The food supplement alternative
Some nutritionists claim that certain vitamins, mostly of the B complex, like biotin, folic acid, pantothenic acid, and PABA; and some minerals like zinc, iron, sulfur, silica, and copper will have a beneficial effect on the hair. But when these nutritionists are pressed they will usually concede that these vitamins and minerals only (perhaps) slow down the graying process. And even this is just a vague possibility. I know of no reputable research that even hints that vitamins and minerals by themselves can grow hair on balding scalps.
Several more things about nutrition: Many studies seem to indicate that biotin taken orally enhances the integrity of the skin which, of course, includes the hair follicles. Other studies, questionable at best, suggest that zinc plus B6 (Zix) will have a beneficial effect on the hair. All nutritionists agree, though, that vitamins and minerals work synergistically - there is a cooperation between the nutrients. This means that you don't want to take too much of any single vitamin or mineral. For example, if you take too much of any one member of the B-complex, this might throw the whole complex out of balance.
If you wander down the aisles of the health food stores, you will see many herbal products on the shelves. I would love to believe what the labels on these products say. The brain, the eyes, the prostate, and the hair - all are promised restoration. Perhaps some of these products do have merit though. I've read many encouraging reports about saw palmetto, especially about the saw palmetto extract that contains 85 to 95 percent fatty acids and sterols - but only for the prostate, not for the hair.
A Japanese dermatologist, Masumi Inaba, theorized that an excess of saturated fat (mostly from red meat) in the diets of men predisposed to baldness might hasten the balding process. As on another page, certain areas of scalp tissue produce the enzyme 5-alpha reductase. The sebaceous (oil) glands adjacent to each follicle also produce this enzyme. As fat in the diet increases, there is an increased activity in these sebaceous glands. With this increased activity, there is an increased production of this enzyme which converts circulating testosterone into DHT. This in turn has an adverse effect on the follicles.
The best advice I have about diet is just to eat wholesome, nutritious low fat meals. This certainly will not grow new hair, but it will keep you fit and healthy. Just to be safe, though, I mix some brewer’s yeast in a glass of orange juice in the morning for the vitamin B-complex, trace minerals, and amino acids. (See my article on brewer's yeast.) I also take a teaspoonful of cod liver oil and eat a few walnuts for the omega-3 fatty acids, and I eat some raw sunflower seeds and pecans for the omega-6. The usual American diet already contains too much omega-6 though.
Some people feel more comfortable getting their nutrients from pills rather than from wholesome foods. Many nutritionists who are not associated with the pill companies believe that only 10% to perhaps 20% of the nutrients in pills are assimilated. There are also unidentified nutritional factors in real food that have not been synthesized yet and put into pills.
A nutrition guru who usually makes sense to me is Dr. Andrew Weil. He doesn't have much hair on top but that's OK. His new book is Healthy Aging: A Lifelong Guide to Your Physical Well-Being. His Web site always has good ideas about nutrition, exercise, and other health topics - Dr. Weil. Many nutrition gurus have eccentric diet plans that they urge you to follow, and they of course also urge you to buy their supplements and sign up for their liver detox programs. Dr. Weil is not into such eccentricity. His diet recommendations are rational and balanced. Even though he sells supplements, he states categorically that you should get most of your nutrients from real food. Supplements should do just that - supplement what you might not be getting from the foods you eat.
Even though I attribute no miracles to supplements, I still order several from Web Vitamins, a company that has high quality control and low prices. I've been getting Brewer's Yeast Powder from this company for over a dozen years. If there is a miracle food, this is it, at least as far as hair is concerned. I also get Black Currant Oil softgels for the GLA (gamma-linolenic acid), Ester-C 500 mg with bioflavonoids, and E-200 in wheat germ oil with lecithin. Go to the Web Vitamins site by clicking on the ad located at the bottom of the sidebar. Don't go wild though. There's almost too much stuff here to contemplate.
New ideas on the essential fatty acids (EFAs)
An anonymous poster on the discussion forum asked me to tell him how the omega-3 fatty acids benefit hair. I don’t know what level of explanation he wanted. I don’t think he wanted a biochemical treatise on the subject. But the question is an excellent one because the essential fatty acids are very much in the news these days.
