Hair Loss Causes and Cures | Episode 92

This week we’re going to talk about hair loss. I’m confident if people hear me out, pay attention to the causes, and follow through, they can experience regrowth and return. Too many people just do nothing, when that’s the absolute worst thing you can do. On this show, we’re going to discuss the hows and whys and hopefully, help change the way you think about hair loss.

We’re going to start, as usual, with clinical insights. This week I’m going to share two liver cases. One is a 50-ish male and a female in her early 40s, both presenting with fatty liver and both having Hepatitis B. I’ll spoil the good news first, in both cases, we were able to overcome all their liver issues. They both took a fair amount of action in the beginning. One was a little hesitant and the other had already been practicing health. Too many people follow the school of thought of only taking action once they get sick, and only taking action to try and battle sickness.

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With my female patient, she just didn’t want to be sick. She had a pretty serious case of jaundice but still needed some arm twisting along the way. However, the fear of liver replacement was enough for her to take the action. Ultimately, after only 6 months, she went from a potential replacement to normal lab values. Those of us who practice functional medicine, especially Chinese medicine, know just how powerful the liver can be.

The gentleman was totally rocked by his diagnosis so he was all in. He already had good health commitments, but he’s taken them to a whole new level. I can come up with a strategy, but I can’t do the work for people. Sometimes it frustrates me and I wonder what more I can do. Some people, even after seeing amazing results, think they can be done and they return to the unhealthy habits that got them in trouble. Even worse, the second time around, when those issues inevitably return, people just give up. They thought they were “fixed” instead of understanding that health is a lifestyle. 

We’re all on a health journey. Sometimes, even after overcoming something, you have to revisit it. That’s okay. You can use it as fuel instead of giving in to discouragement. The gentleman I mentioned before is a great example. He’s given up alcohol, he’s gotten into biohacks, he’s truly leveling up! It’s more than just not getting sick, it’s about being the best version of yourself. The power that made the body heals the body if you give it the tools. 

When we talk about hair loss, we’re not just talking about Male Pattern Baldness. We’re focusing on hair loss that comes on suddenly. Male Pattern Baldness is mostly a genetic condition that is generally predetermined, although there are some things you may be able to do. The good news is, this isn’t a health indicator. In fact, it can even be an indicator of high testosterone levels.

First, let’s talk about how we grow hair. There are three phases, the Anagen phase, the Catagen phase, and the Telogen phase. The Anagen phase can last from 3-5 years, that’s how long your hair can potentially be growing. That’s when everything’s intact, you’re feeding it, and everything’s going well. The Catagen phase is the transition. The follicles shrink down a bit and then they go into Telogen. In this phase, the hair rests for a while and then eventually falls out.

On any given day, you might lose 100-150 follicles and it’s no big deal. What will happen with Telogen Effluvium, in a very short time, you may lose 50% of the hair on your head. Some also lose it in patches. There are three main causes of this kind of hair loss.

1. Fever/Stress/Bacteria

One of the biggest causes of hair loss can be fever. It’s an innate response from your body to kill off invaders, which also causes massive nutritional deficiencies. A fever is a defense mechanism for your body, but there’s also self-harm involved in fighting the wars, which can include hair loss. Stress and bacteria are also causes, but it’s important to focus on fever because we’ve seen so much of it in the last year-plus.

2. Nutrient Deficiencies

Specifically, this is where we start to see the anemias, iron deficiencies, and Vitamin C deficiencies. Vitamin C is the number one vitamin that’s being depleted during stress because it comes from your adrenal glands. Hair needs Vitamin C because it does the work of binding collagen for the hair follicle to grow.

3. Thyroid Dysfunction

Hair loss can occur when your thyroid levels are both high and low, so it’s important to pay attention to lab results both ways.

There are a few different ways it happens. In one case, due to a virus or stress, you kick your body from the Anagen phase all the way to the Telogen phase prematurely. So your hair begins to shed off much more rapidly than it should. Hair loss can also occur post-partum, mostly because of nutritional deficiencies and stress. That’s why I’m always talking about adrenal support after giving birth. There are also cases where people are unable to grow long hair. This is typically a chronic stress issue. The Anagen phase shortens down to between 9 months and 2 years so your hair never has the opportunity to get long. In this specific situation, Ashwagandha Forte is your absolute best option. You can contact my office at (850) 231-9288 or info@balance30a.com to get ahold of that. Lastly, certain medications and drugs that we put into our body can potentially cause your body to immediately shed any hair in the Telogen phase. 

Going back to fever for a moment, we typically don’t do a good job of rehabbing our body after we’ve been sick. I understand the instinct to want to be back in the gym days after symptoms subside, but fighting a virus takes a tremendous amount of resources. When you go back to the same old you, but depleted, now this is when you’re kicking your own rear end! You have to allow your body to catch back up on the things you’ve been missing. Another part is focusing on our adrenals. They’re an essential part of our stress response and it’s okay to push them, but if you push them for too long nonstop, you’re going to have issues. 

Let’s talk about anemia for a moment. Almost every woman I’ve known is borderline anemic, simply because of cycling. If you’ve used up all your resources during a stressful time or a fever, you need to rebuild. Red meat specifically is the number one thing to build red blood cells and gain iron back into the body. The second is dark meat chicken and turkey. The challenge is, we see more and more of a tendency, especially in women, to not eat red meat. Too many people are talking about not eating red meat and that’s a big no-no. If we start preventing people from eating healthy red meat, we’re going to have a lot more fragile and sick people. Ultimately, hair is a protein. If it breaks easily, you need more essential amino acids. The challenge with plant proteins is that you never can quite get enough. 

