Does Drinking Alcohol Cause Hair Loss?
We all know the obvious effects of having a tipple too many, but NIOXIN, the world’s number one Global Selling Salon Brand for thicker, fuller-looking hair* asks does alcohol cause hair loss?
We often hear about the many different causes of hair loss or thinning – sometimes these are unavoidable when coming as a result of genetics, but on other occasions, there are proactive life choices we can make to give us the best chance of holding onto our hair.
Nutrition is a really important part of caring for your hair, and making sure that you get enough of the right nutrients can be a key factor, but is there anything you should avoid?
A question that keeps on popping up is that of the potential link between drinking alcohol and hair loss. So, do you need to put that bottle of red wine away immediately to keep your luscious locks?
The short answer is not really. But as ever with alcohol, it’s all about moderation as drinking excessively could lead to you not getting the adequate amount of nutrients you need for a healthy head of hair.
How to Define Drinking in Moderation
If you can keep your alcohol consumption down to a sensible level, then you shouldn’t have to worry about it having a negative impact on hair growth. But what is a sensible amount of alcohol to drink?
Well, according to the NHS, whether you’re a man or a woman, you should not drink more than 14 units a week more often than not. And what is a unit?
10ml or 8g of pure alcohol, which is roughly the amount of alcohol the typical adult can process in one hour. To give you some benchmarks, a small glass of wine usually equates to 1.5 units, while a pint of higher strength beer or cider typically equates to 3 units.
To find out more details, read the full advice from the NHS on calculating alcohol units.
What Nutrients Can You Lose from Heavy Drinking?
If you consistently drink more alcohol than these recommended amounts though, it can lead to deficiencies or poor absorption of vital nutrients, and therefore affect your hair.
Iron for example can be lost during excessive drinking, which has been shown to promote healthy hair according to certain studies. [1]
Meanwhile, your ability to take in protein can be affected by drinking too much alcohol. A protein deficiency can lead to a number of problems for other parts of your body such as your nails as well as your hair too. [2]
The levels of zinc that you’re able to take in could be negatively impacted by excessive drinking on a regular basis. Some studies have shown that a lack of zinc could be part of the cause behind male as well as female pattern baldness. [3]
Beer and Hair Loss
There are rumours of how washing your hair with beer can actually be beneficial for it, but if you’re concerned about a) the cost and b) your hair becoming sticky – there is some research that seems to suggest that drinking beer (again, in moderation) can promote healthy hair growth.
Beer is a good source of silicon [4], and as that’s an essential component of collagen, it delivers positive physiological benefits to the epidermis, hair and nails. [5]
*Value data Kline & Company