Verified answer

I looked at your profile and saw that you were also having problems with your menstrual cycle. It sounds like you might have Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

PCOS is one of the most common female endocrine disorders. Its symptoms can include hair loss, irregular menstrual cycles, weight gain, acne, and hairsuitism (although symptoms do vary and many people don't get all of the symptoms).

Ask you doctor (gynecologist if you have one) to do some blood-work. Make sure they test your levels of testosterone and glucose. PCOS is not life threatening and can be treated by taking the birth control pill as well as reducing your consumption of carbohydrates. Reducing carbohydrates can be more difficult to accomplish as a vegetarian, but is by no means impossible :)

I have PCOS and it was causing my hair loss. Within about a month after receiving treatment (birth control pill) my hair started growing back and within 6 months it was back to its previous thickness. I am also a vegetarian, but that was not the cause of my hair loss.

Good luck with everything!! I know how upsetting it can be to experience hair loss. Please make sure that you see a doctor and get some blood work done

I would also look at your diet. Are you getting a wide variety of vitamins and minerals? Are you falling into the trap of eating processed/junk food that's very easy for a Vegetarian to do.

Being Vegetarian is a learning process and it takes time. I started out Vegetarian and quickly found out I wasn't being healthy, that's when I started moving to a Vegan diet. Start by making sure you're eating all the colors in the rainbow of fruits and veggies and go heavy on leafy greens. If you are regularly eating a variety of colors, you can be pretty certain you're getting everything you need.

Several months ago, I was shedding a lot. A, C, and E are vitamins that help with hair as well as Zinc. Vitamin A is in leafy greens and red and orange fruits and veggies. Vitamin C is in Citrus, tropical fruit like mango, papaya and pineapple as well as squash, broccoli, leafy greens. Vitamin E is in berries, mango, kiwi, pumpkin, squash, potatoes, etc.

A month? That's pretty quick to have any sort of problem related to your diet. Of course, that partly depends on how/what you were eating before you became vegetarian. If you were eating badly then, then eating even worse as a vegetarian might have been the last straw for your hair.

Are you eating a lot of soy? Soy burgers, soy hot dogs, soy milk, soy protein drinks, tofu, etc? Soy can damage your thyroid and that can certainly cause your hair to fall out. A low quality diet of any kind can cause hair loss. You're now taking a zinc pill, but that will take time.....if it's the problem. Protein is another possibility. Yes, there is some protein in most foods. But protein is made up of about 20 different amino acids. Your body makes most of them; the rest must come from the food you eat. Animal foods (eggs, dairy products, meat) contain all the amino acids your body needs for complete protein; most veggies don't. Depending on your age and gender, you probably need 45-55 grams of protein every day. That's not easy to do every day on a vegetarian diet.....especially without eating a lot of soy......which (as I said) can damage your thyroid.

A CBS news poll has shown that 3 out of 4 vegetarians eventually add some meat back into their diet....mostly because they get sick without it. IMO, that's a pretty good indicator that the vegetarian diet isn't healthy for most people.

Here's a link to a VEGAN registered dietitian's take on hair loss in veg*ns:

http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/hairloss

It would be unlikely that deficiencies would show up after only a month, unless you're REALLY eating badly. Check that you're eating the right things (other answers here, and you could check on a site like http://www.veganhealth.org/ which is vegan but will give you the idea). Other than that, hair falling out can be an indication of hormone imbalances, either tied to your cycle or more of a long term problem. So if the diet looks good, I would get a check up from a doctor, explaining your concerns.

Healthy fats are good for hair!! 1/4 nuts, 2 TB nut butter, or half an avocado a day should help. In strict diets, doctors advise people to consume small amounts of healthy fats specifically to keep their hair from falling out. Also, make sure you eat plenty of veggies, fruit, and beans!! I'm a pescetarian but I do eat fish occasionally, and sometimes I practice veganism. You do not need meat, by the way. (I guess you know that because you're veg). Check out the nonfiction book Eat to Live. The author (and doctor) is great!

Hair becoming thin and falling out is a sign of malnutrition! You don't have to give up being vegetarian, just try to eat more protein such as nut and nut butters (peanuts, peanut butter, almonds, almond butter, cashews, pistachios, walnuts and hazelnuts) Other good sources of protein are beans (baked, black, white, refried, kidney..) ^.^ I hope this helps :)

i'm not sure about the vitamins and the hair falling out stuff but i do have to say that meat has important vitamins and other stuff that humans need to have in a daily diet. some people manage to overcome this if the do take pills or have been vegetarians their whole life. Eat some meat.

You're probably not getting enough protein.