Hair Loss & Thinning

[Jogiu]

I (male, 24) have been experiencing rapid hair loss and thinning over the past two months.

Symptoms:
1. When I run my hand through my hair about 4-7 hairs fall out. I am well above the average of 80-100 lost hairs a day.
2. My hair has lost thickness, particularly around my hair line.

I have had pretty major lifestyle change over the past two months. I have moved to a city where I don't know anyone and I have a job that is mostly in isolation. I am very socially isolated. (Why I'm doing this job in the first place is another story -- let's not go there.) These "stress factors" could contribute to the hair loss I've been experiencing. I also have not been eating as much as I typically do. I could up protein intake in order to achieve stronger hair. I have been exercising consistently, typically once a day.

Diet is as follows:
Breakfast: coffee
Lunch: soup
Dinner: heavy protein dish, typically chicken

What is the best approach to recouping a full head of hair for someone like me? It seems like my diet is really weak and is standing in the way of healthier hair.

I've been using Solban in the mornings, but it hasn't seemed to do perform all that well for me. I've just started applying almond oil and nettle oil at night.

Is a dermatologist visit the best next step?

Any ideas appreciated.

 

[milk_lover]

Your diet is not very rich calories-wise and nutrition-wise. No milk or cheese? No fruit juices? Chicken is not ideal because it contains PUFA. lamb, beef, and shellfish are probably better options. At dinner, do you eat any carb with your heavy protein dish? If I were you, I would eat my protein during lunch and keep the dinner light like fruits, milk, soup etc., because digestion is slowed at night time.

I would drop almond oil and nettle oil as I think they have a lot of PUFA. PUFA is a big enemy for the hair; that's why Peat recommends aspirin applied on the scalp to fight hair loss. You can replace those oils with coconut oil and add some coffee and aspirin into the mix.

 

[mujuro]

Definitely try to remedy the social isolation issue, however you can. Social isolation dramatically decreases 5AR in the brain, which we need for our protective neurosteroids.

I've been using Alpecin shampoo just for the hell of it and after only 10 days my scalp has more sensation in it and my hair is growing insanely fast. I know it has a lot of potential endocrine disruptors in it so I'm going to make my own caffeine/niacinamide lotion to apply in the shower.

 

[Jogiu]

Your diet is not very rich calories-wise and nutrition-wise. No milk or cheese? No fruit juices? Chicken is not ideal because it contains PUFA. lamb, beef, and shellfish are probably better options. At dinner, do you eat any carb with your heavy protein dish? If I were you, I would eat my protein during lunch and keep the dinner light like fruits, milk, soup etc., because digestion is slowed at night time.

I would drop almond oil and nettle oil as I think they have a lot of PUFA. PUFA is a big enemy for the hair; that's why Peat recommends aspirin applied on the scalp to fight hair loss. You can replace those oils with coconut oil and add some coffee and aspirin into the mix.

Thanks for the input. I have been wanting to alter my diet holistically for a while. I'm very new to the Ray Peat world, but have been inspired to make the necessary changes.

Here's what I just purchased at the grocery store this morning:

1. Orange Juice
2. Whole Milk
3. Block of 3-year Cheddar Cheese
4. Block of Catamount Hill Cheese
5. 100% Unsweetened Coconut Flakes
6. Whole Carrots
7. Apple Cider Vinegar
8. Sea Salt
9. Mexican Cokes

Based on what I've seen online, this seems to be the classic Ray Peat diet. I first want to try it out by the books and then make the necessary tweaks after getting my feet wet.

Anything else you'd offer by way of diet?

 

[Evan]

You may want to rearrange your idea of a "diet" Its not really about accumulating foods like its a protocol, more like finding out what works for you.
Danny Roddy has compiled vast amounts of informative research on hair loss and how stress (mental, physical, emotional) can upset the balance in certain individuals prone to balding, and a lot of hid recommendations can help with it.
I think you're close with diet. The main thing is to get enough good protein (80-100grams/day or more) with any of these sources: milk, cheese, gelatin, shellfish, beef, organs. adequate carbohydrate (at least double the amount of protein) from fruits/ sugars, starches, potatoes, rice
and fats like coconut oil/butter.

Other things like noticing gut issues might be a good idea.. Activated charcoal/ carrot salad/ antibiotics.

Other supplements to research: Vitamin A/D/E/K2.. Thyroid if it may be needed/ enough salt/ getting enough calcium?

Gauging how you feel day to day is your best guide. Are you warm, clear headed, happy, starting to feel outgoing and wanting to engage with people are good signs to look toward. Do you feel depressed, stressed, are you getting good/enough sleep? going to bed as early as you can?

It may take awhile to get acclimated to knowing how you feel and what nutrional/lifestyle strategies it takes to get back to a more balanced feeling inside.

Any questions regarding this?

 

[Jogiu]

Thanks for sharing, Evan. I completely agree. Diet is not a protocol and it varies from person to person. That said, I have to start somewhere so I started with the food I listed above. A starter kit, if you will.

I will monitor my psychological state day-by-day in order to assess what foods make the most sense for me. I'm definitely not resigned to the foods I purchased this morning as the ULTIMATE, end all be all approach. Just one of many. I will modify as needed along the way.

How would you recommend I assess what the best approach to supplements would be?

