Insufficient Staple Foods Leads to Hair Loss
Not eating staple foods (rice, wheat, etc.) harms the spleen and stomach and damages the liver and kidneys.
Hair growth, shedding, moisture, and dryness depend primarily on the abundance or deficiency of kidney essence and liver blood. Hence, "hair is the surplus of blood." In youth, abundant liver and blood allow fast, lustrous hair growth. With aging, essence and blood weaken, hair turns white and falls out—this is a natural metabolic process.
However, premature hair loss and early graying are mainly due to insufficient liver and kidney essence and blood, termed "liver and kidney yin deficiency" in TCM. The direct cause is inadequate nutrition from staple foods provided by the spleen. From a modern medical perspective, grains are rich in starch, sugars, proteins, and various vitamins—humans' most fundamental and essential nutrient source—whose dominant role is irreplaceable.