Despite some of the health benefits of wine, The World Health Organisation reports that drinking can increase your risk of depression and anxiety, liver cirrhosis, pancreatitis, suicide, violence, and accidental injury.
Alcohol is also linked to cancer of the mouth, nose, larynx, oesophagus, colon, liver, and breast cancer in women.
A lesser known health problem connected with alcohol is the effect that it can have on hair. In today’s blog we explore 3 ways that alcohol could be speeding up your hair loss.
1. The Balance of Acids and Alkaline in the Body
Alcohol causes the body to become more acidic. The body should be the pH of salt water, which is 7.5 to 8.4. The problem is that most of modern diets are also on the acidic side. Cheeses, meats, and grains based foods are all have a very level of acidity.
When your body enters a state of being very acidic, your body will try anything to return to its alkaline state. One of the common ways that the body does this is to lower the amount of protein that is stored. The problem is that one of the proteins that the body gets rid of is keratin. Lower amounts of keratin cause slower hair growth, and eventually hair loss.
2. Alcohol Causes Spikes in Blood Sugar
All alcohol contains sugar or sweetness. High blood sugar chemically reacts with red blood cells, creating a product known as glycosylated hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is an important protein in red blood cells and this altered version causes red blood cells to become misshapen and warped, as a result they are less flexible and can get stuck when trying to enter small blood vessels (called capillaries), leading to circulation issues. If this occurs in the capillaries that supply blood to the hair follicles, these follicles may die, leading to hair loss.
3. Unhealthy Foods That are Eaten with Alcohol
When you are drinking or finished drinking, you aren’t in the mood for a fresh super-food salad. Most people are looking for cheap, easy, quick, and greasy food that absorbs the alcohol.
An unhealthy diet with a high intake of alcohol speeds up hair fall and leaves the hair without the vital nutrients needed for thick, strong shiny hair.
What to do!
Cut back on your alcohol intake! Drinking less, will lower your blood sugar level, reducing the risk of diabetes, strokes and a variety of cancers.
Ensuring a healthy, balanced diet packed with fruit, vegetable, fish, nuts and essential oils. Supplementing your diet with hair growth vitamins such as It Really Works Vitamins will help to slow down hair loss and encourage healthier, faster growing hair.
