Indian Hair Paradox - Explanation

[Jackson Chung]

One interesting thing I noticed during my trip to India is that people my age have VERY thick hair.

I find this ironic as Indians consume a TON of PUFA (fried food, oily food, etc...). Almost everyone had a gut though they are skinny.

On top of that everyone puts oil in their hair. Most of the commercial hair oils are full of PUFA.

Despite this they have very thick hair.

Mechanisms to explain this:

1. Sunlight : Very intense there and we all know the benefits of red light. People are exposed to a lot of sunlight considering they all drive motor bikes and are outside a lot. Sunlight also reduces Prolactin and generally has benefical effects

2. UV light from the sun. Polymerizes the hair oil via free radical reaction and it forms "films" over the hair. Thickening it over time

What do you guys think of this paradox?

 

[Elephanto]

Turmeric/curry is anti-estrogenic and anti-bacterial, few cultures have such substances as a staple. Stress is much lower as life is much simpler there and I believe that stress, whatever its root causes, is one of the main promoter of hair loss and of prostate cancer (along with Endotoxins and Estrogen, all working synergically). Stress triggers Arachidonic Acid release, and they eat less meat which is a more important source of AA than linoleic acid (veg oils) that is poorly converted in AA. A low meat diet has also been shown to decrease the levels of metalloestrogens (heavy metals such as Cadmium and Lead) which have systematically damaging and estrogenic effects. Stress promotes Estrogen, Serotonin and the kind of breathing that reduces CO2 levels and promotes calcification including that of the scalp, and the loss of CO2 only accentuates the increase in Serotonin. It's a vicious circle, Estrogen and Serotonin in turn also increase cortisol and adrenaline. Year-long Vitamin D is also protective and you have a good point about UV rays, they are known to inhibit excess keratinocytes proliferation which is present in many skin disorders and in mpb (IGFBP-3 is lower in mpb and IGFBP-3 also inhibits keratinocytes proliferation). The legumes they eat also have Estrogen Receptor Beta triggering effect which has a net reducing effect on Estrogen levels as EB is triggered by anti-estrogens and it is low in prostate/breast cancer and shown to have anti-proliferative effects. I wouldn't be surprised if most of them practice some form of Intermittent Fasting, which is known to reduce Endotoxins. Endotoxins trigger Cortisol, Serotonin, Estrogen and Nitric Oxide (contributing to calcification) chronically. Their staple use of many anti-bacterial substances help on this front.

Don't they also eat Coconut Oil ? I know it's praised by Indian women as an hair conditioner, but if they also cook with it it could balance out some of the stress-promoting effects of pufas. They also use ghee for cooking.

Another point, they have a very sound culture of eating. Not rushed or stressed, not staring at a box of blue lights, and often in family. There's also the popular habit of curing the teeth right after eating, which should help with periodontitis which has systemic negative effects related to Endotoxins. Lastly, they also have a low intake of sugar which could be just a coincidence.

 

[Herbie]

I know an indian guy and he has such a widows peak that he shaves it off but the skin around his eyes are black and he has bowed legs and pot belly.

 

[Elephanto]

@Benyamin Bulluc It's pretty easy to destroy your health in Australia (and in many places moreso than India imo).

Though I'm not saying they are some examplary models of health, there's a few elements that can explain some protection against mpb in India. There's a 40-something comedian with great hair (Sugar Sammy), who lives where I live (hair loss rate similar to USA), but he also has a laid-back personality and is seemingly very resistant to stress. I know he's been eating his mom's traditional food for most of his life regularly, and he also really likes spicy food which is anti-bacterial.

 

[lampofred]

One interesting thing I noticed during my trip to India is that people my age have VERY thick hair.

I find this ironic as Indians consume a TON of PUFA (fried food, oily food, etc...). Almost everyone had a gut though they are skinny.

On top of that everyone puts oil in their hair. Most of the commercial hair oils are full of PUFA.

Despite this they have very thick hair.

Mechanisms to explain this:

1. Sunlight : Very intense there and we all know the benefits of red light. People are exposed to a lot of sunlight considering they all drive motor bikes and are outside a lot. Sunlight also reduces Prolactin and generally has benefical effects

2. UV light from the sun. Polymerizes the hair oil via free radical reaction and it forms "films" over the hair. Thickening it over time

What do you guys think of this paradox?

All of the Indians I know who put oil in their hair use only coconut oil for that purpose, and many Indians I know were born with extremely thick hair, so even if there is a bit of hair loss going on, it'd be hard to notice until it really progressed.

