GLP-1’s, Nutritional Deficiency + Hair Loss

When people significantly reduce calories or follow restrictive diets, it becomes challenging to obtain the full range of vitamins and minerals from food alone.

Our own review of common UK supermarket foods suggests that while high-quality protein and healthy fats are reasonably accessible, micronutrients — particularly certain vitamins and minerals — are harder to obtain in sufficient amounts through diet even when not calorie restricting.
This matters.

Nutrient deficiency immediately shows in our appearance – for instance hair shedding.
Hair loss during stress or nutritional deficiency is a normal biological survival response — your body is choosing what to protect when resources are limited.

Here’s how it works in simple terms:
1. Your body allocates resources carefully when you’re:
• Under stress
• Low on nutrients
• Ill
• Not eating enough

your body enters a prioritisation mode.
It directs energy, vitamins, and minerals toward vital organs (heart, brain, immune system) — not “optional” tissues like hair, nails, or skin.
Hair growth is a luxury from a survival point of view – agreed – not from mine!

2. Hair follicles shut down under stress
Hair has three phases:
1) Anagen – growing
2) Catagen – resting
3) Telogen – shedding

Stress and nutritional deficits push many follicles prematurely from anagen into telogen, causing what’s called telogen effluvium.
This leads to sudden, diffuse shedding.
Don’t look in the shower trap…

3. Why nutrients matter for hair

Hair growth requires a surprising number of inputs.
If you’re deficient, your body downgrades hair production because it has more urgent uses for those nutrients.

The Good News
The hair follicles aren’t dead — they’re “paused.”
When stress or deficiencies resolve, hair almost always regrows.
Vitamin + Mineral Supplementation isn’t an option on a weight loss journey or restrictive diet its essential.

Not all Multivitamins are created equal
Many people think of multivitamins as interchangeable “tick-box” products, but formulations vary widely.
Tablets are typically half fillers and additives that offer no nutritional value; it’s not unusual to see ‘doubtful’ ingredients such as talc used purely for manufacturing convenience.

In an ideal world, food would provide everything. But when diet alone isn’t meeting micronutrient needs, choosing a supplement with a clean formulation and evidence-based ingredients can be a sensible and supportive.