Can you regrow the lost hair naturally?
The answer is yes, particularly if your hair loss is caused by Androgenetic Alopecia. This is good news for most people as this is one of the biggest causes of hair loss particularly in men.
Androgenetic Alopecia is a very common type of hair loss affecting both men and women. Hair is generally lost in a systematic pattern in men making a typical M shape. That is why it is also called male pattern baldness.
The Androgenetic Alopecia which was originally thought to be caused by the male hormone testosterone is now being further narrowed down as the evidence now suggests that it is the Dihydrotestosterone which causes the hair loss.
The mechanism of hair loss as understood now is simple. An enzyme in the hair follicle's oil glands called Type II 5-Alpha Reductase converts testosterone to DHT. The problem is the formation of DHT which binds the receptors in the scalp follicles shrinking the hair follicles. This shrinkage of hair follicles makes it difficult for hair to stay healthy and survive.
Losing hair on the scalp is not a very welcome condition. It affects your beauty and self image. While you may settle for the hair loss, you would perhaps do everything possible to keep your hair on the scalp.
There are now medicines which inhibit the development of DHT by intercepting Type II 5-Alpha Reductase. This stops the hair fall.
Finasteride and Minoxidil ate two popular and approved medicines to stop male pattern baldness. By the way when such hair fall happens in women due to Androgenetic Alopecia then it is called female pattern baldness.
Natural Remedies to Regrow Your Lost Hair
If you don't want to use chemical based methods then you can try the following natural remedies to stop hair loss.
1. Dietary changes
Diet plays an important role in your overall health. Deficiency of certain nutrients or over consumption the other nutrients can disturb the balance and cause diseases.
- Deficiency of zinc can cause hair loss so eat the foods that contain zinc such as nuts, seeds, eggs, and lentils.
- Deficiencies of Vitamin A and E are also linked to hair loss. So consume foods that are rich in Vitamin A and Vitamin E such as carrots, sweet potatoes, kale, spinach, broccoli, butter, eggs, beef, Almonds, wheat germ and sunflower seeds.
- Iron deficiency also can cause hair loss. Eat foods rich in Iron such as dark green leafy vegetables, such as spinach, beans red meat, pork and poultry, Seafood, raisins and dried apricots
- Niacin deficiency is also one of the major causes of hair loss. Foods rich in niacin such as mushrooms, peanuts, green peas, tuna, live and chicken breast will help
- Foods rich in Omega 3 fatty acids such as flax-seeds, tuna, sardine and salmon, cod liver oil, walnuts are helpful to regrow the lost hair
- Selenium is an essential trace metal that helps maintain hair health. You can get selenium from Brazil nuts, tuna, sardines, beef and liver.
In addition to the above you will need biotin, vitamin D and antioxidants in your food to not only regrow your hair but to maintain overall health.
2. Pumpkin Seed Oil
Pumpkin seed oil inhibits the Type II 5-Alpha Reductase, thereby reducing hair fall caused by Androgenetic Alopecia or male pattern baldness.
In a Korean study 400 milligrams per day of pumpkin Seed oil was given to the study group for 3 months in the capsule forms. The capsules were given before breakfast and before the dinner in equal quantities.
The results showed hair growth in most participants.
Such non chemical based remedies are much better as they gave no side effects whereas chemical based products can cause side effects that may be harmful in the long run.
3. Oil Massage
This is a very old time tested method to stop hair fall. You can take any oil of your choice but coconut oil, mustard oil and castor oils are some of the most popular oils.
If you massage your scalp daily for 4-5 minutes, then you will be able to improve blood circulation on the scalp. This improved blood circulation itself will make your hair follicles healthy. You feel much better after a hair massage so it is worth the effort.
4. Meditation
Once again this is also a relaxing method to improve your overall well being. Meditation is a stress buster. Stress makes hormonal changes that cause diseases. Regular meditation for 15-20 minutes everyday will help you to regrow your hair.
It is important to learn meditation and do it correctly. The objective is to feel relaxed.
5. Hair Plucking
This is an interesting research finding by Cambridge university researchers. Plucking hair from a certain patch can increase your hair growth from 2-6 times. In a study conducted on mice, the researchers found that hair regrowth is 2-6 times within the next 24 weeks.
They found that if you pluck 200 hundred hairs one at a time, then the hair growth rate is highest. The logic is that when the hair is plucked the system is alerted to produce another hair. If a certain number of hair are lost one by one then the system wants to compensate and the hair growth gets the momentum.
No studies have been done on humans, but this is a very useful finding. Plucking less or more hair may give different results but plucking one by one hair to 200 hair may not be a very difficult task and If you see better hair growth in that patch of scalp then the method can be used in the entire scalp.
6. Onion Juice
Popularity of onion juice to regrow hair is rising everyday. You can apply onion juice collected from one medium size onion on your scalp. Leave it there for 1 hour and then wash and rinse your hair. Daily application of onion juice will regrow your hair within a month.
Make sure that the onion juice is strained well so that only liquid is used on the scalp. The best time to use this remedy is to use it 2 hours before going to bed. You may have to bear with the onion odor. However by the time you wake up in the morning and take a bath you should feel normal.
Stopping hair loss and regrowing lost hair is much more than the simple exercise of working on your hair alone. As you have seen it requires overall balance of your health that does the job. So live healthy.