Use the world ‘holistic’ and half the people in the room will think you are a nut. When it comes to hair loss treatment, I think the word is a valuable one. I like to apply it in terms of overall health. I am not implying that if you are healthy you won’t lose your hair, but I am firmly of the belief that if you are NOT healthy then you are not in the position to obtain optimal results from your hair loss treatment regimen. If you have read many of my posts you’ll probably see that I have made it a bit of a theme to take a multi-modal or holistic approach to achieving maximum results. Here is the gist of an email I sent in response to a question someone asked me about whether I think natural, plant-based foods and treatments can help with hair loss:
I believe that these have a broad spate of benefits, and indeed some of them are probably very helpful in fighting hair loss. I don’t think that eating broccoli by itself will do much, or drinking green tea by itself will do much. But I do think that if one takes a cover-all-the-bases, holistic approach, the effects are probably synergistic. I think if one does the following things, in conjunction with using minoxidil and either a good topical DHT buster or internal like finasteride, the cumulative effect will be greater than just taking the meds:
Daily cardio (a study several years ago showed that running for 20 minutes a day helped to modulate androgens)
Daily moderate weightlifting (to naturally boost HGH levels)
Quality sleep (no skimping or cutting short on sleep)
Drinking green tea
Taking grape seed extract
Eating a well-balanced diet (keeping the sugars in check!)
Maintaining a positive outlook
Eating lots of leafy greens and cruciferous veggies (like broccoli)
Perhaps taking DIM supplements
Perhaps using L-Arganine
Reducing stress as much as possible (doing what you love!)
Good sex (hey, it can’t hurt)
A well-balanced life combined with foods that fight DHT and activities that boost HGH and improve general health combined with minoxidl and finasteride (or dutasteride). I think that’s about as winning a combination available at the moment if you still have enough hair that its worth trying to keep what you have.
I also think a good helping of essential fatty acids (as in flax seed oil, or evening primrose oil) may help, as these contain prostaglandins and may be beneficial in keeping DHT in check.