carrots and sweet potato. A month later I started shedding hair, developed acne and my PMS have been bad ever since. Maybe it contributed to my current problem.
I did gain some weight on a low calorie diet, but I suppose it is because I am hypothyroid now.

I think it will be hard to find the reason for my problems...there are so many possibilities it is making my head spin.

Could switching to low carb have caused your problems?

[Suiren]

Could switching to low carb have caused your problems?

That is one thing I am suspecting. I posted some things above regarding how low carb can affect the thyroid and hair.
I don't know how to reverse it though. I read one needs to eat an insane amount of carbs for a little until symptoms subside, but that sounds extreme.
If it is my thyroid, it would take time to regulate...that I don't have unless I want to continue feeling shitty for longer and go bald in the process...

[van]

I wonder if you can remember what you substituted your calories with when you dropped the carbs?  Really healthy egg yolks, liver,  and other organs like heart,  good back fat,  oily fish,  seaweed for minerals bone marrow,  are good foods for hair.  Excess protein or not enough good fats are not good foods for hair growth.   (again) most who try low carb are eating too much protein.