Coffee, Niacin and PGD2 = Hair loss

Some of you may already know my story. My hair loss started after a low carb diet and never stopped. Before this diet at age 27 I had VERY thick hair, no hair loss. After the low carb diet which I stuck for three months my hair loss started and never stopped. I initially thought it was just a temporary diet related hair loss but that was not the case. I have diffuse frontal hair loss. Nobody on this forum,including CS, could come up with a good theory of what may be the real cause and what may have happened in those three months I dieted. Part of the reason for this disinterest could be the LOVE for LOW CARB diets by a lot of the seasoned posters and their disbelief that anything bad can come out of these diets.

Was it the high fat high proteins cloggin up my liver and gallbladder, was it the massive CORTISOL levels that Low carb diets cause ? was it something else? See DHT is not the cause. it is just a component of hair loss. Some people may believe whatever they want to but even from day one I knew my hair loss was not caused by excess DHT.

Anyways let's come to the topic.

I posted a new topic about coffee and hair loss months ago, way before this PGD2 study. I basically said whenever I drank coffee I endured a shed for few days along with scalp itch. At that time I thought it could have been caffeine. But even drinking decaf produced similar results. I agaian thought it must be the caffeine because even decaf coffee is not completely free of caffeine. I thought I must have developed sensitivity to even small amounts of caffeine. When I posted this a lot of people rejected my association between hair loss and coffee. "The hair you lose has been dead for months" , "nothing can shed hair in two days" ,etc.
It is very hard to convince people. I knew EVERYTIME I drank coffee it followed with itching and rapid shed.

I am not 100% sure but this new research about PGD2 may have solved part of the puzzle. May be all who knows. There are long discussions about this on other hair forums. Some people pointed the Niacin PGD2 connection. Apparently niacin DOES cause production of PGD2, which in turn is involved in hair loss.

Call it ignorance , up until today I did not know Coffee is one of the highest if not the highest food source of NIACIN. And it looks like decaf coffee may have even more Niacin. This can be the missing factor in my hair loss. My experience with coffee could be an additional piece of evidence that also reinforces the PGD2 theory that some scientists are suggesting now.

Coffee with loads of niacin would massivly increase the PGD2 levels on scalp which in turn would cause inflammation (itching) and hair shed.

Chronic Inflammation and, PGD2 being an important part of inflammation appear to be directly linked to hair loss. At least in my case. It is still unknown but somehow the south beach diet (low carb) must have kick started some sort of inflammation and immune response in my body, which still continues.

I've kept pointing to my hair loss story in this forum and invited people to think about it because for me it was like day and night. No hair loss of any kind and in three months I was losing my hair. It obviously was not DHT, even the proponents of "DHT is not the cause of hair loss" theory did not pay too much attention to my story.

Anyways here is another try , hopefully this time we will come up with something better:)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18831918

"We recently showed that the natural flavonoids quercetin and luteolin can eliminate "flush", as well as inhibit both niacin-induced plasma prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) and..."

AL123 wrote:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18831918

"We recently showed that the natural flavonoids quercetin and luteolin can eliminate "flush", as well as inhibit both niacin-induced plasma prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) and..."

I know , that's why I posted this.
Did you know coffee had loads of niacin. I personally did not. Now I am not saying coffee is the cause of hair loss. Obviously not. I used to drink coffee before the low carb diet and it did not cause any hair shed. It was after the low carb diet and associated health damage coffee started affecting my hair health.

This could be about lowered thresholds or could be something else. That's the point of the discussion.

Low carb did me wrong too, i believe it was the cortisol. If you have coffee problems you may have oxidized copper issues. As per Hulda Clark, B2/B3 is good for regrowth.

elan164 wrote:Low carb did me wrong too, i believe it was the cortisol. If you have coffee problems you may have oxidized copper issues. As per Hulda Clark, B2/B3 is good for regrowth.

I see your point but coffee did not harm my hair before the low carb diet.

It was only after the diet related inflammatory/immune response my body went through did coffee start affecting my hair loss. Coffee did not cause the hair loss in my cause It sort of added to the problem because I think my overall inflammation has gone up. PDG2 research shows there is that infl. element in hair loss. It is not deniable anymore.

Also, Omega-3 fatty acids inhibit a niacin induced PGD2 rise.

Personally, a strict low-carb diet never worked for me..so I have found it simple and easy to consume safe starches. That includes white rice and potatoes. This helps tame the cortisol.

