Substances such as alcohol, caffeine, sugar and nicotine can deplete the body of nutrients and raise adrenal levels, which will cause a chain reaction of producing more androgen and causing hair loss. High levels of saturated fat and cholesterol rich foods are also linked to increased DHT levels and their consumption should be limited. Additionally, common table salt has been linked to hair loss. And the average diet provides the recommended amount of sodium intake; therefore, salt should never be added to food. However, when using salt for seasoning during cooking, be sure to use salt with Iodine being that it is a nutrient that is vital to hair growth as well, unless you are a regular consumer of seafood, which contains high levels of Iodine.

Toxemia can cause a great deal of dysfunction in the body's systems, including hair-loss related illnesses such as eczema, psoriasis, seborrhea and possibly several others. It is vital for one to cleanse the body of impurities in order to maintain a healthy system and avoid such illnesses, as there are no cure for these illnesses beyond cleansing and the maintenance of a healthy diet to allow the body to heal itself. Regular cleansing should include a diet rich in fiber as mentioned earlier, and the use of added fiber such as provided by consuming psyllium husk as a bulking agent along with laxative agents. More is discussed under the section Natural Hair Loss Remedies.

Although hair loss can be caused by many other variables, lack of proper nutrition will assuredly cause hair loss in many people. Fortunately, adopting a proper diet that includes the above nutrients can reverse hair loss caused by malnutrition. One thing for certain, regardless of whether your hair loss was caused by malnutrition or not, adopting a healthier diet will help the function of other areas of the body.

There are a number of foods to seek outin order to minimise and stop hair loss.

In Western society, hair loss ? especially male pattern hair loss ? is fodder for jokes, unless the hair loss is a result of chemotherapy or other medical treatments. If you're suffering from situational baldness or male/female pattern baldness, you may laugh about it among your friends. Chances are, however, that you're crying about it in privacy. But by no means are you alone. Fortunately, there are many natural remedies to relieve hair loss and the personal embarrassment that results from it.

We can blame the typical Australian diet for yet another unfavorable thing: Hair loss. Australia's high-fat, high-animal protein and high-salt diet damages the kidneys and creates acidic blood, thereby leading to hair loss, according to Paul Pitchford's Healing with Whole Foods and Janet Zand's, Allan N. Spreen's and James B. LaValle's Smart Medicine for Healthier Living. The typical American diet is also usually low in vitamins. This lifestyle leads to vitamin deficiency, which is another cause of hair loss. And thanks to the globalization of fast food chains and the American diet, we're exporting hair loss overseas.

If your diet is relatively healthy, you may have to scrutinize other potential causes and use the process of elimination to determine the cause of your hair loss. For example, do you dye your hair or treat it with other chemicals? According to Bill Gottlieb's Alternative Cures, these treatments may be thinning your hair. Similarly, have you been experiencing a lot of stress in your life? Stress may literally be making you pull your hair out.

If you're a woman: Are you pregnant, menopausal or on birth control pills? These are three big factors in female hair loss. Hormone imbalance is arguably the most common cause of hair loss in females. Pregnancy, menopause and sometimes birth control pills can create hormone shifts, according to The Doctor's Book of Home Remedies for Women. In fact, according to Dr. Neal Barnard's Eat Right, Live Longer, "Childbirth almost always causes some degree of temporary hair loss, sometimes occurring after a delay of a few months? In other animals, this has a useful function; rabbits, for example, line their nests with shed hairs. Humans have less use for it." So unless you're intent on finding new ways to decorate your baby's room, you're just going to have to wait out the temporary hair loss. Excessive dieting also causes hormone shifts. Hair loss is thus one of the major symptoms of anorexia and bulimia.

If your hair loss is caused by a controllable factor, such as using chemical hair dyes, then by all means, change your behavior. Take vitamin supplements, stop dying your hair, change your shampoo or choose a different method of birth control. On the other hand, hair loss could also be genetic. No, you can't alter your genes yet. But you can rely on natural medicines to help counteract an inherited hair loss trait. Vitamin E, Golden Maidenhair (found in a tea shampoo), red sage extracts (also found in some shampoos) and formulas that mix turmeric with horsetail or oat straw are all found to prevent or slow the process of hair loss. Additionally, eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables and low in starch may slow down the hair loss process, according to Arthur C. Upton in Staying Healthy in a Risky Environment. The average human sheds between 50 and 100 hair strands every day. If you're shedding more than that, you don't have to accept it as a burden you must bear. A little lifestyle change goes a long way to stop hair loss. If your parents or grandparents exhibit hair loss, you're not doomed, but you do have an even greater need to watch your diet and use herbal remedies. If you do start losing your hair, however, handling it well can make all the difference between hair loss becoming a source of embarrassment or a fashion statement.

Avoid consuming excessive amounts of animal fats, animal proteins, and salt. This may help delay hair loss in men prone to male pattern baldness.

Acute deficiency may cause hair loss or thinning, dermatitis, and decreased growth. Both poor appetite and digestion are also experienced by adults with zinc deficiency. Loss of taste sensation may occur, as can brittleness of the nails or white spots on the nails, termed leukonykia. These and most other symptoms can be corrected with supplemental zinc. Sulfur may be helpful as well. Skin rashes, dry skin, and delayed healing of skin wounds or ulcers may result from zinc deficiency, and stretch marks, called striae, are also produced by this condition. Zinc and copper are both needed for cross-linking of collagen, and when they are low, the skin tissue may break down.

If you are experiencing hair loss, have a hair analysis done to uncover any nutritional deficiencies or toxic metal contamination. As hair is formed, available minerals and amino acids circulating in the blood are laid down in the hair. A hair analysis can therefore provide a picture of your mineral status and pick up any exposure to toxic metals. You should also consult your physician to check for an underlying health problem, such as hypothyroidism or infection.

For men, Dr. Klaper says that a low-fat diet may help slow down the balding process. "On some level, male pattern baldness might be tied to increased testosterone levels during puberty, which are often the result of a high-fat diet or eating too many animal products," says Dr. Klaper. "If you look at Japan, male pattern baldness was almost unheard of prior to World War II. The Japanese diet is now far more fatty and Westernized, and Japanese men are going bald everywhere. It's clear that a high-fat, meat-based diet raises testosterone levels, and that may adversely affect hair follicles. I'm not sure eating low-fat foods will stop hair loss, but it might slow it down."