Diet followed by millions could be driving hair loss, new study suggests

Following a diet plan loved by celebrities could increase the chances you’ll go bald, a new study has suggested. 

From the Kardashians to former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, intermittent fasting has become a popular weight loss strategy among high profile figures, but scientists have found the eating regime can destroy hair follicles.

Researchers from Westlake University, Zhejiang, China, suggested this is likely to do with the fact the diet starves the cells of energy than they need to encourage healthy hair growth.

Speaking of the findings, which was performed on mice, senior author and stem cell biologist Bing Zhang of Westlake University in Zhejiang, China, said: ‘We don’t want to scare people away from practicing intermittent fasting.

‘It’s just important to be aware that it might have some unintended effects.’

The diet involves spending prolonged periods of time without any food, or eating very small amounts, usually the morning. 

It was popularised by the late health eating guru Michael Mosely, who invented the 5:2 diet — which involves limiting calories to between 500-600 for two days per week. 

Advocates credit the eating plan for a host of health benefits that span beyond weight loss, including reducing dementia risk.

In a small human study hair growth slowed by 18 per cent when intermittent fasting 

For the new experiment, mice were shaved and then fed either every 8, 16 or 48 hours, compared with a control group that had unlimited access to food. 

While control mice that had unlimited access to food had regrown most of their hair after 30 days, mice on both intermittent fasting regimes showed only partial hair regrowth after 96 days.

The experts said this may be because hair cells require regular ‘activation’ which is fuelled by energy from the diet. 

But intermittent fasting limits the intake of energy, killing hair cells off. 

By not eating regularly, the body can use fat stores over its preferred energy source, glucose, which can trigger the release of chemicals that damages the hair cells, according to the researchers behind the study.

Other studies have echoed these findings.

One small human trial involved putting 49 young adults on an 18-hour fast.

The scientists found that a time-restricted diet reduced the average speed of hair growth by 18 per cent compared to controls, over a ten day period.

‘We see a milder effect in humans. So, there is still hair regrowth; it’s just a little bit slower than usual,’ says Zhang.

The researchers concluded that this may be because humans are very different from each other in terms of genetic make up, so there may be a wide range of results, with some suffering to a much greater extent as a result of the diet.

This comes after a study published earlier this year by Chinese researchers found that the diet fad could double the risk of dying from heart problems. 

The research, involving 20,000 adults, found those who only eat during eight hours of the day are at almost twice the risk of heart attack and stroke later in life,

The Chinese researchers plan to build on their findings to see whether they translate to humans or other cells.

‘We also want to figure out how fasting impacts skin wound healing,’ they added.