Woman examining can of food in grocery store

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It's Time to Stop with the Crash Diets

What's going on: Drastic dietary changes, like suddenly going super high-protein or trying one of those "cleanses" you know you shouldn't have done can impact the health of your hair. "When the body thinks it's not getting the nutrition it needs, it's going to starve the stuff that it thinks doesn't matter as much," says Rachel Nazarian, MD, a dermatologist at Schweiger Dermatology and professor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. "Your internal organs matter. Your brain matters. Your hair? Not as much." The result: About three months after you've started a new diet or done a cleanse, you'll see a lot more hair coming out than usual.

How to fix it: Once you get your diet back on track, your hair loss should return to the normal 100 or so strands per day. Keep these hair-healthy foods in mind next time you head to the grocery store.