Sugar and Hair Loss
The role of androgens in hair loss has, for the most part, been clearly demonstrated and the benefits of treatments like Propecia for combating hair loss are well known by now. There are also known types of hair loss that are caused by inflammation, such as scarring alopecias; and there are auto-immune types of hair loss such as Alopecia Areata.
What is not clear, is whether inflammation plays a role in Androgenetic Alopecia, the most common type of hair loss, but many (including doctors) think that most likely it does. In my own case, I certainly have male pattern hair loss of the androgenetic alopecia type. My hair loss can be classified on the Norwood Scale as a 3V. The typical recommended treatments of Minoxidil and Propecia have worked for me to a degree in helping me maintain my current hair, and even regrow some hair I had previously lost. But as I have mentioned in previous articles, I recently was diagnosed with scarring alopecia or folliculitis in the crown area, in addition to androgenetic alopecia. Scarring alopecia doesn't leave a visible scar, so need need to freak out. The scarring takes place at the cellular level surrounding the follicles. This is an inflammatory condition. Unfortunately, once the hair follicle dies due to inflammation, it is permanently gone. So the normal treatments don't work in regrowing hair lost due to the folliculitis. That is why in my case it is absolutely critical to get the inflammation under control to prevent further hair loss of this type so that the treatments I am using for the androgenetic alopecia can work to at least keep the hair follicles that haven't died in my crown area. I have talked about inflammation several times in previous articles. I am convinced that it is very common in people that have androgenetic hair loss (pattern loss of the kind that can be classified on the Norwood scale). Maybe not as badly as in my own case, but I think that hair cell aptosis (or cell death) is more common than we think in normal hair loss, and inflammation is most likely the culprit. It is my belief that everyone who is suffering from hair loss should take steps to keep inflammation at bay. This is my belief, but I know that many doctors, such as Dr. Proctor, the inventor of the Proxiphen line of treatments, share in this belief.
So what can be done to prevent it? Well, several things. For those that have it as badly as myself, there are topical treatments, corticosteroid-based and otherwise, that can help. This is where a dermatologist, preferably one specializing in treating hair-related conditions can help. But I believe that diet can play a huge factor. For people with inflammatory skin conditions like seborrheic dermatitis (count me amoung them) excessive sugars and starches can play a role. I know that medical science won't admit to this because it hasn't been clinically proven, but every time I have chocolate, almost immediately the next day I break out with acne. This will nearly always happen. I don't typically get acne. The moral of the story here is that food and diet are big factors when it comes to inflammation. That is why (and again this is just my personal belief, there's no science that I am aware of that corroborates this) cutting high sugar-containing foods and beverages to a minimum is a must for people that want to do everything they can to prevent their hair loss. I think it's important to reduce activities that can promote inflammation and replace them with things that inhibit it. I am currently reducing my intake of sweets (and boy do I love Coke but it's got to go as well) and I can tell you that I have seen a marked decrease in the visible seborrheic dermatitis on my scalp and face (I had a very moderate condition to begin with, not too bad really, but things have improved significantly since watching the sugar intake). So does sugar play a role in hair loss? I don't think it plays a direct role, but I do think that getting on a good diet, like the "Zone" diet for instance, can help reduce inflammation in the skin, and this can only create a healthier overall environment for hair to grow in. So if inflammation is a problem for you, then it certainly can't help to reduce your sugar intake significantly. If you think this is false, then keep eating the Hershey's and donuts..and wash it all down with an ice cold Coke...
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