Can Alcohol Lead to Hair Loss?

If you’re already dealing with hair thinning or shedding, do you need to stop drinking altogether? The answer depends on how much you drink and your overall health.

Based on the research, if you’re genetically predisposed to hair loss, Adigun suggests limiting alcohol consumption to avoid accelerating the process. “If someone has a family history of androgenic alopecia, for example, adding alcohol as another risk factor is inadvisable if they want to keep their hair,” she says.

But for most adults, moderate drinking — up to one drink per day for women and two for men, according to U.S. dietary guidelines — is unlikely to directly trigger hair loss, Adigun says.

If you drink excessively, cutting back may support your hair health indirectly by lessening the negative impact on your sleep, immune system, and your ability to absorb nutrients.

The term “excessive drinking” typically refers to binge drinking or heavy drinking. Binge drinking consists of consuming multiple drinks on a single occasion — 4 or more for women, 5 or more for men. Heavy drinking is defined as consuming 8 or more drinks per week for women, or 15 or more for men.

Your best bet is to meet with a dermatologist, who can help sort out the underlying causes of your hair loss — whether they’re genetic, hormonal, nutritional, or related to other health conditions. A dermatologist can run tests, identify the type of hair loss, and create a treatment approach that may combine medications, supplements, and lifestyle changes.

“Hair loss doesn’t happen in a vacuum, it’s complex. Alcohol is one piece of the puzzle, but we also need to look at genetics, lifestyle, and other contributing factors,” Adigun says.

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