In fact, I should point out that those who are into body building might consider that starch does help promote mass gain.

So perhaps it's a combo of cortisol and the coffee as an adjunct or maybe something else.

masterfree wrote:Was it the high fat high proteins cloggin up my liver and gallbladder, was it the massive CORTISOL levels that Low carb diets cause ? was it something else? See DHT is not the cause. it is just a component of hair loss. Some people may believe whatever they want to but even from day one I knew my hair loss was not caused by excess DHT.

nope, it was your genetics. Prove me wrong by getting a genetics test that comes up negative for baldness gene.

2020 wrote:

masterfree wrote:Was it the high fat high proteins cloggin up my liver and gallbladder, was it the massive CORTISOL levels that Low carb diets cause ? was it something else? See DHT is not the cause. it is just a component of hair loss. Some people may believe whatever they want to but even from day one I knew my hair loss was not caused by excess DHT.

nope, it was your genetics. Prove me wrong by getting a genetics test that comes up negative for baldness gene.

I guess the folks at hairlosstalk cant keep you busy so you've wondered around here.
Let me shout back at you the same things that you said to a poster on hlt who suggested a different theory than you worship to:

"Why dont you just go?" or "Why are you still here?"

You did not even read what I wrote did you?, you F....g I....t

masterfree wrote:
I guess the folks at hairlosstalk cant keep you busy so you've wondered around here.
Let me shout back at you the same things that you said to a poster on hlt who suggested a different theory than you worship to:

"Why dont you just go?" or "Why are you still here?"

You did not even read what I wrote did you?, you F....g I....t

yes yes character attacks... the common denominator for all "alternate" forums.

You think coffee kick started your MPB?? really???

2020 wrote:

masterfree wrote:
I guess the folks at hairlosstalk cant keep you busy so you've wondered around here.
Let me shout back at you the same things that you said to a poster on hlt who suggested a different theory than you worship to:

"Why dont you just go?" or "Why are you still here?"

You did not even read what I wrote did you?, you F....g I....t

yes yes character attacks... the common denominator for all "alternate" forums.

You think coffee kick started your MPB?? really???

You deserve every bit of character attacks and perhaps more. Where did I say coffee kick started my MPB?. I did not say it, I actually clearly stated coffee did not affect my hair prior to the low carb diet I did. I had no hair loss until age 27. none. I did south beach diet for three months and stopped when my hair started to fall. my hair loss never stopped since then.

This is your problem 2020 you write and hit "send" and only then do you start thinking. In other words you are an excitable idiot.

Low Carb has helped me tremendously, I'm on the paleo diet and the only carbs I eat are from fruits / vegetables. I eat absolutely no grains/ starchers like potatoes.

Whatever works for you. Honestly though I dont think Going low carb can cause permanent hair loss, maybe temporary shedding because your body isn't used to that diet.

To 2020: Dude we realize genetics are needed to go bald. READ EPIGENETICS, its called changing your gene expression through diet/ lifestyle.

O.o

masterfree wrote:

You deserve every bit of character attacks and perhaps more. Where did I say coffee kick started my MPB?. I did not say it, I actually clearly stated coffee did not affect my hair prior to the low carb diet I did. I had no hair loss until age 27. none. I did south beach diet for three months and stopped when my hair started to fall. my hair loss never stopped since then.

This is your problem 2020 you write and hit "send" and only then do you start thinking. In other words you are an excitable idiot.

right on the third paragraph...

do a genetic test!! If it says that you are NOT PREDISPOSED to go bald at an early age then I'll leave this forum forever!

blueman99 wrote:Low Carb has helped me tremendously, I'm on the paleo diet and the only carbs I eat are from fruits / vegetables. I eat absolutely no grains/ starchers like potatoes.

Whatever works for you. Honestly though I dont think Going low carb can cause permanent hair loss, maybe temporary shedding because your body isn't used to that diet.

another 2020 type. Will you please read the entire post before caring to post. It was not a temporary shed. I wish it was.

We are simply trying to tie the PDG2 study with the diet related inflammatory response. My story is interesting because most people cannot pinpoint to a single event that started their hair loss. I can.

Master, you sure your loss isn't temporary from the low carb? I honestly don't see how you could have loss from a low carb diet which man has basically evolved on for 2.5 million years.

