It used to be rare to talk about kids and hair loss in the same sentence. But sadly enough, it’s getting more and more common.

Here’s an excerpt from an email I received from a reader:

“I’ve been wondering about the fact that my 13 year old daughter is losing her hair. There’s a whole lot more in the tub drain after she showers and her hair has gotten noticeably thinner. She used to have such beautiful hair. We tried something from the doctor, but it didn’t make any difference. Would eating better and taking vitamins help?”

Here’s my answer:

This is an excellent question, and, believe it or not, the problem is not uncommon. Your daughter’s diet can absolutely have a big effect on her hair. Our hair, skin and fingernails are all great indicators of our health. They’re outward signs of whether or not we’re getting the nutrition our body needs.

Here are my nutritional suggestions:

• Eliminate refined sugar
• Eat more whole grains, fruits, vegetables and complete proteins
• Supplement with a good quality vitamin B-complex. (I also encourage other natural whole food supplements, but one step at a time.)

It’s very important to supplement with a naturally balanced B “complex”. The vitamin B family has 11 members and, in nature, they occur in balanced ratios. This “balanceâ€? does not mean equal amounts of each, nor does it mean 100% of the RDA of each.

In natural whole food, some of the B’s are present in large amounts, while others never exceed minute quantities. In my opinion, the individual B vitamins should never be taken separately, because that’s not how they show up in whole food. In fact, an over abundance of one B vitamin may cause excessive elimination of the others, essentially depleting the body of the very nutrient it needs.

Following these recommenations will give your daughter’s body the nutrition it needs to promote healthy hair growth.