Alcohol and Hair Loss

I'm wondering how many on this board have quit drinking alcohol? (Raises hand)
"A small glass of red wine a day" so often recommended, doesn't work for me. So I abstain. And my hair has improved a lot.

This article packs a punch, and there's a lot of confirmation in the comments, spanning years.

http://www.hairlossbuddy.com/6/alcohol/

Many of my friends like to out and have a drink or ten, but recently I noticed that those that drank the most seemed to have worse hair loss than people who drank alcohol moderately or none at all. Ok so there appears that their *might* be a pattern of alcohol causing hair loss based on my loose observations, but is this fact or coincidence?

After doing some research I found a very interesting study by Dr. Robert Smart at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C. Now the study wasn’t about balding but about pesticide and skin cancer. To cut a long study short, shaved mice were given treated with an estrogen-blocking compound, and to their surprise (the Science boffins, well the mice might have been surprised too) there was a spurt of hair growth, but more than that inactive hair follicles sprung back to life. The follicles were studied very closely and it was noted, “By two weeks, the visible hair growth on treated mice was about the same as on mice who had never been shaved, while mice that were not treated with ICI 182,780 grew no hair” ( ICI 182,780 is the estrogen blocker). Although this study was done on mice, as a lot of studies are (poor mice!), it does provide potential evidence of the effects of estrogen on your hair. If you’re not convinced then consider after the study a patent was applied for for the use of estrogen blockers for preventing hair loss and stimulating hair growth by NC State.

Also they tried the reverse applying and estrogen based compound to the mice, lo and behold, hair growth was prevented. Getting all scientific now, it was found that there is an estrogen receptor pathway, located in the center of hair follices, that regulates the hair growth cycle.

(NB. An update coming on this article very soon, seems the Smart study has been somewhat debunked!)

That’s great, but how does estrogen relate to alcohol? After studying Biology for some years I learned that drinking alcohol, in particular drinking LOTS of alcohol in one period, increases estrogen levels. Drinking high amounts of alcohol causes a dramatic rise in estrogen levels in the body in men, particularly the day after, you know, when your hung over. Not only that but alcohol can deplete the mineral zinc from your body. Zinc is essential for maintaining healthy hair. Putting it simply: Alcohol = Excess Estrogen = Potential Hair Loss. My advice is if you like to drink then at least try and drink in moderate amounts, especially if you are serious about saving your hair. Not to mention the excessive alcohol is bad for your all round health any way.

You can read about the study right here: http://www.ncsu.edu/univ_relations/news_services/press_releases/96_10/hair.htm

Before I go I must state that I don’t think alcohol is all bad. A small glass of red wine a day has been shown to have good health benefits, some of which may help will hair growth. And of course people who drink lots may tend to be generally unhealthier and therefore more likely to suffer hair loss. In any case the key is moderation.

Hmm, 55 views, no show of hands re staying off the sauce?

Tsk, tsk.

I live in the UK where we have the curious habit of going out on a Saturday night and getting completely shitfaced. I mean obscene amounts of alcohol.

My hair always takes a hit when I went through spells of binge drinking like this. Coincidence or not, my major hairloss has perfectly coincided with binging.

Hardly surprising though, really... depletion of minerals, cortisol up, adrenaline up (heart rate would go crazy on hangover days), estrogen up, liver function down etc.

I no longer binge drink. My mates think I'm weird now. Viva la UK drinking culture...

keep in mind that androgens will accelerate hair loss on the scalp and hair growth on the body, and I think the opposite is true for estradiol in humans--not sure what the mechanisms are for mice, but likely aren't the same.

I was a drinker for years and my hair always felt great while drunk and the day after--also usually looked best when i was partying; I chalk this up to the blood flow that the alcohol caused, but minuses definitely outweigh positives.

Columbo wrote:I live in the UK where we have the curious habit of going out on a Saturday night and getting completely shitfaced. I mean obscene amounts of alcohol.

My hair always takes a hit when I went through spells of binge drinking like this. Coincidence or not, my major hairloss has perfectly coincided with binging.

Hardly surprising though, really... depletion of minerals, cortisol up, adrenaline up (heart rate would go crazy on hangover days), estrogen up, liver function down etc.

I no longer binge drink. My mates think I'm weird now. Viva la UK drinking culture...

Congrats on moderating your alcohol intake.