When I started studying nutrition the EFAs were called vitamin F. Some books that are now on sale at the health food stores, like the Nutrition Almanac, still use the term vitamin F.
Often when people have a borderline deficiency in the EFAs, they experience dry, brittle hair, excessive oiliness of the scalp, greasy hair, dandruff, itchiness - and hair loss. When experimental animals are totally deprived of the EFAs, they not only have hair loss but also an enlargement of the sebaceous glands. Enlarged sebaceous glands produce an excess of sebum. An excess of sebum often accompanies hair loss, but dermatologists do not think that one causes the other even though there is a positive correlation between excess sebum production and hair loss.
Many nutritionists now believe that the optimum ratio between the omega-6 and omega-3 essential fatty acids in the diet is about three to one. In the usual American diet the ratio is probably ten to one, with extremely more omega-6 being consumed than omega-3. The omega-6 fatty acids, which include linoleic and gamma-linolenic acids, are found in unsaturated vegetable oils like soybean oil and peanut oil, in sunflower seeds, and some legumes. The omega-3 fatty acids, which include alpha-linolenic and eicosapentaenoic (don’t try to pronounce it) acid, are found in cold water fish like salmon and sardines, walnuts, flaxseed oil, evening primrose oil, black currant oil, and cod liver oil. Omega-3 is also in tuna, but because of the methyl mercury I stay away from this even though I like it a lot. I take black currant oil softgels and cod liver oil but not too much because of the high vitamin A content. (But my recommendation is to stay away from flaxseed products. Instead of my explaining why, just read this well-researched article from the E Drug Digest.)
It’s best to take any supplement like black currant oil, or evening primrose oil with a meal because they need co-factors (other vitamins and minerals) for assimilation. I don’t like to take these with a meal that contains a lot of saturated fat though. Saturated fat may interferes with the assimilation of the omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Old age also interferes with the assimilation of these nutrients - stay away from old age.
My firm recommendation is to stay completely away from the trans-fatty acids. These are the vegetable oils that have been hydrogenated - margarine, cheap peanut butter (you’ll read hydrogenated on the label), deep-fried food, especially French fries.
If you consume the bad fatty acids and even the good ones, it is wise to get sufficient antioxidants like vitamin E, beta carotene, and vitamin C. I take 200 international units of natural vitamin E (mixed tocopherols). These antioxidants mop up the free radicals created by the bad oils and keep the good ones fresh.
Another recommendation is to stay away from food products with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in the ingredients list. This is hard to do, though, because this chemical is in almost every processed food - salad dressing, apple sauce, ice cream, cakes, cookies, pies, catsup, soft drinks, and the list goes on and on. The following few paragraphs are from the Supermarket Guru:
While many reports show that American consumption of white refined sugar has dropped over the past 20 years, it is mostly a result of the switch by food companies to HFCS, which according to USDA figures shows an increased our consumption of high fructose corn syrup by 250% over the last 15 years. Estimates are that we consume about 9% of our daily calories in the form of fructose.
So why is High Fructose Corn Syrup being blamed? The problem appears to be the fructose not the corn syrup. Corn syrup’s sugar is primarily glucose, which our body burns as a source of immediate energy, is stored in muscles and our liver for later use, and releases insulin. Fructose, on the other hand, does not release or stimulate insulin.
Insulin is a naturally occurring hormone that helps to metabolize our foods by pushing carbohydrates into our muscle cells to be used as energy, and allows carbohydrates to be stores in our liver for later use. It also stimulates production of another hormone, leptin, which helps to regulate our storage of body fat and increases our metabolism when needed. These two hormones keep our body fat regulated and tells us, for all intent purposes, when we are satisfied and sends the message to our brain to stop eating.
Researchers at the University of Michigan found that men who consume very high levels of fructose elevated their triglyceride level by 32 percent. As trygliceride enters our blood stream, it makes our cells resistant to insulin, making our body’s fat burning and storage system even more sluggish.
Dr. Andrew Weil attributes the epidemic of obesity in the United States largely to the high fructose corn syrup found in processed foods.
Read a more in-depth article about my ideas on nutrition and hair - The Anti-aging Diet.