DammitLetMeIn
Experienced Member
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Japan, male pattern baldness was almost unheard of prior to World War II. The Japanese diet is now far more fatty and Westernized, and Japanese men are going bald everywhere. It's clear that a high-fat, meat-based diet raises testosterone levels, and that may adversely affect hair follicles. I'm not sure eating low-fat foods will stop hair loss, but it might slow it down."
New Choices In Natural Healing by Prevention Magazine, page 335
For men, balding process can be slowed down by taking a low-fat diet. Some scientists postulate that the male pattern baldness is tied to increased testosterone levels during puberty. A high-fat, meat-based diet raises testosterone levels, and that may adversely affect hair follicles. For example, in Japan, male pattern baldness was very rare prior to World War II when the diet was lean and healthy. The Japanese now consume a more fatty, Westernized diet. Baldness is now increasing substantially among Japanese men.
http://www.holisticonline.com/Remedies/ ... s-diet.htm
The effects of high-fat diets and the increase of DHT (Dihydrotestosterone), a chemical produced by the body found to cause hair loss, is not conclusive at this time. However, there does seem to be a connection; as societies that consumed relatively low-fat diets such as pre-World War II Japan experienced almost no pattern baldness, whereas in post-World War II Japan there is an increase in pattern baldness as their society consumes a higher fat diet. In fact, Asian and African men in their native countries traditionally suffer very little Male Pattern Baldness (male pattern baldness). Although when the same peoples come to North America, they begin to develop male pattern baldness.
Because people of all races and ethnicities tend to develop male pattern baldness or androgenetic alopecia, yet do not exhibit these tendencies before moving to America, changes in diet may be a leading contributing factor. Diets high in fat do increase testosterone, which is the main component in DHT. More research needs to be done on this topic to reach conclusive evidence, although it certainly could not hurt to lower one’s fat intake.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Hair-Loss-Pre ... d?&id=7520
Researches have shown different triggers affect the onset of baldness. This only shows that male pattern baldness can be reversed or at least, controlled. Diets with high fat content increases DHT production which speeds up baldness. For example, Asian men are found to be in lesser risk compared to American men with their fatty fast food diet. Other than fat, substances to limit or avoid to lessen hair loss include nicotine, alcohol, sugar, salt, and caffeine. Don't feel deprived as seafood are widely recommended as it contains considerable amounts of iodine, a substance that improves hair growth.
http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/5-23-2006-96954.asp
A western diet rich in fat from red meat has been suggested to promote pattern baldness. Dermatologists point to the significant increase in Chinese and Japanese men with pattern baldness.
Traditionally, Japanese men have a low incidence of pattern baldness compared to Caucasians. The rate of pattern baldness is still much lower than that of caucasian men today but the gap has narrowed since the second world war. This has been attributed by some to a change in the Japanese diet. Traditional diets involved little or no red meat and dairy products. Today, the Japanese diet is much more westernized with a higher fat intake.
http://www.althealth.co.uk/help_and_adv ... /Baldness/
A diet rich in animal fat may also contribute to hair loss
http://www.hollywoodbeautysecrets.com/n ... tments.php
Japanese research may cover these topics but also is more likely to cover the increase in sebum (scalp oil) production caused by DHT in the scalp, and the increase of Pityrosporon ovale, a pathogenic yeast which has been linked to dandruff and eczema, and which feeds off of sebum. Issues related to diet are also more likely to be covered. Possibly this is because male pattern baldness has increased very sharply in Japan since the end of World War II along with an increase in fatty foods and average height, focusing public attention on various lifestyle differences.
http://www.psoriasiscafe.org/baldness-definition.htm
Male pattern baldness is caused by your hair follicles being senisitve to the male hormone testosterone. Medical science knows only one way to prevent it: castration. Whipping off your testicles will hugely reduce your testosterone levels, and stop your hair falling out. So, you'll have a full head of hair, be enormously attractive to woment, but have no urge to do anything about it.