Also I think there is something about Western culture that causes excessive stress which instigates hair loss because I've noticed it's so often the case that people living in traditional societies have full heads of hair no matter what they do, but they lose it rapidly as soon as they move to the West

 

[Herbie]

@Benyamin Bulluc It's pretty easy to destroy your health in Australia (and in many places moreso than India imo).

Though I'm not saying they are some examplary models of health, there's a few elements that can explain some protection against mpb in India. There's a 40-something comedian with great hair (Sugar Sammy), who lives where I live (hair loss rate similar to USA), but he also has a laid-back personality and is seemingly very resistant to stress. I know he's been eating his mom's traditional food for most of his life regularly, and he also really likes spicy food which is anti-bacterial.

I agree with you.

I see around 100 freshly immigrated indian men every day and they have fantastic hair, no recession and very thick and healthy. The ones I know that don't have the best hair drink a lot of beer and or have been in Australia for too long, they drive taxis 100 hours per week and become hypothyroid, bless their souls.

Australia, the land of paradox.

Pufa is the ultimate culture destroyer.

 

[fradon]

One interesting thing I noticed during my trip to India is that people my age have VERY thick hair.

I find this ironic as Indians consume a TON of PUFA (fried food, oily food, etc...). Almost everyone had a gut though they are skinny.

On top of that everyone puts oil in their hair. Most of the commercial hair oils are full of PUFA.

Despite this they have very thick hair.

Mechanisms to explain this:

1. Sunlight : Very intense there and we all know the benefits of red light. People are exposed to a lot of sunlight considering they all drive motor bikes and are outside a lot. Sunlight also reduces Prolactin and generally has benefical effects

2. UV light from the sun. Polymerizes the hair oil via free radical reaction and it forms "films" over the hair. Thickening it over time

What do you guys think of this paradox?

they a lot of vegetables which are high in vitamin C and E both protect against frying oils.

the high vegetable also has a lot of silica and that increases hair and nail growth. my hair grows like crazy if i eat salad for a few days.

 

[Rich77]

Indians consume TOO MUCH onion (the red blue type). May be it has something to do with healthy hair structure.

Thou I agree, as one commented, their hair starts to thin and recede upon moving to less laid back places like US, Europe. Just a personal observation from knowing many Indian (men/women) working overseas.

*The high onion consumption continues, while living out of India. So, I'd assume environmental stress plays a more dominant role in hair health.

 

[sladerunner69]

Turmeric/curry is anti-estrogenic and anti-bacterial, few cultures have such substances as a staple. Stress is much lower as life is much simpler there and I believe that stress, whatever its root causes, is one of the main promoter of hair loss and of prostate cancer (along with Endotoxins and Estrogen, all working synergically). Stress triggers Arachidonic Acid release, and they eat less meat which is a more important source of AA than linoleic acid (veg oils) that is poorly converted in AA. A low meat diet has also been shown to decrease the levels of metalloestrogens (heavy metals such as Cadmium and Lead) which have systematically damaging and estrogenic effects. Stress promotes Estrogen, Serotonin and the kind of breathing that reduces CO2 levels and promotes calcification including that of the scalp, and the loss of CO2 only accentuates the increase in Serotonin. It's a vicious circle, Estrogen and Serotonin in turn also increase cortisol and adrenaline. Year-long Vitamin D is also protective and you have a good point about UV rays, they are known to inhibit excess keratinocytes proliferation which is present in many skin disorders and in mpb (IGFBP-3 is lower in mpb and IGFBP-3 also inhibits keratinocytes proliferation). The legumes they eat also have Estrogen Receptor Beta triggering effect which has a net reducing effect on Estrogen levels as EB is triggered by anti-estrogens and it is low in prostate/breast cancer and shown to have anti-proliferative effects. I wouldn't be surprised if most of them practice some form of Intermittent Fasting, which is known to reduce Endotoxins. Endotoxins trigger Cortisol, Serotonin, Estrogen and Nitric Oxide (contributing to calcification) chronically. Their staple use of many anti-bacterial substances help on this front.

Don't they also eat Coconut Oil ? I know it's praised by Indian women as an hair conditioner, but if they also cook with it it could balance out some of the stress-promoting effects of pufas. They also use ghee for cooking.

Another point, they have a very sound culture of eating. Not rushed or stressed, not staring at a box of blue lights, and often in family. There's also the popular habit of curing the teeth right after eating, which should help with periodontitis which has systemic negative effects related to Endotoxins. Lastly, they also have a low intake of sugar which could be just a coincidence.

