Does a Gluten free diet work for alopecia (according to the Internet it does)

Hello fellow Alopecians

I would like to know if there is anyone on this page whose alopecia improved by a Gluten free diet.

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From personal experience: NO. 10 months ago, I read a lot of stuff on the internet about gluten free diets helping alopecia. I went on the diet and after 10 months, my alopecia has not improved. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. However, I don't know the effects on alopecia of someone with Celiac's going on a gluten free diet.

There is NO evidence that removing gluten from your diet will help grow hair.  The ONLY individuals that removing gluten will help are those with diagnosed gluten sensitivity i.e., celiac disease. Currently there is no research suggesting that someone that is diagnosed with both celiac and alopecia will improve hair loss with the removal of gluten.  It is common that those with alopecia will have more then one autoimmune diseases. Removing gluten from your diet does not mean a healthier diet. There is so much misinformation about gluten.  Please be careful with information from the internet.  Make sure any decision is well informed.  Alopecia is an autoimmune disease with no cause and no cure.  There are some treatments that have been helpful for some and not for others.  This is an unpredictable disease with growth spurts and hair loss without any idea of why.  I have AU...3 years ago I had a full head of long beautiful hair so I do get it...

My daughter developed AA prior to her 1st birthday.  We started gluten less than a month later (August 2013) and in all actuality she had  just started "normal food" which was her first exposure to gluten. She had a clear allergy to dairy, breaking out if it even touched her skin. Within two weeks of starting gluten-free, I did notice a change in her bowels. She was having 4-6 diarrhea-like bowel movements/day and she cut back to 1-2/day and they were more formed. She continued to lose hair but much more slowly. Her last fresh patch was in early December. At this point I was getting very discouraged. She had lost about 40% of her hair at thist time. My childhood friend is a Naturopathic physician. She encouraged me to stick to the diet for a minimum of 6 months before giving up. In March 2014 my daughter's hair started growing like crazy! She continues to have a full head of hair. My dermatologist said the regrowth has nothing to do with removing gluten from her diet.....and maybe it doesn't but I am not willing to stop now.  I have also read that starting the diet at the initial onset of hair loss seems to be more successful than after having alopecia for years. My naturopathic physician friend did explain that dairy/casein and gluten are "inflammatory" foods and that any patient with an autoimmune disorder should avoid these things. There were other things I changed too however. She started a multivitamin and an Omega-3. We did rosemary/lavendar/thyme/cedarwood essential oil rubs. We continue to thank God daily for her regrowth, even if it's only temporary. And we continue to pray for the research and recent breakthroughs at Columbia. Good luck!

I think its important to note that what helps one person may not help another - internet or otherwise, its trial and error. My son did adopt a gluten free diet on the advice of a Naturopath and his hair did grow back.  Now, the dermatologist said that had nothing to do with it - the truth?  Who knows!  All I know is he has his full head of hair back and that's all that matters!

It took a good 3 months before he saw any results - in addition he avoided foods high in sugar and preservatives and was also told to eat as much cabbage as possible. The Naturopath said that cabbage is a highly anti-inflammatory food and is good for the gut.

Thanks for the advise guys. I spoke to someone this weekend who has AU and she has been on a gf diet 2 years now she has lashes en brows and hair on other few places. She says she's not sure if its the diet. I think if it works for someone doesn't say its going to work for everyone but all of us has that bit of hope for a full head of hair :) Hope you guys have an awesome day and remember your all so pretty you don't need hair.

My own experience was 10 years ago, I was eating a gluten free vegan diet and I developed alopecia universalis in span of few weeks. Since that time, I have experimented with gluten and gluten free diets and not ever had regrowth.  I have been tested and don't have celiac.  I eat a mostly dairy free diet as well. The only hair growth I experience is a soft down like film of almost invisible white hair on my head, and various areas of my body. I see no connection between my diet and this down. I wish I could fix my au with diet but for me, I see no correlation. 

I have had a very bad rash on my hands for years. I had tried everything and nothing helped. I had to wear cotton gloves to protect my hands. It was very painful. Then someone told me it was a gluten rash and after doing some research I started to cut gluten from my diet. My rash went away and some of my hair is trying to grow back. I am not getting my hopes up the diet is very hard to follow. I do see a flare ups of the rash on my hands when I eat a lot of gluten. Our skin is the largest organ of our body so it could be trying to tell me something. I should try a little harder to stick to the diet. I will keep everyone posted. My hands are much better now and for that I am thankful :)

Hello!
Right after my hair fell out last year I went for all kinds of testing found out I have celiac so I have been gluten free ever since. I can't say it had helped really, I have short tiny blond eyelashes that may be re growth or from sulfasalazine I was taking. I took steriods for a while that gave me some more fuzzies that fell out. Now I am trying methotrexate with an auto immune Paleo diet( basically no grains, seeds, nuts, dairy or nightshades). Hopefully this will work I feel like anything is worth a try if I can get my hair back :) good luck

Wow you go girl (Cstarr) I sent you a friend request, I would like to follow your progress to see if the Paleo diet with methotrexate works for you. May be we can support teach other in some small way. I am thinking about starting a Biotin supplement, I hear it is good for hair, can hurt to try.

 

I have read alot regarding diet and if eating certain foods helps with Alopecia or other autoimmune diseases. From what I have read not really, unless you have Celiac Disease and must eat gluten free diet, or if you have any other food allergy. Check out this info. on Todays Dietitian that states unless your are a specialist on autoimmune diseases  you should not prescribe any specific diet except for a normal healthy diet.  Please read this link-  http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/110211p36.shtml

I just wanted to update with a recent change we saw with our daughter. We have been gluten free/dairy free for nearly two years. Her hair started growing back 6 months after we started the diet. It came in quickly once it started.  Our last hair loss was 19 months ago. I had read that after removing gluten and "allowing the gut to heal",  some food allergies can resolve. Our daughter would break out in a rash on her face when eating dairy and would even form welts on her skin where the dairy touched. 3 weeks ago we slowly introduced dairy again.  No rash, no welts. We were elated to be able to expand her diet. Last week (about 2 1/2 weeks after introducing dairy) I found a new patch.  As I have mentioned before my Naturopath friend had advised we avoid all inflammatory foods, not just gluten. I so badly wanted her to be able to have dairy and went against her advice as it had been so long since our last hairloss and my dermatologist told me her regrowth had nothing to do with the diet changes.  I didn't believe her then and I certainly do not believe her now. In our case, I believe gluten and dairy elimination have contributed to regrowth. I do not believe our daughter has a dairy allergy anymore, but rather an intolerance and I think it is important to note there is a difference.

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