Diets that reduce your testosteone levels would therefore logically help.
http://www.gorskys.com.au/ask/reverse-b ... -diet.html
Good nutrition can go a long way in helping you keep your halo of hair. In fact, in Asian countries where vegetables are primary in the diet, pattern baldness is rarely seen.
http://mens-health.health-cares.net/hai ... ention.php
There are natural and healthy ways to control the activity of 5 alpha reductase.
- A diet high in saturated fat such as meat, milk and butter, excessive alcohol consumption and stress increase 5 alpha reductase.
http://www.eternalhealth.org/article.ph ... r_prostate
Instead, I encourage him to go on a low-fat diet
http://www.priory.com/med/saw.htm
Japanese men have low DHT and low 5aR; the Japanese incidental (autopsy) prostate cancer rate is the same as that for American men and high-risk Black men, but the clinical prostate cancer rate is low for Japanese men in Japan. First-generation Japanese men in the USA with a high-fat western diet had an increased prostate cancer death rate, from 1.7 to 12.9/100 000, the same as western men [7,8].
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/ ... ookieSet=1
Excess inflammation is a common consequence of high-glycemic load diets. Omega-6 oils are prevalent in the typical American diet. The ratio of Omega-3 (fish oil, cod liver oil) to Omega-6 oils should be 2:1. Typically this ratio is as low as 1:50. The addition of fish oil to the diet, at doses of 4-10 grams per day, can restore a healthy fatty acid ratio. Adding Omega-9 oils (olive, almond, avocado and macadamia nuts and oils) is also important in reducing inflammatory activity through the “fat pathway†of eicosanoids which send messages from cell to cell.
The end product of inflammatory activity is arachidonic acid. The end product of healthy fat metabolism is the “anti-inflammatory†fat, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). This fat acts in many ways like cortisone-like drugs.
Excess stress stimulates increased cortisol levels which increases glucose levels and insulin levels. Cortisol irritates the hypothalamus and disrupts normal hormonal balance. Lack of sleep, nicotine and caffeine stimulate cortisol output.
Cortisol levels can be reduced by meditation, deep abdominal breathing, prayer and exercise. Sedentary lifestyle should be addressed by daily walking or other similar activities that boost the heart to a target rate for 30 to 60 minutes per day. The highest value exercise program is the one that is fun to do.
http://www.centeru.com/library/andropause.php
Diet and lifestyle
While there are a number of genetic factors which determine a person's susceptibility to androgenic alopecia including androgen receptor polymorphisms, 5-alpha-reductase levels in the scalp, androgen receptor density and distribution in the scalp, and other factors some of which may not have been discovered. Some speculate the increase in baldness in the population of Japan after World War II demonstrates that hair loss can be influenced by diet and lifestyle. Increased fat or caloric intake, decrease in aerobic exercise and general "westernization" was accompanied by a dramatic increase in incidence of male pattern baldness. [citation needed]
Skeptics of this analysis believe the westernization that led to increased hair loss in Japan may have occurred in the gene pool, noting the higher propensity of hair loss in American soldiers of European descent stationed in and around Japan after the war.
Daily, vigorous aerobic exercise (as opposed to short workout periods designed to raise androgen levels and build muscle, or more sporadic exercise) and a diet which is adequate yet more moderate in terms of fat and total calorie intake have been shown to reduce baseline insulin levels as well as baseline total and free testosterone[12], which would significantly lower baseline DHT.
