Dry brittle hair on LE diet...is it normal?

[flowerlily]

Hi everyone..
I'm new here and have been doing the le diet (or what I think it is) since the beginning of February and about four weeks on I've noticed my hair getting dry and brittle . I've tried the best shampoos and conditioners available but no luck:( has anyone else noticed this and what are you doing /did to stop it..thanks.
Mind you before this I was eating the typical HE diet and was taking a multivitamin for BF DS2 but stopped it end of last year.

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[Rosie85]

Yup, I have the same thing. I am losing more hair than usual too. It's just the lack of nutrients since we are choosing to eat less of them. Less fats I think will do it too.

[flowerlily]

Thanks Rosie. Glad to know it's normal...wishing I get my bfp this month (though very unlikely as first month of bcp) so I can go back to my old eating habits and to a healthy hair..;)

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[atomic sagebrush]

Tell me what you are eating.

I don't think it's normal to lose hair and have it be very dry on LE after a month and a half. It is not that low in nutrients when done correctly. Something is amiss if you guys are having this happen. I do think some people go overboard with diet but other times I think people misinterpret everything that happens in a certain time frame as being related to LE when it is just a coincidence.

[atomic sagebrush]

Thanks Rosie. Glad to know it's normal...wishing I get my bfp this month (though very unlikely as first month of bcp) so I can go back to my old eating habits and to a healthy hair..;)

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Ah see that is what is happening. The first month coming off BCP it is normal to lose a ton of hair, just like after having a baby. It's the change in hormone levels that does it.

Here's a quote from a doctor:

Almost any drug can potentially cause hair loss but oral contraceptives are particularly implicated in a process called telogen effluvium, or hair shedding. Essentially, what happens is that the drug causes hair in the growing phase (anagen) to be shifted to the resting phase (telogen). After the telogen phase (normally lasting about 2-3 months), hairs are spontaneously shed before they enter a new growth cycle (of 3 – 7 years). Normally only about 10-15% of hairs are in telogen at any one time, but this can increase to as much as 50% in telogen effluvium. As a result, large amounts of hair can be shed as they pass through this short telogen cycle. Interestingly, telogen effluvium can occur with starting birth control pills, switching birth control pills, or even discontinuing the BCPs that a patient has been on for a long period of time. Fortunately, this process can be reversible once the implicating agent is stopped or the scalp has time to adjust to the new medication.

[flowerlily]

First of thanks sooo much Atomic for your time and patience I really appreciate it and I really really admire your knowledge...I wish I had joined this site earlier.

Ok hands up I'm not counting calories..I know laziness!:eek:
But here goes and to be honest I think I'm eating more than I should :rolleyes:

Breakfast: nothing.

Early lunch between (11:30/12:30): half a bagel (usally the one with cinnamon and raisins, toasted) with strawberry jam, fat free yoghurt, 1 apple, 1 clementine, and 4 chocolate chip cookies washed down with a big mug of tea with aspartame.

Mid afternoon snack: usually 2 diet cokes and sugar free gum/fat free marshmallows/home made rise cakes (the ones without the fortified vitamins) made with low fat sunflower spread and fat free marshmallows.

Dinner: home made soup (I make big batches and freeze them) with at least 3 vegetables from the list of LE free vegetables(asparagus, mushrooms, leeks,....) with 5 ryvita crackers, or when I get bored of the soup I sauté at least 3 or 4 vegetables from the free list and usually have that with white rice, pasta or cous cous. Sometime with a piece of skinless chicken or two pieces of lamp chops (sorry can't resist them as DH eats them almost everyday. Side dish: usually salad made with lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes.

Dessert: 1 cup of ice cream/5 custard creams/two squares of white chocolate or when I've been naughty during the day I just have plain fat free yoghurt with a few strawberries. Diet coke.
Before bed time: glass of skimmed milk(just during the 2ww, can't sleep on empty stomach). Before it was peppermint tea or cranberry light juice.

I have a few cheat days as well where I have fried eggs on white toast for early lunch and steak and chips for dinner:o

I'm also BF DS2 (21m) once a day.

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[atomic sagebrush]

no need to apologize for not counting cals, it's fine not to as long as you're getting enough.

Your diet looks beautiful, let's up fat intake ever so slightly in the form of Omega 6 fats. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gender-swaying-general-discussion/39013-skinny-fats-pink-blue.html I don't think that's what is going on with your hair, but just becasue it looks a bit low and you're nursing.

That is not the type of malnourished starvation diet that I associate with any hair-related issues (esp. not after 2 months), but do be sure you're using iodized salt or taking an iodine supp.

