There are multiple types and reasons of hair loss, and drinking is one of them. But what exactly does alcohol affect our body? Read on to find out.
Dehydration
Alcohol could make hair loss worse and lead to other issues related to appearance and health as well, like hair becomes dry and brittle, skin becomes parched and resulting in thinning hair. That’s because alcohol is a diuretic and increases the production of urine. It’ll be painful the morning after a night of heavy drinking since your body is experiencing malnutrition and a lack of proper hydration.
Blood Sugar Spikes
Excessive alcohol consumption or addiction absorbs too much blood sugar (a.k.a. glucose). Too much glucose in the blood stream have negative health effects and people with insulin resistance or hyperglycemia may have worse disorders, and it has been linked to pattern baldness.
Alcohol-related insulin resistance is detrimental to hair health and liver, which is responsible for regulating your blood sugar levels.
Acidic Alcohol
Alcohol shifts the balance over to the acidic side while you are drinking, and body’s pH level stores protein (keratin) from our hair follicles first to restore balance.
Thus more alcohol consumption means the body is using up the keratin and your hair will be damaged, brittle, even hair loss.
Worse Sleep
Boozing may help you to fall asleep, but it leads to a poor quality of sleep and causes you to be overtired and irritable. If you don’t sleep enough or well, hair follicles can’t replenish enough oxygen and hair becomes fragile, thinning due to high levels of stress, promotes hair loss.
Alcohol Contains Preservatives
Preservatives are not only in alcohol, but also in food, medications, everywhere, for giving them a longer shelf life to store. Preservative are harmful for our body because they may kill good bacteria and cause some healthy issues, including hair loss. Never get food or drinks with preservatives is impossible in daily life, but always remember: keep balance, balance is key. (For more about key nutrients, you might see 10 Best Foods for Healthy Hair Growth)
To sum up, alcohol does cause hair loss in some people and has different reactions after drinking. If you’ve noticed an increased rate of hair shedding or areas of hair loss, address or decrease you drinking and you lifestyles factors. Take specific treatment ASAP is the better way to you hair quality. For the alcoholism side effects and hair loss connection, you can also refer to this research：Alcoholism and Hair Loss Causes and Treatment
