About The Hair Loss Nutritionist
I’m just a girl who lost her hair too.
And I’m still figuring it out.
I’m Holly, a Registered Dietitian who has spent the last several years navigating my own hair loss via asking questions, trying treatments, changing course, learning more about my body and figuring out what to do next.
The Hair Loss Nutritionist grew out of that experience.
Not because I found the secret to growing your hair back.
Because I learned how important it is to participate in your own recovery.
My story
It started with a lot of hair in the shower (sound familiar?)
In 2021, my hair started shedding. A lot.
At first I blamed the braids I’d been wearing. Then stress. I had recently started a difficult job and thought, Wow. Am I really THAT stressed?
But the shedding continued and my already fine hair felt thinner.
And I had no idea what I was supposed to do about it.
I was already a Registered Dietitian. I understood nutrition, labs and the human body.
I still didn’t understand my hair loss.
So I started looking for answers.
One answer led to another question.
I saw a trichologist. We talked about my diet, my hair-care practices and my labs.
11.9
My ferritin was 11.9. That was one clue.
I worked on my iron levels. I took supplements. I went for scalp treatments. Eventually, the excessive shedding stopped.
But my hair still didn’t feel right.
In 2022, I finally saw a dermatologist who told me:
“We’re not going to guess.”
Let’s do a biopsy of your scalp and see what’s going on there. I never even knew that was a thing. I only knew of biopsies in terms of looking for cancer. Not diagnosing alopecia.
I didn’t even know there were multiple types of alopecia until I got a call saying my biopsy results were positive for CCCA which stands for central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia, a type of scarring hair loss I’d never even heard of.
I actually told him I didn’t think I had it.
I had Googled CCCA, looked at the pictures and thought, That’s not what my hair looks like.
He explained that mine had been caught early.
That moment has stayed with me.
I’m glad I kept asking questions. I’m glad I didn’t wait. Because the dermatologist told me most folks wait too long and come to him when it’s too late.
I’m glad I kept asking questions. I’m glad I didn’t wait.
The part that doesn’t fit into a before & after
I wish I could tell you that was the end of the story.
It wasn’t.
I’ve tried medications, injections, topical treatments, supplements, microneedling, scalp treatments, different hair-care practices and lifestyle changes (sometimes I like to try stuff in the name of science and see what happens).
Some things helped.
Some things didn’t.
Eventually my hair grew thicker again.
And then there were more questions.
I visited a trichologist and I learned I had seborrheic dermatitis. Another professional raised the possibility of androgenetic alopecia. Life changed. I moved. I couldn’t continue with the same providers.
So here I am, years later, still learning about my own hair.
I’ve stopped expecting hair loss to be something I solve once and never think about again.
For me, it has meant paying attention. Following up. Documenting. Asking better questions. Changing course when I need to.
And continuing to do something.
What I believe
You can’t control everything that happens to your body.
But there are things you can do.
That’s probably the biggest thing hair loss has taught me.
Your hair can tell you that something is happening. Maybe it’s your nutrition. Maybe it’s your hormones. Maybe it’s illness, stress, medication, your scalp, your styling practices, etc.
Sometimes it’s several things at once.
You may not be able to fix every one of them yourself.
- But you can pay attention.
- You can ask questions.
- You can nourish your body.
- You can follow your treatment.
- You can stop doing things that are hurting your hair.
- You can track what’s changing.
- You can get another opinion.
- You can go back when something still isn’t right.
- You can participate in your own recovery.
That’s what I want The Hair Loss Nutritionist to help you do.
Why The Hair Loss Nutritionist exists
Less guessing. More doing.
There’s no shortage of hair-loss advice.
Take this supplement. Buy this serum. Eat this food. Avoid that food. Get these labs. Try this treatment.
The problem is figuring out what actually matters for you.
The Hair Loss Nutritionist exists to help women make sense of the nutrition, health, lifestyle and hair-loss information coming at them and turn that information into something useful.
Here you’ll find evidence-based education, practical resources and tools designed to help you:
- understand the bigger picture behind your hair loss
- recognize what may deserve your attention
- work on the nutrition and lifestyle factors within your control
- ask better questions and navigate professional care
- track what you’re doing long enough to know whether it’s actually helping
- stop wasting money on random things just because someone online said they grow hair
I don’t believe every hair problem is nutritional.
I don’t believe every woman needs another supplement.
And I definitely don’t believe I have all the answers.
I believe in understanding what’s going on, doing what you can, and getting help with the rest.
Why nutrition is part of the conversation
I happened to study nutrition before hair loss happened to me.
I’m a Registered Dietitian with over 7 years of experience helping people understand how nutrition connects with health.
That background gave me a useful lens when I started dealing with my own hair loss but it also showed me how much I didn’t know.
Hair loss pushed me to learn more about nutrient deficiencies, hair and scalp conditions, treatments, hormones, stress, styling practices and the many other pieces that can affect what happens on our heads.
I’m continuing that education today.
My role here isn’t to replace your dermatologist, doctor or trichologist.
It’s to help you understand the bigger picture, take action on the pieces you can influence, and recognize when something belongs in the hands of another professional.
Start here
Not sure what deserves your attention?
I built the DEEP ROOTS Navigator because I know what it’s like to have ten possible explanations in your head and no idea where to start.
Answer 20 questions about your health, nutrition, lifestyle and hair history and get personalized results to help you see the bigger picture and decide what to do next.
Free • 20 questions • Personalized results
Talk to me
I want to know what you need.
The Hair Loss Nutritionist is still growing, and I don’t want to build resources based only on what I think women with hair loss need.
If there’s a question you can’t seem to get answered, a resource you wish existed, or something about hair loss you want me to dig into, tell me.
And if you’re a company, healthcare professional or organization interested in working together, I’d love to hear from you too.
Questions • Resource requests • Partnerships