Lower insulin levels and reduced stress both result in raised levels of Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG). SHBG binds to testosterone, and prevents it from circulating free in the blood. Only free testosterone is converted to DHT. It is the level of free androgens and not total androgens which is relevant to the levels of DHT in the scalp and the progression of male pattern baldness. In short, aerobic exercise is capable of significantly lowering DHT. [13] [14]
Androgenic alopecia has been shown to correlate with metabolic syndrome. Medically increasing androgen levels does not worsen this condition, demonstrating that androgens do not cause metabolic syndrome. Instead, high insulin levels (and possibly chronic inflammation [15]) seem the likely link in the demonstrated correlation between baldness and metabolic syndrome. This reinforces the notion that behaviors which help to keep insulin levels low and reduce chronic inflammation might also help to preserve hair. [16] [17]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldness_treatments
A diet high in fat, especially fat from animal products, is thought to reduce the amount of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), a protein that binds to testosterone circulating in the bloodstream. This binding by the protein keeps the testosterone unavailable for conversion into DHT. With high fat diets, the amount of circulating SHBG is reduced and hence more testosterone will be available to be converted into DHT.
http://www.naturesintentionsnaturopathy ... irLoss.htm
Also look for a diet that is low in carbohydrates, low in animal fats, and high in essential fatty acids.
http://www.healingwithnutrition.com/pdi ... pplan.html
Our results indicate that in men a decrease in dietary fat content and an increase in the degree of unsaturation of fatty acids reduces the serum concentrations of androstenedione, testosterone and free testosterone.
http://www.neoteny.org/a/androgens.html
Agents from green tea, such as catechins, (-)epigallocatechin-3-gallate, and (-) epicatechin-3-gallate, are more potent than those found in other plant species. These agents have been shown in clinical studies to reduce testosterone's conversion to DHT - processes thought to enhance one's physiological potential for hair loss.
http://www.progressivehealth.com/catalog/Advecia.htm
Sea vegetables: People in Asian cultures have long consumed sea vegetables as a regular part of their diet which may explain their freedom from hair loss, traditionally.
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/ ... _100767857
And GENETIC--the inheritance of genes from either the mother or the father's side of the family. Add AGE, which when coupled with genetics, represents a time clock that will signal the hair follicle to produce an enzyme named 5 alpha reductase. When the testosterone present in the follicle combines with the enzyme 5 alpha reductase, it produces dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Hair follicle receptors are sensitive to DHT and thereby start the process of male or female pattern hair loss.
http://www.psoriasiscafe.org/hairloss-male.htm
Other physiological factors might cause hair loss. Recently, a group of Japanese researcher reported a correlation between excessive sebum in the scalp and hair loss. Excessive sebum often accompanying thinning hair is attributed to an enlargement of the sebaceous gland. They believed excessive sebum causes an high level of 5-alpha reductase and pore clogging, thus malnutrition of the hair root. Although this condition could be hereditary, they believe diet is a more prominent cause. The researchers note that Japanese hair was thick and healthy, with a small gland and little scalp oil, until the occidental habit of consuming animal fat crept into their diet after World War II.
This change has led to a significant height increase in the Japanese population, but it has also resulted in more Japanese men losing hair.
http://www.onlyhairloss.com/hairlossprocess.htm
Studies show that while balding men don't have higher than average circulating testosterone levels, they do possess above-average amounts of a powerful testosterone derivative, dihydrotestosterone in the scalp follicles.
http://www.folica.com/Causes_of_Hair__d1282.html
NEIL SADICK, MD: 5 alpha reductase is an enzyme that is felt to play a major role in genetic hair loss, particularly in men. It was actually identified in a group of pseudo-hermaphrodites in the Dominican Republic, and that enzyme, which was isolated, is felt to be the major enzyme that's responsible for genetic hair loss, and the newer drugs that are now being developed block that enzyme and have been able to slow down the progress of genetic hair loss.
http://www.healthology.com/hair-loss/video2184.htm
Hair loss arises when balance between the two hormones is disturbed and androgen level is higher than usual. When testosterone (one of the male hormones) gets in contact with an enzyme which is usually found in the skin and scalp, called 5-Alpha Reductase, it is converted to DHT (Dihydrotestosterone). When this process occurs, DHT leads to a shorter hair growth cycle, miniaturization of the follicles, producing progressively finer hair till they become invisible and shrinking of the scalp coverage.