[flowerlily]

no need to apologize for not counting cals, it's fine not to as long as you're getting enough.

Your diet looks beautiful, let's up fat intake ever so slightly in the form of Omega 6 fats. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gender-swaying-general-discussion/39013-skinny-fats-pink-blue.html I don't think that's what is going on with your hair, but just becasue it looks a bit low and you're nursing.

That is not the type of malnourished starvation diet that I associate with any hair-related issues (esp. not after 2 months), but do be sure you're using iodized salt or taking an iodine supp.

Thanks for your reply much appreciated.
I've read the link for the first time and as always it was very informative.:)
But how do I upp the fat intake...is it in the form of cooking oils/oily fish/nuts or whatever I feel comfortable with? I now cook with sunflower/vegetable oil. Before, it was olive/coconut oil and used to eat a few handfuls of almonds.
As for the hair bit I now suspect the BCP (mini pill) more than the diet as it was the first time I was on it for 6 months.
What is iodized salt? I always cook with vegetable stock (powered) as it makes food taste better and use table salt for salads.
Can I get the iodine supps over the counter or is it only through prescription?
One more question, can drinking hot lemon juice effect swaying pink, I was drinking it first thing in morning (to make me go till lunch time, plus it's so refreshing:D) during my sway and only realised 2 and half weeks ago that it was only in the blue sway threads, :eek:I'm now 10dpo first month ttc.
Sorry about all the questions.
TIA.

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[atomic sagebrush]

:agree: veg oil is fine

iodized salt is salt that is treated with iodine so you can get some even if you don't eat iodine in your diet. If you aren't familiar with it or can't get in yoru area, try adding in 150 IU iodine as long as you don't have any thyroid problems. You can buy them OTC here but not sure about in other areas.

Lemon juice is said to sway blue and I have blue swayers use it. I don't know how effective it is, just letting you know.

[flowerlily]

Ok thanks Atomic.
I don't have thyroid problems.
I liked the idea of the iodine pills and went to 2 pharmacies also H&B and they only have it in the form of sea kelp...and they said not to take it while BF or pregnant. And I think one of the pharmacist said I could get it through prescription (which i think is the one you mentioned) but it will take 2 weeks for it to be delivered. It's so not popular in Ireland. Sorry this is all new for me.
Anyway, I'll also try find the iodized salt when I go shopping.

I tried to block the idea of lemon alkalizing things down below, and convinced myself that it's not a biggie..like having a big bowl of cereal for breakfast or a cup of coffee with wholemilk and real sugar(which is the way I like it and no other way..lol).
Anyway what is meant to happen will happen:)

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[atomic sagebrush]

Yes I'm not a big fan of the kelp supps, maybe look online. Ireland is one of the countries people have had difficulty finding iodized salt, so you may want to have some fish or seafood 2x a week or snack on some dulse now and then.

I think the lemon is probably fine too, just wanted to let you know about it.

[flowerlily]

Yes true, I tried 3 big supermarkets today and they were like they never heard of the thing!
I'll try to have the fish then (salmon, haddock, cod, tuna) as it's the best option for me now.:) and anyway I'm getting bored of the chicken and the lamb.;)
Thanks again.


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[maidentomother]

I use a product called Kelpamare by A. Vogel, it's a liquid seasoning similar to soy sauce or Maggi, but made with kelp. It's a good source of iodine and wonderful for seasoning soups. If you can find it, you could use it instead of or in addition to veggie broth powder.

Personally I would cut out the meat completely (fish is okay IMO) before the lemon juice if you're trying to tighten your sway. Your diet sounds pretty boyish IMO though of course you can get a girl eating any diet.

[flowerlily]

Thanks maiden, will try and find that.:)
Well, to be honest it's waay less than what I was eating before. I was eating meat twice a day and was constantly snacking on nuts/dried fruits/trial mixes and sometimes off of either DS's plates.
I'm going to switch to fish this week though. ;)
I'm not sure what you you mean boyish diet, is it in terms of meat or variety? Just curious, and I would definitely benefit from your input (since I'm still considered myself a new bee).;)


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[maidentomother]

Lamb, chicken, steak, chips, fried eggs....total boy foods! I think nuts and dried fruit are much better than animal protein/fats. Fruits and veggies are fine though of course try to eat less nutritious ones if/when possible. Would it be possible for your whole family to go vegetarian? If you shop/cook, only buy and prepare LE friendly foods - that way if you cheat, you can't cheat too badly and you're not being tempted by your family's meals. It sounds like that would really help! Plus, it's good for DH to diet, too.