2020 wrote:

masterfree wrote:

You deserve every bit of character attacks and perhaps more. Where did I say coffee kick started my MPB?. I did not say it, I actually clearly stated coffee did not affect my hair prior to the low carb diet I did. I had no hair loss until age 27. none. I did south beach diet for three months and stopped when my hair started to fall. my hair loss never stopped since then.

This is your problem 2020 you write and hit "send" and only then do you start thinking. In other words you are an excitable idiot.

right on the third paragraph...

do a genetic test!! If it says that you are NOT PREDISPOSED to go bald at an early age then I'll leave this forum forever!

How can you be like this 2020? How can you live with yourelf when you are so sloppy in your thinking and reading. You do not even read man. As I stated in the first paragraph My hair loss was started by a low carb diet. Coffee did not affect my hair before this. I already said this. but you do not read. I gave the coffee example to link to inflammation response, which all makes sense now with the PGD2 research and niacin in coffee.

I never said I was not predisposed , never ever in any of my posts on this forum since I joined more than a year ago.

The summary is the same "You are an excitable idiot"

what makes you think your "hair growth" from a diet wasn't related to the fact that some diets will make you produce less DHT and therefore grow more hair?

2020 wrote:what makes you think your "hair growth" from a diet wasn't related to the fact that some diets will make you produce less DHT and therefore grow more hair?

Oh My!!!

Where did I say "my hair growth from a diet" ?

All I said was my hair loss started with south beach diet. Something happened during the dieting which ruined some system in my body and kick started hair loss. I did not get all horny or hairy as a result of the south beach diet. If my hormone levels had changed so drastically I would have noticed. I am not disputing the genetic predisposition to hair loss , never ever have. However I truly believe I would not have experienced hair loss if I had not done the low carb diet. It is like :

There are people with peanut allergies . Nothing happens to them as long as they avoid it. Being predisposed to peanut allergies becomes irrelevant if you never eat it. Hair loss is the same. There are certain things you must avoid to prevent hair loss, if you do hair loss can be completely or almost completely prevented.

masterfree wrote:There are certain things you must avoid to prevent hair loss, if you do hair loss can be completely or almost completely prevented.

like what?

2020 wrote:

masterfree wrote:There are certain things you must avoid to prevent hair loss, if you do hair loss can be completely or almost completely prevented.

like what?

chronic, low level systematic inflammation... PGD2 research shows inflammation may be the key part of hair loss.

masterfree wrote:
chronic, low level systematic inflammation... PGD2 research shows inflammation may be the key part of hair loss.

yes but genetics allow that to happen.... either way: how are you planning to fix that problem???

AL123 wrote:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18831918

"We recently showed that the natural flavonoids quercetin and luteolin can eliminate "flush", as well as inhibit both niacin-induced plasma prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) and..."

What if you are not taking niacin? From what I gather its if you are.

Inhibiting the PGD2 is a good thing, but what about its effect on serotonin and is quercetin increasing or decreasing it??

2020 wrote:

masterfree wrote:
chronic, low level systematic inflammation... PGD2 research shows inflammation may be the key part of hair loss.

yes but genetics allow that to happen.... either way: how are you planning to fix that problem???

yes I never disputed the part of genetics. As long as you do not treat it as your inescapable destiny. It is a component of the problem.

Short term: a natural substance or a drug that can tackle the hair loss issue topically by interfering in the inflammation signaling, breaking the chain reaction through PDG2. This would not fix the systematic issue but would probably stop the hair loss and possibly reverse it. PDG2 research is very promising for this purpose.

Long term: reducing inflammation by eliminating/limiting the foods that cause it. Supplements alone do not appear to be enough due to their short half lives in blood or simply because they are not taken in sufficient amounts due to megadosing fears.

masterfree wrote:
Long term: reducing inflammation by eliminating/limiting the foods that cause it. Supplements alone do not appear to be enough due to their short half lives in blood or simply because they are not taken in sufficient amounts due to megadosing fears.

^ this simply won't happen! NO DIET IN THE WORLD HAS EVER REVERSED MALE PATTERN BALDNESS!

2020 wrote:

masterfree wrote:
Long term: reducing inflammation by eliminating/limiting the foods that cause it. Supplements alone do not appear to be enough due to their short half lives in blood or simply because they are not taken in sufficient amounts due to megadosing fears.

^ this simply won't happen! NO DIET IN THE WORLD HAS EVER REVERSED MALE PATTERN BALDNESS!

Proof?

Smurfy wrote:
Proof?

lol no you need proof. There has been no documented case of anyone in the last 100 years reversing MPB through diet...