from marijuana post... NO, circulation, vein size

So i've noticed on a lot of friends with good hair that they have buldging veins. My brother has much bigger veins than me and a full head of hair. Other than that we are similar in terms of size, weight, metabolism, etc. Noticing this got me to thinking that maybe he has better circulation and that this might be a bigger problem than I thought. I always cold hands very often, and experience numbness easily if in any kind of awkward position.

So, to combat this I've figured I could do more interval training, control blood sugar spikes (obviously, but I know that diabetics have poor circulation too) and eat spicy foods. I take cayenne pepper in water already, but was going to increase it. That was until I read about its possibility to increase IGF-1 in low doses and neurogenic inflammation in larger doses, from CS, in the recent marijuana post from MisterE.

Another thing I was thinking of is Arginine, to increase NO, but I don't fully understand the free radical creation/inhibition aspect of it.

So...

What can we do to specifically to

1) increase circulation
2) increase NO without causing free radical damage
3) possibly increase vein size

Ideas...

1) Cayenne?
2) Arginine?
3) Interval cardio/weight training
4) massage (Scalp and general)
5) Hot/Cold shower therapy

Any input from anyone?

an arginine + ornithine supplement made me shed like crazy...

Yanks - The answer is Ecklonia Cava. It will increase NO while scavenging for peroxynitrate, which is created as inflammatory by-product of NO production.

Also, many who have varicose veins consume fructose corn syrup or other sugars. It's an early indication of vascular disease.

Thanks CS! I didn't realize Eckolina Cava had that effect. I'm not talking about varicose verins in my friends with good hair, but large veins, like the big vein that goes down the forearm. It's very visible and noticeably thicker than what I have. It looks healthy.

What do you think about this overall approach as a staple of my regimen?


Magic Gro - I wonder why that happened. Are you sure it was a bad shed and not an indicator of future regrowth? What effect does ornithine have on the body?

Yanks - Interesting about the vein thing. I'm still thinking about a study that TK (formerly known as the librarian) found from the 1920's, showing that upon autopsy the non-balding had no cranial calcification whereas the balding ones did, which affected the vein system that would otherwise supply blood flow to the scalp.

If you're asking about Ecklonia cava on a regimen, then yes. It's the most important thing I take, bar none.

MagicGro - Arginine and many other NO precursors are very risky for hair, they increase iNOS (the inflammatory side of NO) along with peroxynitrite.

Yanks -

My brother also has more visible veins than myself, both of us are very similar, im a little taller, both in shape but he has a full head of hair. I have cold feet and hands sometimes and numbness sets in fast if i sit a certain way. Absolutely hate the cold and love the heat. I had heart palpitations when i was in my teens, still do the odd time. One severe episode happened when i took horny goat weed after a night of drinking. I became dizzy during intercourse, my hearth started beating like it wanted to blow out of my chest and then my penis when soft, i passed out for a few minutes. I tried it a second time, thinking the whole penis going soft was due to the propecia and the same thing happened. Needless to say ill never take that stuff again. Not sure if it was the combination of alcohol, horny goat weed and propecia.

Went off topic a little there ha, but ive heard that baking soda and lemon juice helps with circulation.

elan164 - Your story sounds very similar to me. The vein in my arm is hard to notice and I cannot give blood there, because it's too hard to see. I also prefer the heat to the cold much more than others.

CS: can I still go and shop for an ornithine-only supplement (without arginine)?

thanks!

Magic- what's the benefit or ornithine?

CS- Actually I was talking about this approach, meaning to increase circulation (or at least to the scalp) but still good to know about EK.

Oh and do you have any other ideas for better circulation?



Baking soda and lemon huh? I've never heard that. Do you know how it works? I'm kind of hesitant to take baking soda internally bc i have some trouble with digesting food as is and don't want to cut down on my stomach acid production... or could this actually help?

i was trying and supplementing on arginine + ornithine becase spermidine is synthezised by our bodies from arginine and ornithine.

spermidine has been shown to induce hair regrowth in *men* (and to extend fruit flies life-span)

The lemon juice baking soda thing is something i read over at earthclinic, theres some interesting information over there. Search for ted remedies, he seems very knowledgeable.

Bringing this back, i know this is a major key to my hair loss and probably even other health aliments.

Ive been using vitamin e and oregano oil massaged in to my scalp for the last few days. Gives it a nice tingle. I notice when the veins in my hands are dilated and prominent, my hands are warm. Where as right now, just woke up and had a shower, my veins are small and my hands are cold.

Hot tubs will make my veins explode, it looks like im thicker/swollen when i come out of the hot tub.

Cayenne pepper works pretty good for me, over did it one time in a water bottle at the gym. Felt faint, like my heart started pumping too hard and started to restrict blood flow because of the expansion.

The odd time smoke weed seems to dilate my veins as well, i notice a little increase in my heart beats.

Lets hear others experiences with circulation and things they've done to increase it.