http://www.servihoo.com/Aujourdhui/kine ... ?id=115506
There is also the presence of another enzyme called P450 aromatase found in outer root sheath of follicles. It is more concentrated in the occipital area compared to the frontal area. Levels of this type of enzyme is higher in women’s scalp by 2 to 5 times compared to men’s scalp and it converts DHT to oestrogen and may therefore be responsible for less severe hair loss in women.
http://www.servihoo.com/Aujourdhui/kine ... ?id=115506
Researchers have known for years that the same testosterone metabolism responsible for prostate growth also causes male-pattern baldness (called androgenic alopecia), Dr. Roehrborn said. Both BPH and male-pattern hair loss have to do with the male hormone testosterone, which is being converted to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) by an enzyme named 5-alpha reductase. DHT activates the genes responsible for the development of male-pattern hair loss. Finasteride interferes with this process by blocking 5-alpha reductase and preventing the conversion of testosterone to DHT.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medical ... wsid=58599
.alpha.-reductase activity is reported to be higher in hair follicles from the scalp of balding men than that of nonbalding men (Schweikert and Wilson, 1974).
http://freepatentsonline.com/5605929.html
Studies now show that inhibiting 5-alpha-reductase is the key to preventing hair loss and male pattern balding.
http://hair-loss.8media.org/faq.php
I found these statements in an online article:
http://www.immortalhair.homestead.com/f ... s_Book.htm
Quote:
People’s dietary fat intake good or bad, has pronounced effects on the presence of androgens.
Cultures and regions of people, who consume fats that have been hydrogenated often, have less hair than those that eat whole-unprocessed foods do. Good fats or essential fats are often removed from shelf products to prevent spoilage, while the fats that are present in processed foods are converted to a harmful trans-fat form.
The levels of dihydrotestosterone are higher in people who eat an abundance of hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats. Red meat, processed convenient foods, pastries and margarine increase levels of testosterone in the body. A healthy intake of essential fatty acids that come from plants, whole grains and fish can prevent the malevolent effects of trans-fats on hormone reactions.
Come on guys. Fats act like hormones. Bad fats = bad hormone balance. Its obviously these that are screwin us up.
Thoughts?
New Choices In Natural Healing by Prevention Magazine, page 335
For men, balding process can be slowed down by taking a low-fat diet. Some scientists postulate that the male pattern baldness is tied to increased testosterone levels during puberty. A high-fat, meat-based diet raises testosterone levels, and that may adversely affect hair follicles. For example, in Japan, male pattern baldness was very rare prior to World War II when the diet was lean and healthy. The Japanese now consume a more fatty, Westernized diet. Baldness is now increasing substantially among Japanese men.
http://www.holisticonline.com/Remedies/ ... s-diet.htm
The effects of high-fat diets and the increase of DHT (Dihydrotestosterone), a chemical produced by the body found to cause hair loss, is not conclusive at this time. However, there does seem to be a connection; as societies that consumed relatively low-fat diets such as pre-World War II Japan experienced almost no pattern baldness, whereas in post-World War II Japan there is an increase in pattern baldness as their society consumes a higher fat diet. In fact, Asian and African men in their native countries traditionally suffer very little Male Pattern Baldness (male pattern baldness). Although when the same peoples come to North America, they begin to develop male pattern baldness.
Because people of all races and ethnicities tend to develop male pattern baldness or androgenetic alopecia, yet do not exhibit these tendencies before moving to America, changes in diet may be a leading contributing factor. Diets high in fat do increase testosterone, which is the main component in DHT. More research needs to be done on this topic to reach conclusive evidence, although it certainly could not hurt to lower one’s fat intake.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Hair-Loss-Pre ... d?&id=7520
Researches have shown different triggers affect the onset of baldness. This only shows that male pattern baldness can be reversed or at least, controlled. Diets with high fat content increases DHT production which speeds up baldness. For example, Asian men are found to be in lesser risk compared to American men with their fatty fast food diet. Other than fat, substances to limit or avoid to lessen hair loss include nicotine, alcohol, sugar, salt, and caffeine. Don't feel deprived as seafood are widely recommended as it contains considerable amounts of iodine, a substance that improves hair growth.
http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/5-23-2006-96954.asp
A western diet rich in fat from red meat has been suggested to promote pattern baldness. Dermatologists point to the significant increase in Chinese and Japanese men with pattern baldness.
