Holistic Support for Male Hair Loss (2025)

Hair loss for men is often an unfortunate effect of getting older. While weoften just accept it as an inevitable part of our genetics, hair loss canbe caused by several factors. While genes do play a role, aspects of our diet and lifestyle can tell our genes what to do. Additionally, hormone balance, inflammation, and stress can impact the health of hair folliclesand the cycles of hair growth.

We’ll discuss what may cause hair loss, and how changes to diet and lifestyle, and in particular the health of the gut microbiome can improve it.

What causes male hair loss?

The most common form of hair loss, androgenic alopecia, also known aspattern baldness, tends to get blamed on genes. While this is partly thecase, it doesn’t tell the full story. Imbalances in hormones, particularly testosterone, estrogen, and thyroid hormones can all contribute to hair loss. These hormonal imbalances can be caused by poor diet and sleep, aswell as stress or lack of exercise.

Additionally diets insufficient in macronutrients like protein, andminerals like iron can play a role in developing hair loss. Micronutrientslike vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E, zinc, and others are keyin the normal hair follicle growth cycle. Hair is essentially made of protein(keratin), so a diet lacking in amino acids can have an effect on yourbody’s ability to grow hair normally.

Finally, as odd as it may sound, the health of your gut microbiome can have alot to do with the health of your hair. When the gut is dysregulated, itis unable to perform the jobs necessary for supporting the hair growthcycle, such as delivering nutrients or creating vitamins.

Ultimately, all of our diet and lifestyle choices impact our body’s ability to function properly, which includes growing hair.

How is hair loss related to gut health?

As it is with so many things, your gut microbiome is a major player in yourhair growth cycle. Like we mentioned above, the health of your gut cangreatly influence the health of your hair follicles and how well your bodygrows hair. Certain gut bacteria synthesize biotin (vitamin B7), forexample, which our body’s need for healthy skin, nails, and hair. When yourbody does not have the right bacteria to produce biotin in your gut, it cancontribute to skin problems and hair loss. Research has shown that micewithout gut bacteria who are not fed biotin in their diets develop hairloss.

An imbalance in gut bacteria can also lead to inflammation around the body,including in the hair follicles. This can contribute to a slowing orstopping of hair growth. There is some evidence to suggest that gutdysbiosis and bowel diseases like IBS have some connection with hair loss.

Most importantly, your gut both absorbs nutrients from food and usesbacteria to produce vitamins, minerals, and hormones. Gut dysbiosis cancause you to not absorb nutrients effectively and can even lead toundigested food particles leaking out into your bloodstream. Obviously, noone wants that! This can cause a whole cascade of inflammation, but alsomeans that essential nutrients are not making it to where they need to go,like the cells that grow hair.

So, what influences the health of your gut? Like so many things with our bodies, quite a lot. It can begin at birth with not being exposed to ourmother’s microbiome. This can start us off with a lack of microbialdiversity, meaning we have fewer beneficial bacteria residing in our gutsthan we should. Antibiotics, while sometimes necessary and even lifesaving, can be catastrophic to a gut microbiome. Add to those poor diets aswe age, stressful lives, lack of sleep and exercise, and you can imagine howout of whack our guts can get.

While our modern world has a lot of ways to throw our gut off track, leadingto chronic inflammation, fatigue, and of course hair loss to name afew, there are some simple steps you can take every day to support your gut(and your hair!)

Can I help hair loss with diet and lifestyle?

As we mentioned above, pattern hair loss is most often blamed on genetics.While this is partly true, it doesn’t mean there is nothing you can do.Genetics is the light switch, your diet & lifestyle choices turn themon or off.

First and most importantly, eating a nutrient-dense, whole foods diet is keyto making sure you are giving your body the nutrients it needs tomaintain a healthy hair growth cycle. But we have to make sure our bodiesare actually absorbing all of those nutrients, so lowering inflammation andtaking care of our gut health is key. Avoiding highly refined foods andexcess sugar in our diets can help keep our guts functioning normally. Somepeople are sensitive to gluten or dairy, and these foods can cause majordisruption in the gut for some.

Secondly, we want to feed our gut with both the things our bacteria like toeat, as well as occasionally sending in bacterial reinforcements. Manystudies suggest that beneficial bacteria thrive on the insoluble fiber fromthe plants we eat. This allows those bacteria to thrive and out compete thepotentially harmful bacteria trying to gain a foothold.

We also encourage everyone to enjoy fermented foods in their diet. Foodslike kimchi, sauerkraut, miso, yogurt, and kombucha are all delicious andgreat for gut health. These products contain colonies of beneficialbacteria that help repopulate your gut. In fact, studies show that peoplewho eat fermented foods show increased hair count and thickness after onemonth.

Stress plays an important role in hair loss, as well. Our gut health istightly tied to our stress response, so being chronically stressed out cancertainly throw things out of whack there. But being stressed all the timealso makes your body divert resources to more pressing issues, likesurviving whatever is causing the stress. So nutrients and minerals thatwould normally go to building strong hair and nails might end up as part ofa stress response. Your body cannot repair and rebuild when it thinks youare being chased by a bear. We recommend taking steps each day to helpreduce stress like taking a walk-in fresh air, sitting quietly andbreathing, listening to music, or playing with your pet.

Lastly, liver function and detoxification can play a role in hair health.Your liver processes and detoxifies most waste products in your body,including old hormones, immune cells, and metabolic byproducts. When wedon’t process these wastes efficiently, they can continue to circulate inour body. This in and of itself can lead to rampant inflammation. But poordetoxification keeps these toxins in our tissues and cells (including hairfollicles), making it difficult for nutrients to get where they need to go.We suggest consuming detoxifying foods, drinking plenty of water, andexercising regularly to help your body detox.

Are there supplements that help?

There are certain supplements that can help support a healthy hair growth cycle. We always suggest starting with dietary and lifestyle changes butknow that everyone may need an extra boost to reach their goals.

For gut health, we recommend taking a probiotic to support the colonies ofbacteria that help with inflammation as well as nutrient absorption. One ofour favorites isDr. Ohhira's Probiotics.It is a fermented product, meant to promote the growth of beneficialbacteria in your gut, along with enzymes, amino acids, vitamins, andminerals to support digestive function.

It can be challenging to restart your body detoxifying properly. Even withdiet and lifestyle changes some supplemental nutrients can help get thingsmoving in the right direction. We recommendPure Encapsulations Glycinefor general detox and liver health. Glycine is shown to support healthyliver and kidney function, while supporting overall detoxification.

Some peoplemay have a higher toxic load than others or just need a little extrahelp removing toxins from their body. If this sounds like you,Designs for Health Calcium D-Glucaratecan help support the normal detoxification process, including binding toand eliminating excess hormones.

In conclusion, hair loss can be a sensitive subject for any man. We hope that now you knowyou have some control over your hair growth without having to resort toexpensive pharmaceuticals or unpleasant treatments. If you have morequestions about supporting healthy hair growth, or just want to learn howto take better care of yourself, a Curated Wellness Practitioner is here to help.Schedule a session now!

About the author.

Joel is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner who began his health journeywhen he decided to quit cigarettes for good. By finding the motivation tomake lifestyle changes in diet, exercise, stress, and sleep, he feelshealthier in his 40’s than in his 20’s and wants to make sure he will bearound for a long time. Once he saw results in himself, Joel wanted to usehis passion for wellness to help other people. Joel has a private practicein Northern California where he helps clients achieve better energy, focus,and connection to their bodies through bio-individual diet and lifestylechanges.Learn more about Joel.

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