Remarkable growth with Min plus Supps: Study

[RStGeorge]

Controlled clinical trial for evaluation of hair growth with low dose cyclical nutrition therapy in men and women without the use of finasteride

Aim: To evaluate possible results with the stimulation use of minoxidil and the strengthening of hair roots with nutritional cyclical supplements, resulting in increased hair regrowth, without the use of anti androgens and enzyme blockers.Methods: This prospective controlled clinical trial...

parjournal.net

The above links to a fascinating study.

The results of this study suggest that 2% Minoxidil plus the ‘cycling’ of certain supplements provide significantly more hair regrowth than does 2% Minoxidil plus Finasteride.

It also suggests for women with Androgenetic Alopecia that 2% Minoxidil plus the ‘cycling’ of certain supplements provides significantly more hair regrowth than Minoxidil alone.

Why do I find this study fascinating?

Well, I will state that I use anti-androgens and will continue to do so. However, this study holds promise for those who cannot tolerate Finasteride or Dutasteride, providing an alternate viable treatment option.

Secondly, this study proposes a theory about the effective use of supplements. It suggests that taking various supplements all in one go restricts absorption and in fact can have deleterious effects. It suggests a pattern of isolating certain supplements to a given day, so they do not interfere with each other.

Thirdly, this study argues that Androgenetic Alopecia is multi-factorial in terms of cause. It in fact downplays the importance of anti-androgens, something that I find difficult to accept, but nevertheless argues that anti-androgens are but one factor, a minor one at that, and significant regrowth can be achieved without finasteride or dutasteride.

I think such a study is worth noting by those who cannot tolerate or are too frightened to use anti-androgens.

For those of us who subscribe to the kitchen sink approach, this notion of cycling supplements, if the premise holds true, may in fact increase the effectiveness of our regimen.

Please note the study is long and makes many salient points.

I am not suggesting we accept these results as dogma, but we should take note and hopefully our forum members can put these theories to the test and report back to the forum on anecdotal experience, whether positive or not.

 

[-Synergy-]

I read everything you said but don’t want to read the entire study. The idea sounds interesting because minoxidil does increase blood flow. I think his name sounds familiar and I might have seen a supplement kit with his name on it somewhere. Can you post what vitamins/supplements a person is supposed to take in the correct order. It might be worth a shot and worse case scenario your just giving your body extra nutrients.

 

[RStGeorge]

Can you post what vitamins/supplements a person is supposed to take in the correct order. It might be worth a shot and worse case scenario your just giving your body extra nutrients.

 

[miltonic]

Thanks for sharing that @RStGeorge, I'm definitely going to give this protocol a shot. I do not like the idea of taking anti-androgens and intelligent supplementation approach is much more interesting to me. Patient pics in the study are very encouraging as well. I'm currently on minoxidil, and just bought a derminator for microneedling. I'm going to pick up a 2% ketoconazole shampoo and and try this supplementation, will keep try to share results in the next number of months.

 

[mooreu]

A few of the photos showed remarkable growth in a relatively short time frame. The study made no mention of how much of each supplement the participants took. And I may be mistaken but there wasn't a specific antioxidant mentioned.

The other issue I have is that I have to take some of my supplements every day. I also take a bunch of supplements not mentioned in the study and a few which I don't take now.

 

[miltonic]

A few of the photos showed remarkable growth in a relatively short time frame. The study made no mention of how much of each supplement the participants took. And I may be mistaken but there wasn't a specific antioxidant mentioned.

The other issue I have is that I have to take some of my supplements every day. I also take a bunch of supplements not mentioned in the study and a few which I don't take now.

Yeah there are some details that need to be figured out, what I took from the study was the following:

Supplements can often cancel each other out, or do not absorb well in the body on their own. Stacking specific supplements around the same time interval (same day) synergize with each other for better absorption, and by not taking a comprehensive daily stack, reduce the the possibility of one of them nullifying the effect of another. One of the stack combinations was Calcium/magnesium/D3. I went into my local grocery store today and saw some supplements that were sold with those exact 3 supplements all mixed together, so vitmain companies seem to be aware of certain supplement stacks working well together rather than by themselves.

It also mentioned low dosing the supplements, I'm making the assumption that achieving 100% daily recommended amount is sufficient, and going for over anything higher than that might have significantly diminishing returns. I am leaving iron out of the stack myself, I recently had a blood panel done and my iron is going into borderline high levels. Consequentially, my ferritin levels were high, which isn't a good thing. To take more iron at this point would not be wise for me personally, I'll have to go get blood drawn to balance out my iron/ferretin levels before considering taking any iron in the near future. All this to say, it's probably wise to have a baseline of knowing what supplements you really need and those you may have in excess. I'm super low in D3, like almost considered unhealthy, so it won't hurt for me to supplement more heavily with that.

Regarding anti-oxidants and amino acids, there aren't currently any supplements that are as effective as specific whole foods. On those days, I'm just going to make sure I have multiple servings of high anti-oxident foods. Most berries (blueberries are the best), and a whole variety of beans, plums, apples etc are very high in anti-oxidents, so just have extra servings of those on those days. and the essential amino acids are complete protein sources, so meat/eggs, soy/pea protein etc.

It did mention the supplement participants in the study were also using Ketaconazole 2% shampoo (Known DHT blocker) as well as 2% minoxidil. Their results were being compared to another group taking the shampoo, minoxidil, and finasteride, but no supplementation. I think finasteride is a nuclear option for most people and long term side effects are almost unavoidable, with some form of gynocemastia being almost likely within a year, according to my doctor who prescribes it. It's amazing that the supplement group had better results than the finasteride group.

Overall though, the study is very encouraging, it's not selling anything that can't be gotten on the cheap in your local stores, so I don't see how this could be used to scam/profiteer. It's actually the most hopeful, healthy alternative approach I've seen when it comes to countering androgenic alopecia. I'm definitely going to follow this protocol for the next half year to see if noticeable improvements are made.

Current approach: This supplementation guide, ketaconazole 2% shampoo 3x week, minoxidil, microneedling. I'll keep this thread updated.

 

[partysnacks]

It's too bad they didn't specify the anti-oxidant. My bet would be something like mixed tocotrienols, which already has a study although I think people didn't much success with trying that.

Effects of Tocotrienol Supplementation on Hair Growth in Human Volunteers

Studies have shown an association between oxidative stress and alopecia. Patients with alopecia generally exhibit lower levels of antioxidants in their scalp area as well as a higher lipid peroxidation index. Tocotrienols belong to the vitamin E family ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[xaragedom]

It's too bad they didn't specify the anti-oxidant. My bet would be something like mixed tocotrienols, which already has a study although I think people didn't much success with trying that.

Effects of Tocotrienol Supplementation on Hair Growth in Human Volunteers

Studies have shown an association between oxidative stress and alopecia. Patients with alopecia generally exhibit lower levels of antioxidants in their scalp area as well as a higher lipid peroxidation index. Tocotrienols belong to the vitamin E family ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

More important they didnt specify the dosage of every supplement they use...