 

[Elephanto]

Take a lot of magnesium (1000-2000mg). That's the base because hair loss is always the results of scalp calcification. Not necessarily the cause, theorically it could be the accumulation of collagen caused by estrogen, histamine etc and this blocks the bloodflow to the hair follicles but this collagen hardens and become calcium deposits so calcification is always the endresult. Magnesium being a calcium antagonist, blocking calcium channels as well as a nitric oxide scavenger can reverse calcification to some degree. Magnesium citrate worked well for me, I know Peat wrote about citrate leeching calcium from bones which isn't good but maybe it was also helping leeching calcium off the scalp? Nowadays I only take Mag Bicarbonate and Glycinate and they seem to be as effective while having other benefits. also put apple cider vinegar on your scalp and sleep with it, it helps very much to decalcify. Zinc is also one of the most protective minerals in my experience and low zinc has been linked to prostate cancer. Zinc opposes copper and can even lead to copper deficiency but studies show that excess copper promote prostate cancer since they grow through copper uptake; and copper itself increases the inflammatory cytokine il-6 while zinc inhibits it, zinc also inhibits nitric oxide production. Long-term approach is mostly about lowering estrogen, nitric oxide, histamine/endotoxin, serotonin, cortisol and adrenaline.

 

[redlight]

I don't think diet is going to do much...

Heck josh rubin has been following for ray peat for as long as i can remember and he's receding now..

 

[natedawggh]

I (male, 24) have been experiencing rapid hair loss and thinning over the past two months.

Symptoms:
1. When I run my hand through my hair about 4-7 hairs fall out. I am well above the average of 80-100 lost hairs a day.
2. My hair has lost thickness, particularly around my hair line.

I have had pretty major lifestyle change over the past two months. I have moved to a city where I don't know anyone and I have a job that is mostly in isolation. I am very socially isolated. (Why I'm doing this job in the first place is another story -- let's not go there.) These "stress factors" could contribute to the hair loss I've been experiencing. I also have not been eating as much as I typically do. I could up protein intake in order to achieve stronger hair. I have been exercising consistently, typically once a day.

Diet is as follows:
Breakfast: coffee
Lunch: soup
Dinner: heavy protein dish, typically chicken

What is the best approach to recouping a full head of hair for someone like me? It seems like my diet is really weak and is standing in the way of healthier hair.

I've been using Solban in the mornings, but it hasn't seemed to do perform all that well for me. I've just started applying almond oil and nettle oil at night.

Is a dermatologist visit the best next step?

Any ideas appreciated.

Coffee first thing in the morning without food is going to raise your cortisol levels to catastrophic levels and is probably the sole reason for your hair loss, since you are under stress and manually increasing the levels of stress hormones by this behavior. ALWAYS have food with coffee, even if it's just a big glass of orange juice. Keeping your blood sugar elevated and never going hungry will stop your hair loss, and as you eat well it will come back.

 

[mayweatherking]

I don't think diet is going to do much...

Heck josh rubin has been following for ray peat for as long as i can remember and he's receding now..

where are his pics? who is he?

 

[Blossom]

You can see Josh in this video but he is wearing a hat so it's impossible to tell anything about his hair. Him and his wife are Peat style consultants.
Is Fat The New Fit? Josh Rubin Interview With The RawBrahs

 

[redlight]

Its kind of dissapointing that diet will do nothing for hair loss

 

[Herbie]

Who know's what Rubins interpretation is of Rays work... He comes from a chek background and some of the principles are avoid the 4 white devils.. Pasteurised dairy, white sugar, white flour and white salt are THE DEVIL so if he's still got one foot in that belief and one in Ray's who knows what he's thinking or doing.

Ray is honest about what he eats and drinks thats why when Rubin asks Ray in one of those podcasts what Ray ate and he said a coke and a steak and Rubin giggles like a school boy hearing his friend smoke a cigarette behind a building. Its because Chek puts the fear of life into his strict almost impossible guidelines of food and life consumption but doesn't do that in his own life but hides that. I was very intrigued by Chek and his own lifestyle he eats all sorts of processed foods and interesting habits when confronted says that he puts one boot on a time like everyone else.

I come across Ray through Rubin I was involved in Chek and when I was following that line of thinking the horse shoe developed (thankfully 5 years later my hair has recovered)

I try to watch Rubins videos on youtube but he appears to me to be stressed, his tone, body language, his train of thought, the way he attempts to explain things which make it very difficult to watch, yes I noticed his hair is bit thin but he dies his hair which makes it more obvious.

I think he really wants to help the average Joe get healthy and attempts to explain things at Joe's level. One thing I've learnt that in todays world if you get unhealthy and you want to reverse that then you need to be intelligent, driven, have grit, patience, ability to think critically, ability to learn and take on new ideas, listen to your gut. Its a trip down into the scientific research world, Once you start talking about 5 alpha reductase inhibitor to the average person its way over their head, you've gone too far down that rabbit hole.

Those people who want someone to give them a diet plan or a pill or some cream and want to lump things into what food is good or bad because they don't want to think need to realise that they need to take full responsibly over their body and stop being a prostitute to every consumer service or item.

Thats why Ray is good because he gives in-depth clues to things for free and leaves it all to the individual to figure it our through experimentation and further investigation which is an art in itself.

 

[ddjd]

nitric oxide scavenger can reverse calcification to some degree

would methylene blue also reverse hair loss caused by high nitric oxide?