Have you had a cup of green tea? If you are like most people on earth, your response is yes. Next question, have you turned to tea to enhance your well being? If you said no, think about this: scientists continue to find several reasons why tea can be used for elevating health and not just soothing your mouth. If you have been near a television or radio over the past decade, you have likely heard about the anti-oxidant properties found in green tea. Well, a team of researchers from Korea have found a novel medical application for green tea - hair loss treatment. Yes, according Dr. Kwon, green tea prevents thinning hair. For men and women who don't desire to use drugs like minoxidil, finasteride or dutasteride to fight balding, tea may be the answer they are seeking to find.
In 2006, the researchers aimed to test a unique hypothesis - can the anti-oxidants in green tea stop balding by fighting androgens in the head. Androgens are the hormones responsible for most types of thinning hair for women and men. The research team in the Labaratory of Cutaneous Aging and Hair Research lead by Dr. Kwon found study subjects to contribute their hair follicles. The research team chose hair follicles that were currently in the anagen phase or growth period and they incubated the hairs in well dishes. The research team found was encouraging. Hair follicles exposed to tea, in particular epigallocatechin-3-gallate, a natural element in the tea, displayed a greater ability to encourage growth and withstand hair follicle death.
In order to understand why these findings are so remarkable consider this: (1) Few investigations have been conducted by scientists, objectively testing natural elements, like green tea, may prevent hair loss. (2) Investigations that have occurred, frequently have biased methods, which makes the validity of the results difficult to substantiate. (3) More natural treatments in the battle to prevent balding, and re-grow a woman or man's own hair are in need.
How Can I apply Green Tea to Prevent My Hair Loss?
The answer is yes and no. Yes, the scientists discovered that green tea displays the ability to encourage hair growth in hair follicles through a two-step process of hair growth and minimization of hair follicle apoptosis (shrinking). The scientists didn't brew a cup of tea and splash it on the scalp of the subjects. Instead, the doctors extracted the epigallocatechin-3-gallate in the tea and mixed this formula with ethanol. This mixture was then administered to the scalps of the research subjects.
It is believed that ethanol acts as a vehicle, which helps with absorption. This means the benefits of tea can be more easily observed by applying the green tea to the head within a mixture of ethanol. This does not mean that you cannot apply tea to your head. It just means your results may not be consistent with the impressive results of the research - unless you can develop the same mixture. Unless you are a chemist or great at mixing ingredients, the best answer is to find natural hair loss treatments that contain green tea.
Aaron Hodges is a business consultant with a focus on research and strategy. His clients come from health care, restaurant, fashion, entertainment and transportation. Mr. Hodges reviews Hair Loss, Weight Loss and Acne products for Good Health, A/K/A DamnGoodHealth.com.
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