Traditionally, Japanese men have a low incidence of pattern baldness compared to Caucasians. The rate of pattern baldness is still much lower than that of caucasian men today but the gap has narrowed since the second world war. This has been attributed by some to a change in the Japanese diet. Traditional diets involved little or no red meat and dairy products. Today, the Japanese diet is much more westernized with a higher fat intake.
http://www.althealth.co.uk/help_and_adv ... /Baldness/
A diet rich in animal fat may also contribute to hair loss
http://www.hollywoodbeautysecrets.com/n ... tments.php
Japanese research may cover these topics but also is more likely to cover the increase in sebum (scalp oil) production caused by DHT in the scalp, and the increase of Pityrosporon ovale, a pathogenic yeast which has been linked to dandruff and eczema, and which feeds off of sebum. Issues related to diet are also more likely to be covered. Possibly this is because male pattern baldness has increased very sharply in Japan since the end of World War II along with an increase in fatty foods and average height, focusing public attention on various lifestyle differences.
http://www.psoriasiscafe.org/baldness-definition.htm
Male pattern baldness is caused by your hair follicles being senisitve to the male hormone testosterone. Medical science knows only one way to prevent it: castration. Whipping off your testicles will hugely reduce your testosterone levels, and stop your hair falling out. So, you'll have a full head of hair, be enormously attractive to woment, but have no urge to do anything about it.
Diets that reduce your testosteone levels would therefore logically help.
http://www.gorskys.com.au/ask/reverse-b ... -diet.html
Good nutrition can go a long way in helping you keep your halo of hair. In fact, in Asian countries where vegetables are primary in the diet, pattern baldness is rarely seen.
http://mens-health.health-cares.net/hai ... ention.php
There are natural and healthy ways to control the activity of 5 alpha reductase.
- A diet high in saturated fat such as meat, milk and butter, excessive alcohol consumption and stress increase 5 alpha reductase.
http://www.eternalhealth.org/article.ph ... r_prostate
Instead, I encourage him to go on a low-fat diet
http://www.priory.com/med/saw.htm
Japanese men have low DHT and low 5aR; the Japanese incidental (autopsy) prostate cancer rate is the same as that for American men and high-risk Black men, but the clinical prostate cancer rate is low for Japanese men in Japan. First-generation Japanese men in the USA with a high-fat western diet had an increased prostate cancer death rate, from 1.7 to 12.9/100 000, the same as western men [7,8].
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/ ... ookieSet=1
Excess inflammation is a common consequence of high-glycemic load diets. Omega-6 oils are prevalent in the typical American diet. The ratio of Omega-3 (fish oil, cod liver oil) to Omega-6 oils should be 2:1. Typically this ratio is as low as 1:50. The addition of fish oil to the diet, at doses of 4-10 grams per day, can restore a healthy fatty acid ratio. Adding Omega-9 oils (olive, almond, avocado and macadamia nuts and oils) is also important in reducing inflammatory activity through the “fat pathway†of eicosanoids which send messages from cell to cell.
The end product of inflammatory activity is arachidonic acid. The end product of healthy fat metabolism is the “anti-inflammatory†fat, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). This fat acts in many ways like cortisone-like drugs.
Excess stress stimulates increased cortisol levels which increases glucose levels and insulin levels. Cortisol irritates the hypothalamus and disrupts normal hormonal balance. Lack of sleep, nicotine and caffeine stimulate cortisol output.
