Health Hotline Magazine | March 2025

Turn Hair Loss on Its Head with These Natural Remedies By Liz Mueller

If statistics tell us anything, it’s that in all likelihood, you, or someone you know, will face hair loss head on. According to the American Hair Loss Association, approximately 85 percent of men will have significantly thinning hair by the age of 50—roughly 25 percent of men will begin to show signs of hair loss even before the age of 21. Fifty percent of women will also experience hair loss or thinning in their lifetime. And while the root cause is largely genetic, accounting for 70 percent of hair loss cases, that doesn’t mean there aren’t things you can do to slow the loss and stimulate growth! Turn heads again, and feel like your old (younger!) self, with a natural haircare cocktail of these growth-promoting supplements and essential oils. What’s Your Hair (Loss) Type?

treatments on the market that block DHT, but side effects, including sexual dysfunction, can be a deterrent. These nat

ural remedies provide an alternative. Saw Palmetto, Here We Grow!

Saw palmetto is often found in hair loss treat ments, as its fatty acids and sterols are believed to inhibit the enzyme that is responsible for converting testosterone into DHT. It’s been shown to improve hair quality, increase hair count, increase hair density, and stabilize the progression in patients with AGA and telogen effluvium. According to five ran domized clinical trials and two additional studies, when participants with AGA took saw palmetto supplements, ranging from 100–320 mg daily, 60 percent reported

an improvement in hair quality, 27 percent reported an im provement in hair count, and 83 percent saw an increase in hair density. Fifty-two percent noted that it stabilized the progres sion of AGA. Make MSM Your Hair’s Best Friend Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) is an organosulfur compound that is gaining importance as an antioxidant and anti-inflamma tory supplement, and according to research, supplementation with MSM can heal the scalp, reduce hair loss, and aid in the growth of thicker hair. In a clinical study of 41 male and female subjects aged 19–60 with telogen effluvium hair loss, results showed that after tak ing 1,000 mg of OptiMSM ® daily for 120 days, there were significant improvements in hair density and hair diameter. The subjects’ reported that OptiMSM reduced hair loss, promoted growth of new hairs, and led to hair that was more voluminous and less brittle after 45, 90, and 120 days of product use. The study concluded, “MSM supplementation was effective in re ducing hair loss and improving hair diameter and thickness.”

While there are many reasons for hair losssuch as illness, infec tions, and reaction to medications, the most common type of hair loss, androgenetic alopecia (AGA), is hereditary and it’s re sponsible for more than 95 percent of hair loss in men (it affects women, too). Another form of hair loss called telogen effluvium involves rapid shedding of hair in a short amount of time. It typi cally happens a few months after your body goes through some thing physically or emotionally stressful. It can also result from sudden hormonal changes. Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease that results in hair loss from the head and body. What’s the Deal with DHT? When it comes to AGA, it’s known that there’s a genetic sus ceptibility to the effects of dihydrotestosterone (DHT)—a by-product of testosterone—which is present in the oil glands of hair follicles. When DHT levels are too high, it can shrink hair follicles through a process called miniaturization, essen tially causing hair to become smaller and finer, shortening the growth phase of the hair cycle and, over time, resulting in hair loss. With intervention, the miniaturization process can be slowed or stopped if caught early. There are several prescription

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