Changing your diet is not, on the evidence, one of the best ways to stop hair loss in general. It helps when the hair loss comes from a nutrient deficiency, and that needs a doctor to find. This page sets out what the research says, and where a small habit like eating dates instead of processed snacks fits. It is general information, not medical advice.
What causes hair loss
The NHS hair loss page says it is normal to lose between 50 and 100 hairs a day. Some hair loss is permanent, like male and female pattern baldness, which usually runs in the family. Other types may be temporary and can be caused by an illness, stress, cancer treatment, weight loss or iron deficiency. The NHS advises seeing a GP to find out the cause before thinking about a commercial hair clinic.
Where diet comes in
A 2017 review on diet and hair loss says patients with hair loss should be screened for risk factors for nutrient deficiency, and that a deficiency, once found, should be corrected. For people without a documented deficiency, it says research on whether supplements help is lacking, and that some supplements carry a risk of worsening hair loss or of toxicity. A 2019 review of vitamins and minerals in hair loss describes their role in hair follicle development as important but not entirely clear, and calls for large double-blind placebo-controlled trials.
So a diet change helps hair mainly when it fixes a real deficiency. Finding one starts with a doctor’s history and exam, with lab tests if those suggest a risk. It does not start with a shopping list.
Dates and iron, honestly
Iron deficiency is on the NHS list of temporary causes. The NHS iron page counts dried fruit among the good sources of iron, giving dried apricots as its example, and sets the need at 14.8mg a day for women aged 19 to 49 and 8.7mg a day for men aged 19 and over. USDA FoodData Central lists 0.9mg of iron per 100g of Medjool dates and 1.02mg per 100g of Deglet Noor dates. A 30g portion of Medjool therefore gives about 0.3mg, around 2% of the daily figure for a woman aged 19 to 49. Dates will not correct an iron deficiency on their own.
The swap that is realistic
Where dates do earn a place is as a swap for processed sweets. They need no peeling or cooking, which is why the habit is easy to keep. Per 100g, USDA lists 277 kcal and 6.7g of fibre for Medjool dates, against 467 kcal, 18.8g of fat and 0.8g of fibre for commercially prepared butter cookies. Dates are still mostly sugar, at 66.5g per 100g for Medjool, so the swap is about smaller portions rather than eating freely.
The NHS 5 A Day guide counts a 30g portion of dried fruit such as dates as 1 of your 5 A Day, and says dried fruit should be eaten at mealtimes rather than as a snack between meals, to reduce the impact on teeth. A weighed 30g of dates with lunch, instead of biscuits later in the day, is the kind of small change this means.
This swap is a general diet change, not a hair-loss treatment. It won’t stop hair loss with a genetic or medical cause, and gram for gram the butter cookies in that USDA record list more iron (2.22mg per 100g) than Medjool dates (0.9mg).
Buying dates for the swap
If you shop at a Kedai Kurma, check the date printed on the pack and ask how soft varieties are kept. Mazafati, for example, is dark, very soft and needs refrigeration. Our Healthy Food category has more articles on food and diet, and the Contact Us page is the quickest way to send us a question.
References
- NHS. Hair loss.
- NHS. Iron.
- NHS. 5 A Day: what counts?
- Guo EL, Katta R. Diet and hair loss: effects of nutrient deficiency and supplement use. Dermatol Pract Concept. 2017;7(1):1-10. PMID 28243487.
- Almohanna HM, Ahmed AA, Tsatalis JP, Tosti A. The role of vitamins and minerals in hair loss: a review. Dermatol Ther (Heidelb). 2019;9(1):51-70. PMID 30547302.
- USDA FoodData Central. Dates, medjool (FDC 168191); Dates, deglet noor (FDC 171726); Cookies, butter, commercially prepared, enriched (FDC 174950).