Cortisol levels can be reduced by meditation, deep abdominal breathing, prayer and exercise. Sedentary lifestyle should be addressed by daily walking or other similar activities that boost the heart to a target rate for 30 to 60 minutes per day. The highest value exercise program is the one that is fun to do.
http://www.centeru.com/library/andropause.php
Diet and lifestyle
While there are a number of genetic factors which determine a person's susceptibility to androgenic alopecia including androgen receptor polymorphisms, 5-alpha-reductase levels in the scalp, androgen receptor density and distribution in the scalp, and other factors some of which may not have been discovered. Some speculate the increase in baldness in the population of Japan after World War II demonstrates that hair loss can be influenced by diet and lifestyle. Increased fat or caloric intake, decrease in aerobic exercise and general "westernization" was accompanied by a dramatic increase in incidence of male pattern baldness. [citation needed]
Skeptics of this analysis believe the westernization that led to increased hair loss in Japan may have occurred in the gene pool, noting the higher propensity of hair loss in American soldiers of European descent stationed in and around Japan after the war.
Daily, vigorous aerobic exercise (as opposed to short workout periods designed to raise androgen levels and build muscle, or more sporadic exercise) and a diet which is adequate yet more moderate in terms of fat and total calorie intake have been shown to reduce baseline insulin levels as well as baseline total and free testosterone[12], which would significantly lower baseline DHT.
Lower insulin levels and reduced stress both result in raised levels of Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG). SHBG binds to testosterone, and prevents it from circulating free in the blood. Only free testosterone is converted to DHT. It is the level of free androgens and not total androgens which is relevant to the levels of DHT in the scalp and the progression of male pattern baldness. In short, aerobic exercise is capable of significantly lowering DHT. [13] [14]
Androgenic alopecia has been shown to correlate with metabolic syndrome. Medically increasing androgen levels does not worsen this condition, demonstrating that androgens do not cause metabolic syndrome. Instead, high insulin levels (and possibly chronic inflammation [15]) seem the likely link in the demonstrated correlation between baldness and metabolic syndrome. This reinforces the notion that behaviors which help to keep insulin levels low and reduce chronic inflammation might also help to preserve hair. [16] [17]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldness_treatments
A diet high in fat, especially fat from animal products, is thought to reduce the amount of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), a protein that binds to testosterone circulating in the bloodstream. This binding by the protein keeps the testosterone unavailable for conversion into DHT. With high fat diets, the amount of circulating SHBG is reduced and hence more testosterone will be available to be converted into DHT.
http://www.naturesintentionsnaturopathy ... irLoss.htm
Also look for a diet that is low in carbohydrates, low in animal fats, and high in essential fatty acids.
http://www.healingwithnutrition.com/pdi ... pplan.html
Our results indicate that in men a decrease in dietary fat content and an increase in the degree of unsaturation of fatty acids reduces the serum concentrations of androstenedione, testosterone and free testosterone.
http://www.neoteny.org/a/androgens.html
Agents from green tea, such as catechins, (-)epigallocatechin-3-gallate, and (-) epicatechin-3-gallate, are more potent than those found in other plant species. These agents have been shown in clinical studies to reduce testosterone's conversion to DHT - processes thought to enhance one's physiological potential for hair loss.
http://www.progressivehealth.com/catalog/Advecia.htm
Sea vegetables: People in Asian cultures have long consumed sea vegetables as a regular part of their diet which may explain their freedom from hair loss, traditionally.
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/ ... _100767857
And GENETIC--the inheritance of genes from either the mother or the father's side of the family. Add AGE, which when coupled with genetics, represents a time clock that will signal the hair follicle to produce an enzyme named 5 alpha reductase. When the testosterone present in the follicle combines with the enzyme 5 alpha reductase, it produces dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Hair follicle receptors are sensitive to DHT and thereby start the process of male or female pattern hair loss.
http://www.psoriasiscafe.org/hairloss-male.htm
Other physiological factors might cause hair loss. Recently, a group of Japanese researcher reported a correlation between excessive sebum in the scalp and hair loss. Excessive sebum often accompanying thinning hair is attributed to an enlargement of the sebaceous gland. They believed excessive sebum causes an high level of 5-alpha reductase and pore clogging, thus malnutrition of the hair root. Although this condition could be hereditary, they believe diet is a more prominent cause. The researchers note that Japanese hair was thick and healthy, with a small gland and little scalp oil, until the occidental habit of consuming animal fat crept into their diet after World War II.
