I am convinced that alopecia is a nutritional issue.  I have avoided posting to the discussion until now because I was so discouraged with the loss of hair that my child was experiencing and the lack of hope and a cure from doctors and those who have suffered from this condition.  I started reading every piece of information that I could find that might offer a solution to this problem for my teenage daughter who developed this condition in the fourth grade.  She is now in the eight grade.  I started her on a regimen of vitamins to include a multivitamin and colostrum that I ordered from synertek.  I also use the colostrum shampoo from the same company and l-glutamine.  I saturate her hair with the shampoo which contains several essential oils along with the colostrum.  I cover her hair with a plastic bag and let her keep it on for at least two hours each day.  I have also changed her diet to include organic vegetables and meat with minimal breads, potatoes, and sweets.  These are only allowed for special occasions.  I cook the vegetables in coconut oil.  My child had progressed to total loss of hair on the scalp.  I am happy to report that this regimen along with prayer has resulted in hair regrowth with only three small patches of hair loss.  This includes hair growth around the edges and bony parts of her head where we were told that the hair would probably never regrow by the dermatologists.  I just could not bear subjecting her to the steroid injections that did not work.  We have also eliminated fast food consumption.  Her hair is short but we are hopeful that the length will increase with a little more time.

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Angelica, what testimony. Congratulations.  !!!  You said, "she told me to go gluten free, and grass fed meat. I'm also taking probiotics everyday, and in just one month my hair started coming back!! Try having her go gluten free, or even better doing the paleo diet(way of living). I truly feel it's the foods we eat. I hope this helps because I remember what it was like at her age. God bless and good luck! I believe this is all linked in with having proper gut bacteria. Look up leaky gut."

Okay, I have a question - what do you say to me - I have had AU for 14 years. Before that time, since about 1986, I ate mostly gluten free. I didn't eat much meat. I am allergic to most fish and to potatoes.  I ate whole grains but mostly nuts, vegetables and some fruit.  Very little dairy except for kefir. I took probiotics every day. I have made daily exercise a habit my entire life.  I would make bone broth.  I have done these things as a way of living since the mid-1980s. Friends would joke that I was the healthiest eater they knew.  Then out of the blue in 2000, my hair falls out.   I visit a naturopath.  She tells me to do as you say.  The funny thing is, I've been eating this way most of my life. I lived with a natural foods consultant back in the 1980s. She told me about leaky gut. It was all considered "new age" at this point. I was fascinated and adopted this "new age way of eating".  So, years later when a naturopath tells me something is wrong with my diet, I laughed.  But, I made sure I was gluten free.   So, within a couple of weeks, my hair is AU - gone.  I continue with the diet. I continue with my supplements. Off and on over last 15 years, I've retried gluten free, I have ate raw diet, I have done all you say.  Still, my hair has not returned.  I wish you were right - that all of us should simply change our diet and our hair would grow back.  

I should add - I'm happy to follow this lifestyle has my skin and energy level is good and I feel healthy most days. But, I just can't accept the statements that ALL is linked with poor gut bacteria. If it was this problem for each of us, then I'm sure by now, at least I would experience even a tiny bit of regrowth. Something.  But, nada! Nothing!     I do wish you luck in your journey - it seems to work for you. That is exciting.

I'm not a doctor, I'm just sharing my experience hoping it can help others who have had to live with what I also have. Maybe for this child it could work, or maybe not. But I know if it was me I'd give it a try. My son has ADHD and even putting him gluten free he has made a world of difference. I do stand by what I say though, the problem starts with the gut. It should be a starting point for anyone with an autoammune disease. Good luck

Hi Angelica, how much bone broth do you drink a day? Have you heard of the GAPS diet? very similar to what you are doing... would love to learn more about your diet/supplements. 

Hi Jason, I have not heard of the GAP diet, but I'm going to look it up now! Bone broth helps to heal your stomach lining(to help "close" it up)it's not that their is a whole that the food leaks out of, but the lining is so thin that what we eat absorbs through and into the blood stream. It takes about 8 hours to make beef stock(grass fed)and I started the first 3 days only drinking this and consuming nothing else. After that I would replace this with my morning coffee. If it was not so expensive to do I'd drink it every day, but I'm taking it about 5 days on, then 3-5 days off. I also drink daily kombucha, aloe, and coconut. Kombucha has probiotics and aloe along with coconut helps heal. Now you would have to talk to holistic doc. But I was put on flor essence, it's a detox for the body, but I would have to drink 10 bottles of water daily with it. After the combo of all this I started to see results and get my energy back.

Thanks Angelica. Did you lose all of your hair or did you just have AA? I think you would find the GAPS diet very interesting, it contains a lot of what you are talking about. Did you avoid any particular foods? Thanks for sharing your story :) 

Jason, I lost full body hair. I've been reading up on the GAPS diet the past few hours. It's very close to what I'm doing, thanks for sharing that info. I've been avoiding gluten and for the most part staying away from sugar(I have cheat days, as long as their gluten free)

That's fantastic. How long did it take for you to start seeing results? Are you still able to eat dairy? Has your hair started to regrow all over? I lost it all over as well and I am excited to start GAPS soon to see if there will be any progress. I was Paleo for over a year but feel that I need a more healing diet to heal my body. Paleo is very healthy but GAPS really focuses on fixing the gut.  Please keep us posted!

Well when I first started I was only eating steamed veges, only because I didn't know what I could eat. So I did this for about two weeks then started on the beef stock, from their I added nuts etc... I slowly added different foods and including dairy(only cheese)I wanted to see if my body would react to anything specific. I don't eat much cheese, but I think I'm ok with it. I listen to my body, what makes me tired, when I'm aggravated etc.... I've heard a lot of different things about corn and was afraid to add it in. I notice I'm not as energetic the day after eating it. This is where I'm at now, but so far I think cheese is ok. How about you, do you react differently to anything specific?

No I don't react to anything, I'm a very healthy person, all tests came back normal but I know it has to do with a leaky gut. My dad has celiac so it definitely triggered the AA in me so I'm looking forward to starting my gaps journey in a month. 

Keep in touch and let me know how it works for you.
It took about 5 weeks before I started seeing hair growth. Yes, growth all over and at once. How long have you had alopecia? I'm going to continue to read on GAPS, maybe try to follow it a little closer

I got AA in the very beginning of 2012, first semester in college. It progressed to AT after a break up with a long time girlfriend. 70% of my hair grew back this year with SADBE but then it all fell out again after I started eating poorly. I'm studying abroad right now in Italy so the italian food definitely got to me for a little while. I'm back on track with my diet and it has seemed to help. I was strict paleo for over a year and did not see any results but I did not take a probiotic consistently, occasionally I would take them... 1-2 months at a time off/on. My diet was very high in fruits/vegetables and only grass fed organic meat. I was off gluten and dairy entirely. Personally, I don't thick it was healing enough for me. It is a fantastic diet for the average healthy person but I think in order to fix a leaky gut, drastic measures need to take place such as probiotic, fermented foods, bone broth, etc. I'm planning on starting GAPS in about a month when I return home to the states. There are 6 stages to the diet and although I have no digestive issues, I believe that fixing my gut will help my alopecia significantly. Did you have any other health problems besides your hair loss? How long did you have hair loss? 

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