11 Dec Natural Treatments for Hair Loss
The causes of hair loss are multifactorial and a comprehensive review of your general health and lab work with a Naturopathic Physician can be invaluable at individualizing a treatment approach to managing *your* cause of hair loss. Here’s some generalized supportive suggestions.
Dietary Considerations
Sugar and Hair Loss
The delicate balance of male and female hormones is crucial to the issue of hair loss and so are the hormones regulated by the thyroid. But another hormone also plays a role in hair loss, and that’s insulin.
The pancreas creates insulin and glucagon, which both maintain stable blood-sugar levels. Here’s how they work:
- Your body converts food and its nutrients into glucose, a sugar. Insulin helps your body’s cells use glucose for fuel, thereby lowering the amount of sugar remaining in your bloodstream.
- Glucagon stimulates your liver to release its stored sugar into the bloodstream when the amount of sugar in the bloodstream needs to be raised.
- These two hormones – insulin and glucagon – play off each other to keep your blood-sugar balanced.
Diabetes, a chronically high level of blood sugar, results when the pancreas can’t produce enough insulin or the body can’t properly use the insulin. In this case, the sugar isn’t able to go from the bloodstream to the cells where it’s needed to fuel the body, and it’s not able to go to the liver to be stored until it’s needed for fuel.
Dysglycemia, or low blood sugar, is the opposite of diabetes. When you have dysglycemia, your body’s sugar is used for fuel by the cells to such an extent that not enough circulates in the bloodstream. This can be caused by not eating often enough for blood-sugar levels to be replenished – giving you the light-headed or queasy feeling you get if you haven’t eaten in a few hours or all day – or from too much insulin.
The Relationship Between Insulin and Testosterone
By controlling your insulin level you can also control testosterone level. Through a sugar-balancing diet, you can help regulate your testosterone levels and create an internal physiological environment supportive of hair growth.
Foods affect hormones quickly, anywhere from a few minutes to a few weeks. Scientists already know that diets high in animal fats trigger the release of more testosterone into your bloodstream. Studies have also shown that low-fat or vegetarian diets lower levels of testosterone in your bloodstream. A low-fat, high omega-3 fatty acid diet, also lowers excess estrogen levels in both men and women. Have you noticed that obese men can have breast enlargement? That’s because someone who is overweight, even a man, is more likely to have a higher level of estrogen.
The Sugar-Balancing Diet
Whole foods, minimally processed, lots of colourful fruits & vegetables is the gold standard diet for disease management. Hormonal balance can be supported by controlling insulin within a tight zone (not too high or too low) with the right ratio of protein to carbohydrates, fat and fiber — a diet similar to that recommended to diabetics.
General guidelines:
- Protein: consume lean free-run protein sources (that are well tolerated), these may include: turkey, chicken, fish, red meat (very occasionally), egg whites and no-fat/low fat cottage cheese.
- Carbohydrates: Includes complex carbohydrates from fruits, vegetables, beans and whole (non-refined) grains. Do not eat potatoes, pasta and bread regularly. They are immediately converted to glucose and disturb insulin levels when your blood sugar rises very quickly and then falls. This is very negative for proper hormonal function and balance.
- Fats: Use only the following oils in their whole form as fruits or nuts or as extracted oils: flaxseed oil, fish oil, extra virgin olive, almond, avocado, cashew, pecan, hazelnut and pistachio.
- Alcohol: More than one alcoholic drink per day is not advised. Alcohol plays havoc with your blood sugar levels and your hormones. It robs your body of vitamin C, B, zinc and folic acid. It also acts as a diuretic and can cause severe dehydration, which damages all of your systems and directly affects the condition of your scalp and hair growth.
- Caffeine: Limit you caffeine intake. Long-term use of caffeine depletes the body of vitamins B & C and the minerals magnesium, potassium and zinc. This stresses the adrenal glands, which causes the depletion of vital nutrients in the bloodstream, which then adversely affects DHT levels.
- Nicotine: Avoid nicotine. It depletes the body of many important nutrients and long –term puts extreme stress on the adrenal glands.
Additional Guidelines:
- Eat five or six small meals a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner, with a light snack between each meal and a nightly snack.
- If you are not overweight, your body will make better use of its insulin. Overweight people are prone to diabetes, which is chronically high blood sugar.
- Don’t let more than three hours pass without eating something.
- Avoid refined and processed foods. Whole and natural foods are used by the body more slowly and evenly, which keeps the blood sugar levels steady, not spiking or dropping sharply.
- Avoid snacks and desserts that contain refined sugar, such as candy, cakes, cookies, pastries, ice cream, canned fruits and the like. They cause blood sugar to rise quickly and then drop.
- Soluble fiber, the kind found in vegetables, oats, and fruits, helps your intestines absorb glucose (sugar) steadily and evenly.
- Reducing your salt intake reduces blood-sugar levels.
- Exercise lowers blood-sugar levels.
- Stress can cause fluctuations in blood-sugar levels.
- When your blood sugar is extremely low and you feel dizzy, light–headed, disoriented, or nauseated, drink 4 ounces of orange juice. It will raise your blood-sugar level almost immediately and will relieve symptoms in a few minutes. You will begin to feel its effects after just the first few sips of orange juice.
Supplement Considerations
Some of the treatments are based on how they affect the immune system and some are not. While it may be a mystery why some of them work, studies and clinical experience show that in many cases they do work and usually with far fewer side effects than pharmaceutical drugs have.
Green Tea
Many studies have documented green tea’s therapeutic properties, including its ability to act as a powerful antioxidant. Green tea also has been shown to inhibit the androgens that trigger androgenetic alopecia in both men and women.
Gamma Linolenic Acid (GLA)
Unsaturated fatty acids such as GLA inhibit the enzyme 5-alpha reductase, which converts testosterone into hair follicle-harming DHT. GLA, one of the essential fatty acids, is found in linseed oil, black currant oil and evening primrose oil.
Omega 3 Fatty Acids Found in Oils
Oils that are high in omega 3 fatty acids include flaxseed oil, linseed oil and fish oil. Because of its anti-inflammatory effect, it promotes the health of the hair follicles and hair. These oils can be incorporated into your diet and taken in capsule form.
Zinc
This mineral in combination with vitamin B6 and azelaic acid, inhibits the activity of 5-alpha reductase, thereby protecting your hair follicles from DHT. Zinc and azelaic acid are available as a topical treatment.
When taking zinc orally, use only zinc picolinate, the best-absorbed form.
Aloe Vera
Because of aloe vera’s healing and anti-inflammatory properties, some people use 100 percent aloe vera gel (either directly from the plant or bottled). Studies show that it stimulates the immune system, acts as an antiviral, and contains natural substances that are implicated in hair growth stimulation. It can be effective in treating psoriasis, male and female pattern baldness and alopecia areatea.