How to Stop Hair Shedding with Ancestral Nutrition

You notice it in tiny, unsettling ways at first. A few more strands circling the shower drain. Your hair feeling thinner. Your part a little wider. And somewhere in there, you start wondering whether this is just how it is now.

Hair shedding is usually not genetic. It's nutritional. Your hair is made of protein, but it also requires specific minerals to grow and stay in the scalp. When you're deficient in those minerals, hair sheds. When you replenish them, it stops.

What causes hair shedding

Hair grows in cycles. Each strand spends two to six years in active growth, then moves into a resting phase, then sheds. This is normal. You shed 50 to 100 hairs daily without any issues.¹ But when you're shedding visibly more than that, or when you're shedding in specific areas, something is triggering premature exit from the growth phase.

The most common cause is nutritional deficiency, specifically in minerals: iron, zinc, copper, and selenium. Hair follicles are metabolically expensive. They need these minerals to sustain growth. When you're deficient, your body prioritises essential functions (brain, heart, immune system) and sacrifices non-essential ones. Hair is non-essential. It sheds.

The second most common cause is stress, which depletes minerals and disrupts hormone balance. Chronic stress triggers a condition called telogen effluvium, where a large proportion of hairs are forced into the resting phase simultaneously.² You shed dramatically for weeks or months until the stress resolves and new hairs cycle in.

The third cause is thyroid dysfunction. When thyroid hormone is insufficient, hair growth is affected. Hair sheds more, grows slower, and feels thinner. Thyroid function depends on specific nutrients: iodine, selenium, and zinc, all of which are also required for hair growth.⁵ Low thyroid and hair loss often go together.

Hair shedding is your body waving a flag. It's saying you're nutritionally deficient in something. Listen to that signal.

The nutrients that stop it

Iron

Iron is critical for hair growth. It's part of haemoglobin, the protein that carries oxygen throughout your body, including to your scalp and hair follicles. When iron is low, hair follicles get starved of oxygen. They exit the growth phase prematurely. You shed.

Iron deficiency is remarkably common, especially in women. Blood loss, low intake of iron-rich foods, or poor absorption from the gut can all cause it.³ Red meat, liver, and shellfish carry iron in a highly bioavailable form called heme iron. Plant sources carry non-heme iron, which your body doesn't absorb as efficiently.³

Zinc

Zinc is involved in the growth phase of hair.⁴ It's also involved in hormone metabolism. When zinc is deficient, hair growth slows and shedding increases. Zinc is particularly important for the male pattern of hair loss. Men with low zinc often see significant improvement when they restore zinc status through diet.

Copper and selenium

These minerals work together with zinc to support hair growth and prevent shedding. Copper is involved in melanin production and in collagen formation, which is the structural protein of hair. Selenium is involved in glutathione production, which protects hair follicles from oxidative damage.⁵

The key is getting all three minerals from food sources in balanced form. Isolated zinc supplementation can actually worsen hair loss by creating a copper deficiency. Whole food sources naturally provide them in balanced ratios.

Weekly organ intake protocol

If you want to stop hair shedding, the single most effective intervention is eating organ meat once weekly. Beef liver is the gold standard. 150 to 200 grams once weekly provides iron, zinc, copper, selenium, retinol, and B vitamins, all of which support hair health.

Beef kidney is also excellent. It's rich in selenium and has a milder flavour than liver if liver feels strong to you. Beef heart is surprisingly palatable and carries similar nutrients, though in slightly lower concentrations.

If you can't tolerate whole organ meat, organ meat pâté works. A tablespoon or two mixed into butter or eaten on toast provides meaningful amounts of these nutrients. Freeze-dried organ powder mixed into smoothies or meals works too, though it's not ideal.

The weekly protocol

• Every seven days, eat 150 to 200 grams of organ meat, prepared however you find palatable
• Pair it with vegetables for additional minerals: beetroot, carrots, onions
• Cook at moderate temperature to preserve nutrients
• Include fat (butter, olive oil) for absorption of fat-soluble vitamins

This single change often stops visible shedding within eight to twelve weeks. People report that their hair feels thicker, sheds less, and grows faster.