Can A Change In Diet Reverse Hair Loss?
Could restoring your hair to the look and feel it once was be as simple as eating the right foods? Well according to my neighbor it is just as simple as that due to an article he read on the internet.
As we all know everything we read on the internet is true; or maybe not.
The first thing to consider as to whether this simple fix is something the follically challenged should really take seriously has to do with what causes the majority of hair loss cases.
The answer of course is male (90 percent of cases) or female pattern balding (30 percent of cases) which is a genetically linked and hormone driven condition in which the androgen hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT) shrinks hair follicles by the tens of thousands.
So, an abundance of DHT translates into less hair with most of the well advanced bald areas being permanent.
Back to my neighbor. Unsolicited he decided to provide me with his miracle formula knowing all the while that I have been successful at holding male pattern baldness at bay for almost 20 years now through a combination of herbs and natural remedies.
Don’t get me wrong, over the years I have had my share of hair re-growth failures having tried just about everything imaginable both conventional and unconventional.
For example minoxidil showed promise for a few short weeks then it quite working and scalp sensitivity set in.
Or the time I thought that saw palmetto alone was enough to block DHT and get things going in the right direction.
Or more recently the Chinese all-purpose herb fo-ti didn’t deliver the results I was hoping for.
Nevertheless, all in all things have gone better than average over the years and while my hair isn’t what it once was it still looks pretty good for someone my age.
So despite my reservations about the ultimate outcome I was willing to give this internet hair loss reversal diet a try just to be a good sport.
*His plan involved breakfast including oatmeal (silicia, iron, magnesium) or whole wheat toast (iron) with a glass of milk (absorbable iodine) for breakfast.
*For lunch there was soy (protein, iron, vitamin E) with chickpeas (zinc, B6).
*Diner included alternating roast beef (B6 and zinc) and cold water fatty fish (vitamins A, biotin, B6, protein, and omega 3 fatty acids).
*And for snacking almonds (iron, biotin, vitamin E, ALA omega 3, protein) and/or oranges (vitamin C).
While it seemed the hassle factor, cost, and realization that this supposedly revolutionary new hair re-growth diet was not only not new but not over weighted in biotin (B7), considered by many to be the most important hair vitamin, I decided to give it a try.
And guess what I didn’t see any benefit whatsoever other than slightly improved hair texture.
When you get right down to it if pattern balding is the hair loss problem you are trying to address nutrition alone is likely not the answer. On the other hand, if male or female pattern balding is not present then foods along with vitamin supplements just might be able to play an important role in your restorative efforts.
The focus of whatever treatment you ultimately decide upon must address DHT (dihydrotestosterone) in some form of fashion in order to re-invigorate damaged follicles and bring dead or dying follicles back to life.
Additionally, blocking DHT is also essential to protecting your existing hair, as both male and female pattern balding are progressive.
In conclusion, when it comes to pattern balding the best treatment I have found thus far is a combination of one of a handful of oral herbal DHT blockers combined with a topical hair growth accelerator; of which there are many excellent choices on the market.
Also, re-growing hair, and filling in bald spots, is a challenging task as you are trying to revive severely damaged follicles just below the scalp while trying to protect your healthy hair. This means that it is always better to recognize and attack the problem early on before pattern balding becomes too advanced.
Can A Change In Diet Reverse Hair Loss? by Robert D Hawkins
