Curing baldness

Strictly speaking, baldness may not be a health concern, but it turns out that it may be closely related to nutrition.

That’s right – a high intake of fruits and vegetables may help keep scalps healthy and baldness on hold by delivering dietary antioxidants.

Last week I told you about France’s SU.VI.MAX study that used more than 13,000 subjects to evaluate the effectiveness of antioxidant nutrition in the prevention of cancer and cardiovascular disease. Like NHANES and the Nurse’s Health Study, the data collected from SU.VI.MAX will be available for researchers to use for smaller, more specific studies.

Scientists at the cosmetics company L’Oreal (one of several corporations that helped fund SU.VI.MAX) isolated data of more than 8,000 subjects in the study and concluded that hair follicles on the scalp are constricted by aging skin. When the follicles lose flexibility, hair roots are pushed closer to the scalp surface where they’re less likely to keep their hold, eventually leading to overall hair loss.

L’Oreal researchers are further analyzing the SU.VI.MAX data to support their hypothesis that dietary antioxidants may help keep hair follicles flexible and healthy.

Personally, I like bald. I think it’s a great look; just ask Sean Connery. But many men and women are not comfortable with the idea of losing their hair. So for those who have noticed the beginning of hair loss, it may not be too late to help the effort by upping your intake of antioxidants.

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute

Source:
“Aging Scalp Cues Cure for Baldness” The Times, 6/25/03, news.com.au