Hair drop can be one of the more distressing side effect of going low carb, if you don’t understand why.
When I developed the HOPE Protocol, I made it unique in the Low Carb world – I don’t ask people to be immediately low carb.
Why? Going in slow sets people up for long term success.
The Nine Shifts to a Low Carb way of eating take you in gently over 6 weeks.
This significantly increases people’s chances of developing the habits necessary to lead a successful low-carb lifestyle and also provides several “unexpected” bonuses.
Why go in slow?
When most people “go keto” or “start a low carb diet” or “bant” or any of the myriad names we’ve given this way of eating, they typically start by cutting out “all the carbs” as instructed by either the information they found on the internet or one of the many books on low-carb eating.
And then they feel resentful at giving up all their favourite foods and terrible for about a week – I talk about that phenomenon in the article I wrote back in 2010 – “why do I feel so rotten right now, and will it ever stop???”
This is now known as “Body Shock”
What’s Body Shock?
Any significant stressor can cause body shock.
such as
- illness,
- injury,
- surgery,
- major hormonal changes,
- moving house,
- changing diet
- and even bereavement
What’s that got to do with hair drop?
As well as the short term effects, it can be a type of hair loss known as telogen effluvium.
This is where a number of hair follicles to enter the telogen (resting) phase of the hair growth cycle prematurely.
During the telogen phase, the hair strand becomes detached from the hair follicle, and the follicle enters a dormant state.
In a normal hair growth cycle, hair follicles grow randomly and spend only a small percentage of time in the telogen phase.
But with telogen effluvium, a significant number of hair follicles enter the telogen phase simultaneously.
This results in a large number of hair strands falling out ~3 months later – AKA Hair drop
It can also cause the hair follicles to remain in the telogen phase for an extended period. This results in a delay to new hair growth.
It’s worth noting that Telogen Effluvium is a temporary type of hair loss.
It generally resolves on its own within 6-9 months once the body has recovered from the shock. It is not a permanent hair loss condition.
However, if hair loss persists for more than 6 months, consult a dermatologist/trichologist to rule out other potential causes of hair loss.
So, how can we avoid all of this?
The trite answer is “Follow the HOPE Protocol.”
Take it slow, remove high-impact carbohydrates that are the foundation of the modern diet gradually over time.
This allows your body to adjust to the change and regulate its hormonal response over a few weeks, rather than a few hours.
Follow and do the work with the HOPE Protocol, trust in the process which leads to low term success.
How could that freedom from Diet Prison that the rest of the industry offers make your life different?
