Right ok look...
I'm aware that again I have been changing my stand on things a bit and I've done this a few times as I've learnt new things. This is probably throwing up the biggest hurdle in seeing eye-to-eye with people, as every time I discover something new that feels significant I go "OMG OMG OMG!!" and post it all over the forum lol
But the reality of this guys is that this stuff DOES matter. People with increased insulin resistance DO impact their other hormonal levels, they DO impact their free testosterone levels and yes this DOES have an affect on DHT-sensitive hair follicles. You don't need to be a genius to work this stuff out you just need to do a bit of impartial research. Do you guys (seaback etc) even know what SHBG stands for? And if you know what it is how can you POSSIBLY say it plays no role in your body's ability to regulate hormones crucial to male pattern baldness? Anyone with the tiniest bit of real medical knowledge will say that the health of the liver impacts the speed at which you will bald, although of course they will argue over the exact impact it has. This is because a healthy liver can produce more SHBG which will mop up more free testosterone. It's simple, simple stuff
Now, if you're blasting your body with Finasteride then yes you may offset this because even though your free T may be too high your 5ar is so low that relatively little of it can be converted into DHT, systemically or within the scalp. But I still believe it's healthier and more effective to treat things like this at source.
And for the record I wish people would stop claiming I am denying the role of genetics in male pattern baldness. Saying that is ludicrous and only convinces me more that you are not really taking things on board you are just giving a knee-jerk reaction to something that doesn't agree with your way of thinking. Of course genetics plays a role. I am sitting here with a bit of hair loss because my genes make me susceptible to it. What I am questioning though if you're so clever seaback is where the actual PROOF is that diet and lifestyle (or age or whatever) turn on the "male pattern baldness gene", and that it isn't simply exhibited when your androgens reach more mature levels or when your body absorbs certain toxins or short-term stimuli.
I'm not even saying it's necessarily not true, but I've seen more evidence to the contrary now and so I want PROOF that it is true. Is that so much to ask?
As far as I can tell if it was true then Brains Expel Hair would still be losing hair, and that other guy on a different forum who cut out inflammatory food from his diet would still be losing hair. But I could be wrong on this so please PROVE it to me.
Right, that aside, I am not arguing that DHT doesn't cause hair loss in those of us that are genetically susceptible. I am also not arguing that some people's follicles might be so damn sensitive that even the most perfected DHT/T levels will still force them to miniaturize.. What I am saying is that there may be other factors involved here. I know for a fact that overall hormonal balance and levels will affect T/DHT levels among other things, and that is why I listen to people like Brian when he mentions hypothyroidism and when people mention liver health. Because you sit there and you think "yeah, yeah that probably would do it...". And so the only way to prove or disprove it is to TRY it.
I guess what I find the most disturbing is just HOW closed minded many people are to this stuff. Proof that anti-inflammatories, antimicrobials, antioxidants, inaccurate thyroid glands, unhealthy livers, toxins and other factors don't have an impact on hair loss would be appreciated too. The fact that that things like anti-inflammatories and antimicrobials seem to help topically clearly means nothing for their ability to help systemically..........
I know it's a nice simple world when you can just say "oops the gene is on now take lots and lots of finasteride because that's all you can do", but I'm going to need proof that people don't just believe that because of it's simplicity.