Call (866) 471-8869 for FREE Consultation
Asper-Lame: How Diet Coke & Artificial Sweeteners Lead to Hair Loss
by Alexandra Kilpatrick
Could diet drinks actually cause hair loss?
Michelle Schroffo Cook of Care2.com recently received a question from a follower through Facebook, asking for advice on her sudden hair loss.
“I recently lost a lot of weight I had gained over the years,” Maria wrote to Cook. “Since November 12, I lost over 150 pounds. I lost also some of my hair… I am just wondering what I can do or take to get my hair thickness back. Your input would be greatly appreciated.”
Cook had a hunch that Maria’s weight loss was caused by the diet products she used, so she asked Maria, “Can you give me an idea of what your day-to-day diet looks like?”
Maria responded that she had been using a popular diet program, consuming four shakes per day totaling 1200 calories, diet soda and no solid foods.
“I suspect it’s the aspartame,” Cook explained to Maria. “Four shakes a day would mean you’re getting between 244 to 284 milligrams of aspartame daily, not counting the diet soda, which is an extremely large amount. In a US Food and Drug Administration-based compilation of self-reported side-effects, the artificial sweetener has been linked to many health problems including hair loss.”
Cook comments on Care2.com that many people report hair loss while using products with aspartame. While hair loss research is limited, the Nurses Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS) linked aspartame consumption to a number of health issues, including lymphoma and myeloma in men. The National Institute of Environmental Health Science’s study found an increased cancer risk even with low aspartame doses.
Aspartame is found in a myriad of diet products, including shakes, soda and reduced calorie foods.
During Cook’s research for her book 60 Seconds to Slim, she found that the National Institutes of Health had cataloged 167 adverse effects of aspartame use, including anxiety, birth defects, vision problems, depression, epilepsy, and hearing loss.
Cancers linked to aspartame use include brain, liver, lung, kidney and lymphoreticular cancer, according to Randall Fitzgerald, author of The Hundred-Year Lie.
When a diet drink with aspartame is stored at 85 degrees Fahrenheit for at least a week, “there is no aspartame left in the soft drinks, just the components it breaks down into, like formaldehyde, formic acid and diketopiperazine, a chemical which can cause brain tumors,” according to the authors of the book Hard to Swallow. “All of these substances are known to be toxic to humans.”
“While Maria lost weight on the diet shakes containing aspartame, it was more likely due to the extreme caloric restriction,” Cook explained on Care2.com. “Maria agreed that no diet should contain an ingredient that causes hair loss and that has been linked to so many other problems… The best way to lose weight is to eat a healthy diet with real food and devoid of synthetic ingredients, while increasing your activity levels.”
If you or someone you know would like to learn more about hair loss and how to treat it, please feel free to schedule a consultation or contact one of our representatives today!
Call 866-471-8869 for FREE Consultation
