Hair Loss & Hair Growth

Most of you will find that your hair becomes significantly healthier during your SHAPE journey, but a small percentage will experience some loss or thinning. If this is happening to you, don’t be alarmed. Research shows that hair loss can occur during dramatic weight loss, such as some clients experience during Phase I: Fast Track of the SHAPE Program, but hair growth often resumes once a normal diet is resumed. In fact, nearly all will experience restored hair growth once their overall health is restored.

Hair loss in women can be a symptom of starvation, low-functioning thyroid or menopausal hormone changes (men rarely experience hair loss on the SHAPE Program). When your brain thinks you’re starving, vital organs (brain, heart, kidney and liver) are fed first, and whatever is left goes to less vital areas (skin, nails and hair). This is why having a regular urinalysis is so important. It allows your practitioner to spot starvation and make changes before it becomes a problem.

If there are no starvation markers in your urinalysis but you are still experiencing hair loss, you may have a low-functioning thyroid. Other low-thyroid symptoms include cold hands and feet, low body temperature, fatigue, low libido, poor sleep, headaches, difficulty swallowing and weight gain.

Here is an easy test to see if your thyroid needs a boost:

1. Upon waking (before getting out of bed), place a thermometer in your armpit.

2. Wait for 10 minutes with a mercury thermometer (or a beep with a digital thermometer), and then record the temperature.

3. Do this every day for three days. If your temperature is below 97.8 degrees, you may be dealing with a low-functioning thyroid. Follow your practitioner’s recommendations, which may include getting blood work to verify and/or starting a supplement/medication regimen to address this issue.

For peri- and menopausal women, it is common to experience thinning hair as hormones decline. This is often associated with excess fat on the triceps, indicating an imbalance between progesterone and estrogen. Again, follow your practitioner’s recommendations for supplements to help restore balance and hair growth.

If hair loss was an issue before beginning the SHAPE Program, please make this known to Dr. Katie so she can make adjustments.