You may have noticed in recent years that more and more items at the grocery store and on restaurant menus are featuring labels to note if a particular item is gluten-free. In order to be a gluten-free food, the item in question cannot include wheat, barley, or rye in its ingredients. While some people choose gluten-free foods as part of their diet, others require gluten-free foods because they suffer from Celiac disease.
Celiac is an immune disease in which gluten cannot properly be digested. As a result, the attempted digestion of gluten damages the small intestine. If this is not remedied over time it can cause long-term damage to your body. Could the damage caused by Celiac disease lead to hair loss?
Can Celiac Cause Hair Loss?
One of the side effects to Celiac disease could potentially be hair loss. What Celiac does to the body as mentioned above, is cause damage to the small intestine when exposed to gluten. Over time that damage will prevent your body from properly digesting the nutrients you are taking in, so even if you have a healthy diet you could start to become malnourished without realizing. As a result, your body may start to suffer from the effects of malnutrition, which includes hair loss.
Another cause of hair loss that has some correlation with Celiac is another autoimmune disease: alopecia areata. This is a form of hair loss that occurs when your immune system attacks your own hair follicles. While there is no direct connection established just yet between Celiac and alopecia areata, the odds of both occurring in a person correlates so high that there are doctors who do recommend that you get tested for Celiac if you have alopecia areata.
Can Hair Loss From Celiac Be Reversed?
It is possible to reverse some of the hair loss from Celiac if caught early enough. Switching to a gluten-free diet would be necessary to start repairing the damage done to your small intestine.
It will take time for your body to no longer be malnourished and would require a diet that is conscious of the nutrients important for healthy hair which include zinc, vitamin b, vitamin c, protein, and omega-3 fatty acids. Depending on how long the hair loss had been going on it is very possible some of it will end up permanent regardless of dietary changes.
RHRLI Has The Experience And The Tools To Restore Your Hair
Going gluten-free for many people can be a difficult transition, even if the future of their hair is on the line. And even after making the change, you may still notice an inability for your hair to grow back to its former self.
Whether your hair loss is related to Celiac or not, we here at Robotic Hair Restoration Long Island are equipped with surgical and non-surgical approaches to restore your hairline and your confidence. Here at RHRLI, we use the minimally invasive ARTAS® Robotic Hair Transplant System, a procedure that produces exceptional results and will get you back to your day-to-day life in just a few days. Contact us today for a free consultation to restore your hair and your confidence.