Welcome to Dr. Mercola's cellular wisdom. Stay informed with quick, easy-to-listen

summaries of our latest articles, perfect for when you're on the go. No reading required. Subscribe

for free at Mercola.com for the latest health insights. Have you been celebrating the discipline

of skipping meals only to watch your hairline retreat and wonder if the very routine

meant to sharpen your metabolism is quietly shutting down your regeneration. Welcome to Dr. Mercola's

cellular wisdom. I'm Ethan Foster and together with Ilera Sky, we're examining fresh evidence

showing how intermittent fasting can flood your follicles with toxic fat.

The core finding is stark.

When you fast, usable glucose drops, and your body compensates by breaking down stored fat through lapolisus.

That process dumps free fatty acids into your bloodstream.

Hair follicle stem cells thrive on glucose, so forcing them to burn fat generates

oxidative stress that locks them in dormancy. You might picture fasting as selective fat

trimming, yet data reveal that for every pound of fat you drop, you can surrender up to two

pounds of muscle. Muscle is a vital glucose reservoir, so losing it deepens the shortage that stresses

your follicles and accelerates shedding. Researchers tested two common fasting routines,

alternate day fasting and the daily 16-hour fast. In mice, both stalled hair regrowth

even when calories matched control diets. A companion human trial shaved scalp

patches and saw noticeably slower regrowth in participants who fasted, proving the fast feed

rhythm itself is harmful. Damage surfaced within weeks, not years. The hypothalamic pituitary

adrenal axis fires immediately, spiking cortisol and adrenaline

and trapping your physiology in survival mode.

Those stress hormones prime dermal fat to release even more fatty acids around your scalp.

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