Does anyone know anything about chapparal extract? (dkk-1 inhib., IL-6 inhib., anti-inflamm, etc)

Hey guys. There is a guy over on hairlo sshelp experimental forums by the name of bababrea having great success with this topical. I ordered some in light of this along with some personal formulation stuff (phlojel, scale, etc). Dkk-1 and interleukin-6 have shown to be DIRECTLY implicated in the downstream inflammatory process caused by DHT. Heavy hitters in MPB.

But after doing some research I got a little concerned. First it shows to have anti-cancer, anti-inflamm, anti-oxidant properties but a bunch of research also turns up warnings about liver toxicity, kidney toxicity, even kidney/liver cancer, etc (here is one link where it goes into it a bit: http://www.livingnaturally.com/ns/DisplayMonograph.asp?StoreID=15f522d98a3a417fbe8d6702f135785a&DocID=basic-interactions-chaparral).

When I brought this up to bababrea he basically eluded to the fact that most of these negative effects are with high dose oral or injection use. But still seeing such a large list it makes me rather apprehensive.

Is anyone familiar with this herb or other herbs like it where there is a very fine line between beneficial and damaging?

Anyone? Anthony (you had a reply on a previous thread, wonder if you might have any more insight), immortal?

Chapparal seems to have some real promise so I think its a worthwhile topic

It appears the active phenol Nordihydroguaiaretic Acid is a very potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compound that shows promise for cancer therapy. This action should be beneficial for any type of chronic inflammation, and then should be beneficial for hair loss as well. I'm not sure as to the proper dosages for this plant orally. That would take a bit of math to do the conversions based on the amounts used in the studies. But if you plan on taking it, its probably worth it to establish a baseline. A lot of people waste money on supplements because they aren't taking the necessary amounts of it.

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2011/734785/

That said, there seems to be pretty good indication that this herb is hepatoxic. Take a look at the research and decide for yourself on that one. But the consistent elevation of the liver enzymes does concern me about this one. I suppose there is always the topical route, which might inhibit systemic activity.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12457882

Overall, I just don't think its any more miraculous than curcumin. For me, curcumin is the number one plant compound in our arsenal. I tend to want to keep the amount of plant/herb extracts I take to a minimum, as most of these operate on the principle of hormesis and help bolster our own antioxidant enzyme systems by creating tiny instances of micro inflammation. For that reason, I don't see a need to load up on these. Take one or two dedicated plant antioxidants and call it good. Again, I think curcumin shows the most promise. As of right now, I am taking curcumin, EGCG, and a high allicin garlic extract consistently and plan on this being the plant-heart of my supp regimen.