I can certainly understand the desire for mood-altering, I think it's natural for humans. Indigenous cultures have their ceremonies of music, singing or chanting and dancing, often accompanied
by some kind of psychedelic plant brew. That seems healthier. Of course, we also have the option to get high on life.

Gibson, alcohol improved your hair? Seems you are an exception to the rule.

Where blood flow is concerned, I think the headstand would work better for most people!

Delphine wrote:

Gibson, alcohol improved your hair? Seems you are an exception to the rule.

Where blood flow is concerned, I think the headstand would work better for most people!

Headstands can briefly help. Keep in mind I do yoga and post an intense workout my hair feels great, but that is short lived because of the cortisol rush from intense training and the increased blood flow is short lived--I've been trying to develop a less intense routine to mitigate cortisol.

That said, the blood thinning from heavy drinking would last, for me, at least 24 hours. Basically, I'd have a hard-on all day and my hair would feel good. But since I don't recover from alcohol any more like I used to, the bad outweighs the good, so ultimately the blood thinning effect is undermined.

A poster mentioned that Margo writes something along these lines about alcohol in her notorious book on this forum. Whether you agree, or not, it supports my claim and shows that my experience and thinking is not as unique as you claim.

PS--alcohol consumption linked to hair loss is not a "rule."

What I got out of the article is not necessarily that alcohol = hairloss, but that alcohol eff's up your estrogen metabolism, and THAT ultimately causes hairloss. That would make sense for me. I partied very hard for the better part of two decades, and deeply screwed up my physiology. A large percentage of my health problems have stemmed from estrogen dominance.

That said, I don't necessarily think that the occasional drink or even the occasional binge (key word there being "occasional", as in, very) is going to mess up someone who has a foundation of good health. I say this b/c a few weeks ago I went out and got, as Columbo said, "absolutely shitfaced" with some really old friends. While my adrenals took a hit (only just within the last week recovering completely), I didn't experience any increase in shedding or any estrogen dominance symptoms. I was certainly waiting for them. IMO that may be because I've got a more solid foundtion of health now, and also b/c I only do something like that very, very rarely.

Gibson, we'll have to agree to disagree about headstands. In my longterm experience, they confer longterm benefits. The proof is in the pudding, I mean hair
Haven't read Margo's "notorious book." Tried to download from a link given in another thread, but it seems you need Windows which I don't have.

whodathunkit - depletion of the B vitamins and minerals from alcohol is also a factor along with estrogen dominance, which we all need to be concerned about these days.
Then there's the inflammation factor. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100403201752AAY3kY2
That said, this comes down to personal choice, naturally. Agree that for most people, occasional indulgence won't be too much of a problem.
I feel better staying away from it for now. But, one day atta time, as they say.

Well I won't deny the health benefits of inversions. Since yoga is my thing which is chock full of them, i should add that folks need not do headstands to get blood flowing to the head. Simply bending over so your head is below your heart will get blood moving in that direction. Also many of the postures employ a sort of induced momentary hypoxia to joints etc, denying blood flow then releasing to flush lymphatic system and joints with blood to facilitate healing by removing scar tissue, etc. Bikram calls this the tourniquet effect. You can google these postures some are easy. But of course many yogis are bald, so best to approach for general health benefits first and hair second.

Just a thought, maybe those bald yogis don't practice the headstand enough. I do it generally 2 or 3 times a day, holding about five min. each time.
It's no hassle for me, I like doing it.

But of course there are many other factors at play. And I've noted that when my diet isn't great, my hair shows the effects despite headstand.

I met a yoga instructor recently who swore by inversions as a way to improve mental clarity / performance.

Yes! That's one reason I'm so brilliant.

I don't think drinking is good for the body period, unless were talking causally sipping organic sulfate free wines or something of that nature.
Ive cut back alcohol to maybe 3 or 4 times a year now, mainly just birthday, and special holidays.

scottyc33 wrote:I met a yoga instructor recently who swore by inversions as a way to improve mental clarity / performance.

scotty, for me back-bends are tops. After a deep back bend, it's like the re-set button has been pushed. Like headstands are to inversions (obvious), there are many other postures that don't reveal themselves as back bends but in fact are and are easy to jump into. A harder one perhaps but easy enough to take a go at for a beginner is camel pose and as a bonus it will increase blood flow to your scalp if done correctly.

If anyone is new to backbends, keep in mind your back is meant to bend backwards and the awkward feeling like being blindsided is totally natural as it triggers your flight response: don't run from it; hold it as long as you can.