[flowerlily]

Thanks maiden, I can easily and happily stop eating these without converting the whole family to vegetarians and there's no way they would be happy with that especially DH, he is a man who loves his meat plus who knows for how long I'm gonna be on the diet.
But he is a little bit on board with me to sway as he runs at the gym every other day and stopped weight lifting and drinking protein shakes, doesn't eat breakfast most days, started drinking diet coke and P.T,:) plus he has a lot of stress at work so I thought to go a little easy on him and this is not our last chance at a DD. :D
I'm used to dieting but other diets don't have cheat days and LE does, so I thought if I'm gonna cheat, I gotta cheat BIG. Maybe I could scrample the eggs instead of frying them, and have roasted LE veggies with oven baked fish instead of the steak and chips (as cheats only) since I'm going to be on the diet a little longer than I thought.
I'm gonna try make 3 nights fish, 2 nights chicken and 2 nights meat and they don't have to be in that order, so far we have had 2 nights fish and he's liking the change! :rolleyes:
What do you think?:)

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[maidentomother]

My understanding of cheating is you do it one or twice a month, or maybe once a week at most. Especially since you aren't counting calories. But it's all up to you and what you want to do. Easing into a diet gradually is definitely better for some. I'm so glad you have more than one chance! How many kids do you plan on having?

I bet you are a good cook...I'm drooling at your descriptions of meals! Lucky hubby!

[flowerlily]

Lol thanks.
Well, I try my best and I haven't had any complaints so far ;) and he knows how lucky he is to have me as his wifey..lol.:p
We plan to have 5, so 3 more chances including this one.:) So, you'll be seeing me here in the coming years.
We both come from extended families, and we love/loved having other siblings, we are both the eldest, so we kind know what we are doing.
And we plan to give the same to our kids (and hopefully they'll love it, or at least as much as we did).:D

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[maidentomother]

Sounds great to me! I had dreams of 6 kids for a long time but now I'm too old. I'm hoping I can manage 3-4 though. I have just a much younger (7 years) brother, no cousins close in age, and I hated it.

[Rosie85]

I don't consider chicken a boy food. I know women who ate TONS of chicken because they were dieting so they had salads with chicken or just a breast with some veggies for practically every meal and they had girls. I personally have been eating chicken but avoiding red meat. I used to eat meat everyday but have cut back to once or twice. I can't not have it...I get very sick and shaky I have found.

[atomic sagebrush]

Ladies, please remember that there ARE no girl foods or boy foods really, that's not how it works.

The reason that I kinda deter people from eating chicken is not because it's a magical boy making food, but because firstly it has nutrients in it that vegetarian options do not have or not in as high a quantity, and secondly and most important, it's a lot of protein for very few calories. The problem that chicken eaters have on LE Diet is that if you eat chicken, a pretty tiny portion (about the size of a deck of cards) will put you right over the day's limits for protein and you've only eaten about 3-400 calories. Then what do you eat the rest of the day? Grains, beans, eggs, and dairy all have protein in them. So that leaves you on a diet of a eensy piece of chicken and then fruit and veg and and sugar and fat for the rest of the day and I find that many people are unable to stick with diets like that without feeling deprived. And if a swayer was one of those gals who refuses (misguidedly because that is NOT LE Diet) to cut out or limit fruits and vegetables, then chicken + sugar + canola oil is a starvation diet and not what I recommend at all.

[Rosie85]

Oh well I don't eat a whole breast, only a few pieces of it. Like 2oz...not too much protein at all. I am sure the ladies were over limits in protein and such but had lower calories which still sways for them along with the exercise. For me personally I don't buy into the protein swaying very much just because I know way way way too many people with girls who are huge carnivores but they do exercise and "diet"

[marriedmomof2]

Rosie I kind of agree with you, my closest female friend had two boys, started running, upped her protein intake like crazy, and has gotten two girls in 3 years. She also started a "diet" and eating breakfast, along with protein powder in her shakes.
Also other women I know eat meat like crazy and they have girls as well.

[maidentomother]

I would not assume someone eats lots of meat just bc you see them eating it publicly for one meal. They may barely eat the rest of the time, or they could be throwing it up (not super common but it happens). Plus, there may be hidden sway factors (male factor infertility, hypoglycemia, wacky hormone levels, etc) that are swaying strongly pink DESPITE a diet rich in protein. To then assume that high protein, especially animal protein, doesn't sway blue is foolish, IMO.

Obviously even vegetarians have boys so no dietary factor is a guarantee, but diet still sways IMO.

Re : protein powder, it may actually be toxic (I haven't researched this but read it recently) due to processing denaturing the protein.

