It is no secret that having fun and letting loose sometimes is the best medicine for your soul. But indulging in nights full of fun and alcohol may take a nasty toll on your health. Consuming alcohol affects almost every part of your body, while in excess, it negatively affects your entire body. Although liver damage is one of the most known side effects of alcohol, hair loss is also a major side effect of alcohol consumption.
Drinking alcohol may cause hair loss for various reasons, ranging from hormonal imbalance to poor nutrition. Hair strands depend on how hydrated and nourished your body is to remain healthy. Consuming alcohol dehydrates your body and leaves your hair dry, brittle, and prone to breakage.
What Does The Science Say?
However, there is no direct link between alcohol consumption and hair loss. Still, excessive consumption of alcohol may lead to some nutrient deficiencies, which cause hair loss. Your hair needs certain nutrients to remain hydrated, nourished, and healthy. Consumption of alcohol leads to the deficiency of these nutrients. Alcohol may cause hair loss by directly interfering with the natural way your body processes and uses the food/nutrients or prevent your body from getting enough nutrients due to poor diet.
How Does Alcohol Affect Your Body To Cause Hair Loss?
There are different processes happening in your body and all of them need water as a vital component. When the amount of water available in the body diminishes, some changes start to take place. Below you will see the different ways your body suffer due to alcohol poisoning (alcohol is basically a toxin which your body tries to flush out as it would any other foreign substance).
Malnutrition And Nutrient Deficiency
The key nutrients for proper and healthy hair growth include; zinc, copper, and protein. Deficiency in these nutrients causes the hair to fall out or break. People who drink alcohol excessively do not eat enough food or consume poor diets that lack these vital nutrients the body and hair needs. Alcohol also damages the lining of your stomach and increases the production of acid in your digestive system. Damage to the stomach lining prevents the body from absorbing the nutrients.
Dehydration Of The Body
You know that urge to pee frequently after you’ve had a few drinks? That’s what diuretics do and alcohol is one of them. While a hangover is a result of this dehydration, lack of hydration of your body also affects your skin’s health. Hydration is an important factor for healthy hair growth, too. Chronic alcohol consumption promotes dry skin, itchy, and damaged scalp. When the scalp is dry and damaged, the hair follicles become malnourished. This leads to dry and brittle hair, poor hair growth, and eventually thinning or loss of hair.
Inadequate And Poor Quality Sleep
Drowsiness is one of the most typical side effects of alcohol. This effect has many people believe in alcohol for better sleep. Although alcohol may assist you to fall asleep quicker, it is unlikely you will have a sound and quality sleep under the effect of alcohol. You will experience low-quality disruptive sleep, which leads to stress on the body and mind.
High levels of stress on the body result in a type of hair loss known as telogen effluvium. When the body experiences excessive stress, it forces the hair follicles into the resting stage prematurely, after which they fall out completely.
Hormonal Imbalances And Hormonal Changes
Alcohol also causes loss of hair through hormonal changes. Too much alcohol consumption can lead to an increase in the estrogen level in females and testosterone in men. Oestrogen and testosterone are both sex hormones in the body. Research has linked excessive consumption of alcohol and increased level of these sex hormones in the body. These hormones are believed to be the most significant cause of androgenetic alopecia, female and male pattern hair loss.
Increase In Blood Sugar Level
Alcohol beverages usually contain a high amount of sugar and ingredients, leading to an increase in the blood sugar level. High level of sugar in the blood results in an increase in insulin and androgens that bind with the hair follicles. This makes the hair fall out eventually. As a result, increased sugar level caused by alcohol is linked to pattern hair loss.
How Can I Avoid Hair Loss Caused By Alcohol Consumption?
The most appropriate way to avoid losing hair from alcohol intake is to cut down the alcohol intake amount or stop it completely. Suppose you must drink at a moderate level. However, it is important to remember that alcohol is still a toxic substance. There’s no safe way to take it without any side effects.
Hair loss due to alcohol consumption is a chronic problem that will take place over a long period of time. Getting help with alcohol abuse will help return your physical, mental and emotional health back in shape.
So what are some of the healthy lifestyle choices you can make after cutting or stopping alcohol consumption? For better overall health, healthy hair, and cell growth you should do more of the following:
- Keep hydration up by drinking adequate amounts of water throughout the day. This helps your body systems function properly resulting in healthier hair and skin.
- Eat healthy food such as fresh fruits, veggies, and meals rich in nutrients like zinc, copper, and protein to promote hair’s healthy growth.
- Avoid putting your body under stress by sleeping regularly, in the early hours of the night, and have a healthy sleep pattern or routine.
The effects of alcohol on your hair may take a long time to become apparent. Following the few helpful tips in this article will help minimise the damage long term consumption of alcohol will have on your tresses. However, if you have excluded alcohol as the cause of your hair loss, you need to seek professional help if you experience excessive hair loss. Vinci Hair Clinic offers free consultations and the qualified staff will help get to the bottom of your hair problems. Don’t suffer from hair loss alone, get in touch today to book your free consultation.