This change has led to a significant height increase in the Japanese population, but it has also resulted in more Japanese men losing hair.
http://www.onlyhairloss.com/hairlossprocess.htm
Studies show that while balding men don't have higher than average circulating testosterone levels, they do possess above-average amounts of a powerful testosterone derivative, dihydrotestosterone in the scalp follicles.
http://www.folica.com/Causes_of_Hair__d1282.html
NEIL SADICK, MD: 5 alpha reductase is an enzyme that is felt to play a major role in genetic hair loss, particularly in men. It was actually identified in a group of pseudo-hermaphrodites in the Dominican Republic, and that enzyme, which was isolated, is felt to be the major enzyme that's responsible for genetic hair loss, and the newer drugs that are now being developed block that enzyme and have been able to slow down the progress of genetic hair loss.
http://www.healthology.com/hair-loss/video2184.htm
Hair loss arises when balance between the two hormones is disturbed and androgen level is higher than usual. When testosterone (one of the male hormones) gets in contact with an enzyme which is usually found in the skin and scalp, called 5-Alpha Reductase, it is converted to DHT (Dihydrotestosterone). When this process occurs, DHT leads to a shorter hair growth cycle, miniaturization of the follicles, producing progressively finer hair till they become invisible and shrinking of the scalp coverage.
http://www.servihoo.com/Aujourdhui/kine ... ?id=115506
There is also the presence of another enzyme called P450 aromatase found in outer root sheath of follicles. It is more concentrated in the occipital area compared to the frontal area. Levels of this type of enzyme is higher in women’s scalp by 2 to 5 times compared to men’s scalp and it converts DHT to oestrogen and may therefore be responsible for less severe hair loss in women.
http://www.servihoo.com/Aujourdhui/kine ... ?id=115506
Researchers have known for years that the same testosterone metabolism responsible for prostate growth also causes male-pattern baldness (called androgenic alopecia), Dr. Roehrborn said. Both BPH and male-pattern hair loss have to do with the male hormone testosterone, which is being converted to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) by an enzyme named 5-alpha reductase. DHT activates the genes responsible for the development of male-pattern hair loss. Finasteride interferes with this process by blocking 5-alpha reductase and preventing the conversion of testosterone to DHT.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medical ... wsid=58599
.alpha.-reductase activity is reported to be higher in hair follicles from the scalp of balding men than that of nonbalding men (Schweikert and Wilson, 1974).
http://freepatentsonline.com/5605929.html
Studies now show that inhibiting 5-alpha-reductase is the key to preventing hair loss and male pattern balding.
http://hair-loss.8media.org/faq.php
I found these statements in an online article:
http://www.immortalhair.homestead.com/f ... s_Book.htm
Quote:
People’s dietary fat intake good or bad, has pronounced effects on the presence of androgens.
Cultures and regions of people, who consume fats that have been hydrogenated often, have less hair than those that eat whole-unprocessed foods do. Good fats or essential fats are often removed from shelf products to prevent spoilage, while the fats that are present in processed foods are converted to a harmful trans-fat form.
The levels of dihydrotestosterone are higher in people who eat an abundance of hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats. Red meat, processed convenient foods, pastries and margarine increase levels of testosterone in the body. A healthy intake of essential fatty acids that come from plants, whole grains and fish can prevent the malevolent effects of trans-fats on hormone reactions.
Come on guys. Fats act like hormones. Bad fats = bad hormone balance. Its obviously these that are screwin us up.
Thoughts?