[flowerlily]

I know a mum who has 3 (gbg) she is an older mum (40+) and her youngest is 2m younger than my DS2, her diet consists of purely meat and carbs hardly eats vegs or fruits (IMO bland and an unhealthy diet). Plus her husband smokes ( though he's a quiet younger than her), she hardly eats breakfast, never snacks, somehow she managed to get the boy in the middle couse she was trying for 6m and started taking preconception/prenatals before she conceived him, if she wasn't taking those pills I can confidently say she would have ended up with another girl.
Agree with the above, there maybe other things that we are unaware of which are swaying hard each time.;)

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[marriedmomof2]

let me say that I am close to these women so I have a great idea of what they eat. I can say with confidence I know what their diet and life is like. I am not talking about women in passing, these are women I talk to everyday so I feel comfortable saying that and they most definitely do not throw up their food. Yes there are other sway factors, hence I said they took up running every day. I have no friends who smoke nor do their husbands.

[atomic sagebrush]

Guys, I've NEVER said you can't get a girl eating protein. It's just a way to send a message to your body. Maternal condition and fertility is what is swaying. All these sway tactics are is ways that we may be able to decline our condition just a bit without much effort. There are plenty of people walking around out there who are declined in condition/fertility from other things entirely and their diet may not even have anything to do with it. Eating meat doesn't "sway" per se (even tho I write that sometimes as a quick shorthand because I don't want to have to type out this big long explanation every time), it's condition and fertility. Eating less or no meat may reduce your condition and fertility. That's all.

2 oz. of chicken is fine and absolutely great if it works for you. I think it's a huge step in the wrong direction for any of us out there who are 2-3-4 boy mamas to look around and see ladies with girls and think, "oh gee well she ate meat all the time, that must mean that protein doesn't sway" because her condition or fertility may have been affected by some other thing that had nothing to do with her diet. What worked for her is not gonna work for you unless you ahve the same exact thing going on.

[atomic sagebrush]

let me say that I am close to these women so I have a great idea of what they eat. I can say with confidence I know what their diet and life is like. I am not talking about women in passing, these are women I talk to everyday so I feel comfortable saying that and they most definitely do not throw up their food. Yes there are other sway factors, hence I said they took up running every day. I have no friends who smoke nor do their husbands.

She is just listing examples that may be true for some people, not necessarily for your friends. the point is that there can be other stuff going on that we can't even see. I think "swaying" and why people have the genders that they do is like an iceberg - the stuff we see and speculate over is just this teeny tiny visible tip and then there's this hurking mammoth under the water where no one has a clue about it. So ~I personally~ feel it's a risky business to look at what one gal who has all/mostly daughters is doing and feel safe doing the same thing if you are a gal of all/mostly sons. She may have a big pink blob of ice under the water and you may have a big blue one LOL.

I hope I'm not coming off picky or argumentative here, I just really really want everyone to get their DG in the safest way possible :) Meaning not on a chicken breast and jelly belly jelly beans (which I know you are not doing but I have seen people do!!) and that is why I want people to be wary in the chicken dept.

[marriedmomof2]

I completely agree with you (on all of that). I am sure there are other things that sway for them. If I came off defensive in the other comment it is because I was being defensive. A few remarks just didn't sit well with me. I appreciate all that you do and that you are even willing to help others get their DG. :) I bet my blob of ice as you put it is very blue lbs.
She is just listing examples that may be true for some people, not necessarily for your friends. the point is that there can be other stuff going on that we can't even see. I think "swaying" and why people have the genders that they do is like an iceberg - the stuff we see and speculate over is just this teeny tiny visible tip and then there's this hurking mammoth under the water where no one has a clue about it. So ~I personally~ feel it's a risky business to look at what one gal who has all/mostly daughters is doing and feel safe doing the same thing if you are a gal of all/mostly sons. She may have a big pink blob of ice under the water and you may have a big blue one LOL.

I hope I'm not coming off picky or argumentative here, I just really really want everyone to get their DG in the safest way possible :) Meaning not on a chicken breast and jelly belly jelly beans (which I know you are not doing but I have seen people do!!) and that is why I want people to be wary in the chicken dept.

[flowerlily]

[QUOTE=maidentomother;557028]I use a product called Kelpamare by A. Vogel, it's a liquid seasoning similar to soy sauce or Maggi, but made with kelp. It's a good source of iodine and wonderful for seasoning soups. If you can find it, you could use it instead of or in addition to veggie broth powder.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find that either:(
But thanks anyway.

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[maidentomother]

I had to special order it here (via amazon marketplace) and I've never seen it in the US. It is hard to find, I've never seen it in a store.

[flowerlily]

Oh that explains the looks on the faces of the ladies at the customer services! I should have captured it! Lol.:cool:

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