Everyone has a vice. Maybe yours is smoking, drinking, chronic masturbation, or eating like a pig. But can an unhealthy or hedonistic lifestyle cause hair loss? Not necessarily, but studies show that certain habits, along with excessive stress, may prompt or accelerate hair loss in some people. In this article, I’ll review the top seven habits to avoid if you want to keep your hair healthy and strong.
1. Smoking
Your friend and humble narrator in 2007. I quit in 2010. Still not bald, except for the beard, knock on wood.
Smoking damages your DNA, including the DNA of your hair follicles. It also can lead to poor circulation. That means less blood flow to your scalp and hair follicles, which could negatively affect your hair growth cycle. A 2007 study, conducted on 740 Taiwanese men with male pattern baldness, concluded that heavy smoking (20+ cigarettes per day) played a role in the “development of moderate or severe hair loss” (source).
Check out this article to learn how I quit smoking and find out more about the cigarette to hair loss link.
2. Heavy Drinking
I drink alone. But she really shouldn’t be drinking alone.
If you’re a prolific drinker, that could also exacerbate your hair loss. Drinking in moderation is probably fine. But heavy drinking can deplete zinc and iron, two minerals that are crucial for hair growth. It can also lead to dehydration and make your hair dry, brittle, and eventually become thinner.
A study on 90 male and 98 female twins showed that heavy alcohol use played a role in causing hair loss, particularly in men. Twins are programmed to have the same number of hairs, according to Bahman Guyuron, MD, the director of the study. So hair loss in these twins could only be attributed to other factors, like drinking.
3. A Poor Diet
Our president can’t even be classified on the Norwood Scale. He’s likely had multiple transplants and other procedures done. And he reportedly eats a lot of junk food.
Any vitamin deficiency can lead to hair loss, according to dermatologist Amy McMichael, MD (source). Iron, vitamin E, biotin, and trace minerals like selonium, copper, and magnesium are all critical. If you’re not getting enough of a particular vitamin, you may want to consider taking a supplement.
Protein is also very important. Your hair is mostly comprised of protein, and if you don’t consume enough of it, a higher than optimal percentage of your hairs will enter the telogen or resting phase of the hair growth cycle.
4. Over-Stressing
Brad and Angelina are no doubt under extreme stress right now. Divorce is a particularly common cause of hair loss in women.
The effect stress has on hair loss was underestimated for many years. Extreme stress brought on by divorce or a death in the family are two common causes of hair loss in women. Stress can also prompt or worsen male hair loss (source). We’re talking about stress of the severe variety only, though — not ordinary, everyday stress.
Related: Beat the Balding Blues – Overcome Your Hair Loss-related Stress and Insecurities in Two Weeks
5. Sun Exposure
President Trump spent a little too much time in the sun over the years, I think.
Over-exposing your follicles to the sunshine could lead to premature hair loss (source). So if you enjoy spending time in the great outdoors, consider wearing a hat to protect yourself.
6. Not Exercising (or Over-Exercising)
Al Bundy’s receding hairline was perhaps partially due to his sedentary lifestyle.
In the 2011 study conducted on 188 sets of twins, a sedentary lifestyle was linked to hair loss in men (source). However, excessive exercise without proper nutrition may also play a role in accelerating hair loss in some people, according to an Indian study (source). So what’s considered excessive? They didn’t say. But 45 minutes to an hour of exercise per day is plenty, according to Sandhya Pandey, chief dietitian at Columbia Asia Hospital.
The benefits of exercising far outweigh the negatives, including the possibility of hair loss. Just make sure you adequately refuel your body after your workouts and you should be fine.
7. Juicing (Using Steroids)
Using steroids can give you a cartoon-like head and speed up your hair loss. You already knew that, though, right?
Most people are aware that steroid use can expedite the balding process. It can do many other horrible things to your body and mind too. Some people take them for decades with no issues, but I wouldn’t advise you to follow suit. Jose Canseco, a steroid advocate and the author of the book Juiced, still has a full head of hair. So steroids won’t necessarily make you go bald — but if you’re genetically programmed to lose your hair, it could make your follicles fall out faster.
Other Factors
Masturbation and sex are not believed to prompt hair loss, even though many self-proclaimed, self-love enthusiasts seem to think otherwise. Combining vices such as heavy drinking and smoking can supercharge hair loss in some people, especially those who are also experiencing severe stress.
Going back to the hair loss study on twins, it found that people in happy marriages seemed to lose less hair. Drinking coffee may also help your follicular cause to some degree. And counter intuitively, men with higher BMI’s seemed to have less hair loss as a group.
The Good News
So yeah, you probably won’t look this anytime soon. Then again you may. But the silver lining here is this: if your bad habits resulted in hair loss, you may be able to reverse it and get some or all of your lost hairs back.
That’s right. If you can defuse the stress bomb going off in your life, quit the cancer sticks, and stop binge drinking like the village drunkard in some early Irish novel, then you can perhaps reverse some of the hair loss you’ve experienced recently. Maybe even all of it! Staying out of the sun, eating right, and exercising intelligently will also help keep your follicles thick and healthy. Have as much sex as you want, that shouldn’t make much of a difference one way or another.
Male pattern baldness or androgenic alopecia is fundamentally genetic; however, outside factors like stress seem to play a more substantial role in the development of female hair loss. Ultimately, even if you’re a dude, your lifestyle choices may impact the onset date and progression of your hair loss. But again, whether you eventually look like Dr. Phil or Anthony Bourdain will mostly be contingent on your genes.
Robert Price is a writer, consumer advocate, and hair loss researcher with thousands of hours of experience in the field. His goal is to keep you out of the hair loss rabbit hole, underworld, or whatever you want to call it. He founded Hair Loss Daily, the unbiased hair loss blog, in 2016. You can learn more about Robert in the my story section of this website.