* i know CS is big fan of eckolonia cava, but its not for everyone and think it made me shed pretty bad while i was on the top six.

i noticed too that people with more visable veins mostly do have more hair, but you can see "veiny" people balding.

as for blood vessels and circulation - my circulation is not good most of the time - cold palms and feet, burn muscles, numbness etc.
this my experience -
*The first time i took magnesium i felt huge relief and big improvment in circulation - as you know magnesium is Vasodilator and have anticoagulation qualities.
* when i put some fresh Garlic in my food i soon feel improved circulation - the garlic, like magnesium is vasodilator and anticoagulant.
*same happens when i take Panax ginseng and when i take lumbrokinase - i can run and bend, my muscle doesnt hurt and my heart doesnt pump like crazy.

of course some of those i mentioned above have an impact on the nervous system, which play a big role in the constriction and dilation of blood vessels.
* SSRIs improved circualtion alot in my case, and they probably have some vasodilation effect.

* when you communicate with people, when you express yourself and when you love - your vessels dilate....

*Insulin has a very big role , it has endless impact on circualtion - you van read in act>react post on insulin
resistance.

So to improve circulation you may want to take - vasodilators (arginine is one) , anticoagulants to make the blood thinner, enzymes to eat plaque and clotts in blood vessels (cholesterol, calcium , inslulin and fibrin) and supplements to regulate your insulin,
* When i smoke hash my circulation symptoms are getting worse, but deep inside i feel good

http://www.springerlink.com/content/v6n54j37m7n51474/

My veins are scary huge and I still had diffuse loss.

Interestingly and perhaps not surprising, when my veins are the most prominent I feel the best, and at the same time my sexual organs are at their best, this usually comes from fasting / eating meat based diet / chelation.

I remember that when I was taking zinc though I had huge improvements in vein size as well.

http://www.electroherbalism.com/Naturopathy/Therapies/MiscTherapies/HotandColdWaterImmersion.htm

"Hot and Cold Water Immersion

Hot and Cold Water Immersion is a method used primarily to stimulate bloodflow to extremeties, like the hands, legs, feet, etc. There are many reports of people with affected limbs from diabetes, gangrene, and other maladies being saved using only this method. It is also valuable to fight lymph node swelling, edema of the limbs, and other circulation disorders. It generally produces a noticeable improvement in hours if not immediately.

The method is to immerse a limb or other body part in water as hot as is comfortable. Leave for 3 minutes . Add more hot water as tolerance to the high heat increases. Remove limb and immerse in very cold water, preferably in the 32-40 degree F range, for 30 seconds . Repeat hot/cold immersion two more times and end with three minutes in hot water. Massage after and/or during immersion.

For whole body use, this is not practical. Just taking hot baths, preferably with water jets, works well enough. Using epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) in the water usually makes it more effective and can greatly assist therapy for some even serious disorders. Other additions can include baking soda or sea salt. If this is an ongoing therapy, try all three to see which works best.

If it is not practical to use hot and cold water on the area, some of the same benefit can be had from using a heating pad and an ice pack instead of the hot and cold water."

Hot/cold shower work very well, I've used it a long time and it did the job better than anything else I tried. The guide above is OK but he got a few points wrong: It works very well for the whole body and more importaantly you should always end with cold water.

Here's a better guide in my opinion http://healingtools.tripod.com/thn9.html

nothing like hot\cold shower, thank you for the correction!

this is the craziest shit ive seen http://healingtools.tripod.com/thn10.html

lol, tell me about it! The napalm enema sounds like fun

its sounds very aggressive, but he said you get the effect of 30 days of fasting...maybe someday

You don't want the effect of 30 days fasting! Fasting for health is more than bullshit....

pancacke wrote:You don't want the effect of 30 days fasting! Fasting for health is more than bullshit....

Calorie Restriction is beneficial so intermittent fasting can probably be alright. 30 days however is unhealthy...

calorie=energy....energy restriction-no good!

pancacke wrote:calorie=energy....energy restriction-no good!

I'll quote what can be easily found on wikipedia:

Cardiovascular risks reduced
Some research has shown CR to reduce atherosclerosis risk factors.[6]
A small study of long-term CR practitioners studied the effects of a diet with 10-25% less calorie intake than the average "Western" diet. Mean Body mass index (BMI) was 19.6 in the CR group; the matched group BMI was 25.9, comparable to the BMI for middle-aged people in the US.[7]

The calorie-restricted group also fared much better than the control group in terms of average blood pressure (100/60 vs. 130/80 mm Hg), fasting glucose, fasting insulin (65% reduction), body mass index (19.6 ± 1.9 vs. 25.9 ± 3.2 kg/m2), body fat percentage (8.7% ± 7% vs. 24% ± 8%), C-reactive protein, carotid IMT (40% reduction), and platelet-derived growth factor AB.[8]

Improved memory
A 2009 research paper showed that a calorie restricted diet can improve memory in normal to overweight elderly. The diet also resulted in decreased insulin levels and reduced signs of inflammation.[14] Scientists believe that memory improvement in this experiment was caused by the lower insulin levels, because high insulin levels are usually associated with lower memory and cognitive function.[15]

Personally I am using the every other day CR to see if it helps with inflammation and atherosclerosis(basically trying to address my theory that atherosclerosis might be a part of the problem with hair loss). So far I am on week 3 and I feel fine. Lost 2 kilos(finally under a certain digit in more than a decade) and I wake up at 5:50 every morning without using an alarm clock.

Well....there are studies showing the positive effects of radiation. It doesn't make much sense to me that nutritional deficiency is beneficial.