Why Does Alcohol Cause Hair Loss?

Worried that your excessive alcohol consumption is causing hair loss? You are not alone, thousands of alcohol drinkers have more or less the same hair issue. Alcohol causes a lot of health issues, it’s understandable why you are blaming it to be the reason for your sudden hair loss. Before blaming alcohol and cutting down the consumption for the sake of your hair, know whether it is “actually” to be blamed for hair loss or not.

Can alcohol lead to hair loss?

Alcohol does not cause hair loss, however, excessive alcohol does assist in causing health issues that trigger hair loss or hair thinning. So, alcohol can not be linked directly to hair loss but to numerous health conditions that trigger hair issues.

How does alcohol indirectly lead to hair loss?

Excessive drinking impacts the health of the person adversely. It causes the following health issues that are linked to hair loss;

Nutrient deficiency –  Excessive drinking impairs the human body’s ability to absorb nutrients. When the body does not absorb enough nutrients, the person eventually becomes malnutrition. Just like every other part of our body, hair needs nutrients to stay healthy. If the hair does not get enough nutrients, it became dry, brittle, and begins to fall out. A glass of wine once in a while does not cause nutrient deficiency, regular excessive drinking should rather have to be blamed.

The few nutrients that a person becomes deficient in due to excessive drinking are iron, copper, protein, folic acid, zinc, and B vitamins. Moreover, alcohol is also associated with causing vitamin C, K, E, and D deficiency as well. Iron deficiency promotes a certain type of hair loss in females, copper causes patterned baldness, and protein triggers several skins, nail, and hair issues.

Inadequate vitamin C does not trigger hair loss but it does lead to several hair abnormalities, vitamin K promotes poor hair health, and vitamin D deficiency causes hair shedding and inhibits hair growth. The inadequate folic acid, zinc, and B vitamins absorption does affect the hair adversely and promotes hair loss as well.

Dehydration – It’s no secret that alcohol is a diuretic; a substance that causes the body to remove fluid through the renal system more than usual. When a person begins excessively drinking, the body removes more and more fluid and it makes the body dehydrated. Dehydration does not impact the skin, it affects the quality and health of the hair as well. Dehydration first leads to other hair issues such as slow growth, dry brittle hair shafts, and split ends. If it is not treated early, severe dehydration makes the hair fall out.

Blood sugar spikes – When excessive drinking becomes usual, the effectiveness of insulin decreases which causes the blood sugar spikes. High blood sugar damages various organs of the human body and affects the hair growth cycle adversely.

Insomnia – Insomnia is also an outcome of excessive alcohol drinking. A good night’s sleep improves hair health if the opposite begins to happen quite often the number of melatonin decreases, and the person experiences temporary hair loss.

Increased estrogen level – Alcohol has biologically active estrogenic substances. Therefore, it raises the estrogen level in the human body causing breast cancer, hair shedding, and ultimately excessive hair loss.

High-stress levels – Alcohol is consumed to relieve stress however, it is a depressant. It affects our thoughts, feelings, actions, and sleep eventually raising our stress levels. The Increased stress level causes telogen effluvium. Telogen effluvium is a condition that leads to reduced hair growth, hair loss, and other hair issues.

Thyroid disruption – Alcohol disrupts several hormones, however, it affects the thyroid more. The disruption in the thyroid interrupts hypothyroidism which triggers hair loss.