Written by Catherine Jeans DipION mBANT CNHC mIFM
Catherine Jeans - AKA The Family Nutrition Expert - is a fully qualified and highly experienced Functional Nutritional Therapist, Author and Speaker specialising in family health.
The key to supporting postpartum hair loss is trying to find out what may be the underlying cause in the first place. It is perfectly normal to shed hair in the first year after giving birth, but there can be many reasons why this can happen, and a variety of factors that could exacerbate any hair loss.
Keep reading to find out which vitamins and nutrients you may be lacking and the effect it could be having.
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Iron
Iron is vital for bringing oxygen to your hair follicles, to support optimal hair growth. If you had a difficult birth and had quite a lot of blood loss, then this may impact your iron levels going forwards. Some women do struggle with low iron during pregnancy, and this can continue into the 4th trimester after birth.
If you are also experiencing other symptoms, such as a sore tongue, pale skin, dizziness when standing, unexpected fatigue (it’s natural for new parents to feel tired of course), then do discuss with your GP whether you should have a blood test to check on iron levels.
You can also eat plenty of iron rich foods – a green smoothie is a great addition to your diet, adding in spinach, kale, plus banana, apple, kiwi, ground nuts and seeds, a piece of dried fruit. The greens, nuts, seeds and dried fruit are packed with iron, and the fruit adds vitamin C to support absorption.
If your iron levels or iron stores (ferritin) are low, then your GP may recommend an iron tablet. It’s advisable to take this with some vitamin C to support absorption, and avoid taking at the same time as calcium rich foods, such as yoghurt, as calcium can inhibit iron absorption.
Omega 3 fatty acids
Are you eating enough omega 3 fatty acids? As a nutritional therapist, this is one food group I find so deficient in clients of all ages, and it’s important for the health of our hair. There isn’t a huge amount of research into omegas and hair health, but a 2015 study involving 120 women found that it could potentially support hair follicles, which in turn may help to prevent hair loss.
Omegas are also vital for balancing our hormones, supporting the health of our hormone receptors so that we can respond well to our circulating hormones. We also need to ensure we’re eating enough fats in our diet, because we need these to actually make our sex hormones such as oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone, which help with hair growth too.
Our main dietary sources of omega 3 are oily fish (salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines), and if you do eat fish, I recommend trying to include these twice per week. You can also get omega 3s from walnuts, almonds, flaxseed, chia and hemp seeds – try chopping or grinding these up and sprinkling onto yoghurt or your porridge. There’s also a small amount of omega 3 in dark green leafy veggies such as broccoli.
If you do consider an omega 3 supplement, it should always be stored in a dark glass bottle and in the fridge, so that it preserves these delicate fats.
Antioxidants
Some vitamins provide antioxidant support, which is important for protecting hair follicles and your scalp health, helping to reduce environmental stress to the scalp. Key vitamins here are vitamin C and vitamin E. Vitamin C can also help with collagen production, which is vital for hair health, plus vitamin E may help to support blood flow to our hair follicles.
Fresh, raw fruit and vegetables are one of the best sources of Vitamin C, which is where a homemade smoothie might be particularly helpful. Include a couple of pieces of fruit, but also some veggies too such as cucumber, fresh mint or parsley, or some spinach or kale. Add in some avocado (fresh or frozen is fine), almonds or walnuts to boost the vitamin E content.
Biotin
Biotin, one of the B vitamin family, is also particularly important for hair health, as well as strengthening our nails. Biotin helps to support protein synthesis, particularly keratin, which strengthens hair and nails. We can find biotin in a variety of foods, including egg yolks, almonds and walnuts, spinach, sweet potato, avocado and legumes such as lentils and peas.
