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 Dr. Lee is the founder and owner of Regrowth LLC, a company based in Los Angeles and dedicated to the treatment of hair loss. He has been developing innovative products and treating hair loss sufferers for the past 16 years. Dr. Lee is the creator of the Xandrox line of hair loss treatments.
Important Note: Due a busy schedule, Dr. Lee cannot answer any new questions at this time; however, he will be providing high quality answers to questions he receives from his own practice exclusively to Morphollica.com regularly
[name not provided]
2004-10-17
Can eating raw egg whites cause hair loss?
Can eating raw egg whites cause hair loss?
As strange as it may seem, the answer is Yes. It can. Consuming raw egg whites can cause a biotin deficiency, which, in turn, can cause brittleness of the hair. The biochemical basis for egg-white injury syndrome is due to the glycoprotein avid in, which is present in raw egg whites and which has a remarkable affinity for biotin. So, if you ingest raw egg whites with your meals, you may bind the biotin and avid in into an indigestible form that will not be absorbed in the small bowel and will be eliminated in the feces instead.
Otherwise, for many reasons, biotin deficiency is a rare nutritional disorder. (1) The daily requirement for biotin is low at approximately 150-300 mg/d. (2) Significant quantities of biotin are found in almost all foods. (3) The intestinal flora synthesizes significant quantities of biotin. And (4), a significant fraction of the body's biotin is recycled, that is, a given molecule of biotin may be used repeatedly before it is eventually lost from the body in the feces or urine.
The hair loss due to biotin deficiency is brittleness of the hair, so the hair shaft can break off with minimal trauma. Biotin deficiency does not precipitate or accelerate MPB. Nor does taking supplementary biotin either prevent MPB or retard the progress of MPB.
Richard Lee, M.D.
Regrowth, LLC
www.minoxidil.com
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