Silica Vitamin Helps Slow Hair Loss

The question of hair loss comes up all the time in the WLS community. Is there anything we can do to prevent hair loss or at least decrease the severity of it? Some centers say there is nothing to be done, that patients have to live with the hair loss. Other centers say a diet of 70g. protein a day will prevent hair loss. Still other centers recommend taking a daily multi-vitamin and supplemental vitamins intended to improve hair health. I believe in taking a supplemental vitamin that contains silica which is known to improve the health, texture and volume of hair.

Hair loss usually occurs in the fourth of fifth month following weight loss surgery. During the phase of rapid weight loss, caloric intake is marginal. This puts the body in a state of panic called starvation. Think about the pictures of prisoners of war. Most victims of this atrocity are without hair because they are literally starving to death. A healthy body normally sheds ten percent of hair follicles at any given time. When a body is starving roughly thirty to forty percent of hair follicles are sacrificed as the body channels nutrition to more vital areas. During this phase hair loss is dramatic, often patients find clumps of hair on the shower floor. Remaining hair becomes drab and lifeless.

I knew hair loss was a potential result of weight loss surgery, but because I’m a “cup-half-full” person, I didn’t believe that hair loss would happen to me! That just happens to other people, I told myself! Imagine my surprise when my blonde locks were littering the bathroom floor like hair saloon. I shed some tears over that.

The hair loss is a transient effect of your gastric bypass surgery and will be resolved when nutrition and weight stabilize. When my hair began falling out, my husband, who has been a proponent of vitamin supplements all his life, found a vitamin specifically formulated for building strong healthy hair.

The vitamin I take for healthy hair and nails is
Silica Complex

It contains calcium, magnesium, zinc, boron, betaine and horsetail extract. Consumption of this supplement almost immediately retarded my hair loss and renewed my dull lifeless hair. I will continue taking this supplement throughout my life. Five years after surgery my hair is long, full and lustrous – one would never know I had suffered significant hair loss. In hindsight, I would certainly begin taking this supplement prior to my surgery. In the very least I would begin taking it soon after surgery before the signs of hair loss were apparent.

This is a large vitamin - I call it "the big ugly" and for new post-ops it will be nearly impossible to swallow. You can split the vitamin with a sharp kitchen knife or purchase a pill splitter at your drugstore. As always, check with your bariatric center if you are newly post-op.