Too often, when I see people running iron panels, I don’t see enough of them running ferritin levels, which should be at least 30, probably closer to 50 or higher. That lets us know how well the body is functionally holding onto iron. You can take a bunch of iron pills, but if they’re not being absorbed by the red blood cells, they’re not working. Remember that how you run labs is extremely important. You need to make sure the person you’re running them with understands what they’re looking for. There are also B Vitamin anemias you need to look out for. You also want to see things like the homocysteine levels, which are an indication of inflammation. 

1. How much red meat a week do you recommend?

You should be intuitive about it. There’s a time when you’re just craving a burger or steak, generally a couple of times throughout the course of the month. Listen to your body! It’s telling you it wants those nutrients. If you want to be a strong human being, you need the building blocks which are those amino acids. I still think it should be clean, organic, and grass-fed. If red meat bothers you, it’s generally because your digestive system isn’t currently strong enough to break it down. Once you train your body by strengthening your digestive enzymes, you’ll find it so satiating that you won’t need to eat nearly as much. We do our burgers without buns, we don’t need that starch with the protein and fats. That’s where your blood sugar and everything gets funky.

2. What about menopause hair loss?

Perimenopause can be a stressor because there’s a massive imbalance in the body. You can become extremely deficient in things like iron and other nutrients. Once you’re into menopause, everything changes which can be another huge stressor. 

3. Should I be using a professional shampoo technique to regain hair?

Too many people try to solve hair loss from the outside in. As a rule of thumb, if you can’t eat it, you shouldn’t put it on your head. Chemicals anywhere in your body are anti-nutrient. We’re talking about all your trace minerals, especially zinc. We’re already deficient in zinc and then when you add a fever that uses all those nutrients, you can really cause Telogen Effluvium. My advice is to be picky with what you put on your skin in any way.

The stress hormone cortisol, which occurs when we’re under stress is another nutrient blocker that can wreak havoc. Looking back, in many Covid cases, the accompanying stress was just as bad as the actual virus. This is especially true for people in the perimenopause phase when your body is already in deficiency for so many things. When fever is included, not only will you lose hair, but the hair you have will get dry. In Chinese medicine, the yin is the plumpness and moistness and the yang is the fire and dryness. You can restore the yin through yoga, meditation, and using lots of oils. They’ll bring the juice back into the body and help restore the balance. 

4. What else do we want to take if we’re experiencing this? What about Reishi mushrooms?

Reishi, shiitake, and ganoderma mushrooms are all adaptogens. What’s really interesting about mushrooms is that they’re also immune modulators. When you’re dealing with an immune issue that creates a cytokine storm and you don’t shut off your inflammatory response, the mushrooms can regulate your immune system. Adaptogens make life easier. There are some really good recipes out there for mushroom broths, which are great for restoring yin. You can also use mushroom supplements.

There are several different labs you might run for hair loss. A thyroid panel with a full set of markers, specifically reverse T3, can be an essential part of understanding what’s happening in your body. They can help identify trace mineral deficiencies that will severely inhibit your thyroid function. You can also run an iron-level panel. If you have access, you can also look at folate and B-12. If you want to run them with me, you can contact my office at (850) 231-9288 or info@balance30a.com and we’ll send you the information. You can run the test at a lab near you and then you and I can go over the results one-on-one on Zoom. 

If you’re losing your hair, something’s going on in your body. It’s a downstream symptom, so often it’s about seeing that something else is going on. That’s the great part about these labs. We can look at insulin resistance and cholesterol panels and put together a more complete picture of what’s going on. The good news is, I’ve seen all of these cases come back over time.

Don’t Do Anything Extreme!

The simple advice on diet is this. Eat grass-fed burgers. Eat liver. Get your biotin from eggs and beef liver. 

We’ll start with a trace mineral. I use something called Cataplex B, it’s the whole complex you need. We want to stay juicy with our yin, so we always take Cod Liver Oil. You could also add evening primrose or flaxseed oil. Then you need those adaptogen herbs. Once again, I recommend the Ashwagandha Forte for at least 4 months. (You can contact my office at (850) 231-9288 or info@balance30a.com for that). It’s also essential to support your adrenals. There’s a product called Drenamin that has all the materials you need to support the gland and there’s Vitamin C in there. 

You definitely need sleep. You need to be putting healthy things on your head. You need to be well. If you have imbalances or an unhealthy diet, you have to start fixing those things. The good news is, even if it takes time, once you see the hair regrowth, you will see a reduction in stress levels. If you’ve had a baby, don’t panic about hair loss, especially if you’re feeding your baby. Make sure you’re getting a good source of collagen, you can put it in a coffee or smoothie. 

The bottom line is, if you treat your body well and take action, you will see your hair come back. Hair loss is a stressful, personal issue, but when you give the body what it needs, it will heal itself. The power that made the body heals the body. If we can get out of the way and pave the way, the body will do truly amazing things. 

And last but not least, this week’s action to become superhuman is…

Choose to be healthy, embrace the effort.

It may be challenging, but the rewards are certainly worth the effort. 

Hair loss supplements: Cataplex B, Cod Liver Oil, Drenamin, and Ashwagandha Forte.

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