Systemic negative effects of periodontitis on endotoxins? Could you elaborate on this? Or provide a source because it sounds intriguing.

One interesting thing I noticed during my trip to India is that people my age have VERY thick hair.

I find this ironic as Indians consume a TON of PUFA (fried food, oily food, etc...). Almost everyone had a gut though they are skinny.

On top of that everyone puts oil in their hair. Most of the commercial hair oils are full of PUFA.

Despite this they have very thick hair.

Mechanisms to explain this:

1. Sunlight : Very intense there and we all know the benefits of red light. People are exposed to a lot of sunlight considering they all drive motor bikes and are outside a lot. Sunlight also reduces Prolactin and generally has benefical effects

2. UV light from the sun. Polymerizes the hair oil via free radical reaction and it forms "films" over the hair. Thickening it over time

What do you guys think of this paradox?

I'm not sure Indians suffer from male pattern baldness any less than we westerners. 2 friends from university come to mind, both Indian, twenty somethings, and their hair is receding quite a lot. I know that they often go out of their way to eat culturally Indian- both are vegetarian and often inviting me to indian cuisine. Albeit, they are not living in India, and probably some fo their diets consist of more standard American foods, but it does make me doubt your initial claim. Can we find any data on the pattern baldness rate in India?

 

[Lilac]

I am not a science person, but I am an amateur hair analyst. My general conclusion is that nobody in today's America has good hair, not even children. I saw a video clip of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders the other day, and these young women, who are probably considered exceptionally attractive, all had longish hair that was dry, not thick, and whispy at the ends. No lush, bouncy, shiny hair. In a recent video, I did spot a good head of hair on the youngish, pretty wife of Kim Jong Un, who had a shiny, bouncy ponytail of black hair. My theory is that people in Third World countries are less bombarded with pollution, household chemicals, X-rays--the whole lot. So there is still some good hair there.

When I was a teenager, there was a product called Long and Silky (or something like that)--a shampoo or conditioner for long hair. The company would run a contest for the best head of hair in America, and the finalists would appear in Seventeen magazine. Those contestants had fabulous hair down to their backsides. Do you ever see a young woman like that today?

When I was in high school, in the early 80s, I remember a family of first-generation Chinese American sisters all with beautiful hair that long. I remember two of them braiding each other's hair with big arm movements, because the divisions were like ropes. There has been even more Asian immigration to my high school's town since the 80s, but when I look around there, I never see hair anywhere near as beautiful as those sisters had.

 

[Lilac]

[/QUOTE]

 

[Elephanto]

@sladerunner69
Periodontal Disease Can Cause Alzheimer's Disease (AD)
I also wrote a post itt detailing an experience.

I think it can be a cause of chronically high levels of TLR4, promoting inflammation, calcification (and so heart disease), uncontrolled cortisol, estrogen, serotonin and nitric oxide. At least haidut treats it as a general Endotoxins issue, and I had formed the same opinion from researching this on pubmed several years ago, that it indeed had all the systematically negative effects of LPS. One confounding variable is that I also observe that oral health reflects gut health. When gut health is optimal, and the use of antiseptics frequent, bad mouth odors (and generally, body ones) are way less likely to happen. I also observed that while reducing my meat consumption by a lot, could be related to the kind of gut microbiota favored by meat consumption.

So this correlation with Endotoxins-related diseases and bad oral health could be due to pathogenic growth in the gut, an inflammatory bias in the microbiota and overall high population count, and/or the likely presence of permeability. But I feel like certain cases can really take root in the mouth. For instance when people get wisdom teeth removed, if bacterias lodge in the "lesion" they have more direct access to bloodstream and can potentially wreck someone's health. Let me correct Hippocrates, "Most diseases begin in the gut."

edit :
See this, for instance : the body's level/saturation of Iron can influence periodontitis.
Increased transferrin saturation is associated with subgingival microbiota dysbiosis and severe periodontitis in genetic haemochromatosis
Iron promotes bacterial growth and survival system-wide. We can guess that in many cases, periodontitis reflects a bigger picture of poor septic control.

But for sure, having bits of food decaying in your mouth for hours (and as a starch eater, I actually think those are the worst to have stuck) is one way to negatively shift the balance by promoting bacterial growth topically. The carbs I eat most actually don't cause this problem (rice vermicellis, well-cooked legumes) but when I eat dry oats, bread or corn I have to make sure I brush my teeth right after. Fruit fiber can be annoying too so I also brush right after.