Figures To Rise? |
| Most people already know that the typical junk food diet enjoyed by Western societies is causing a serious obesity problem. Type II diabetes (also known as adult onset diabetes) has a direct link with obesity, and both these conditions are now on the increase. In countries like the USA and the UK, this problem will reach epidemic proportions in the not too distant future. |  |
Again, most people know this already.
But, what you might not know is that the excessive consumption of beer, burgers, sugary drinks, red meat, etc, can also contribute to male baldness.
If your normal day-to-day diet contains too much fat and sugar, your rate of hair loss can increase. That's because these foods can influence your hormone production and balance. And hormones have, undeniably, been linked to male baldness.
Most hair specialists agree that dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is mostly responsible for male baldness. DHT is a derivative of the male sex hormone testosterone. And testosterone itself is derived from fat. It is, therefore, very easy to see that testosterone and DHT levels can become excessive if you consume too much fat.
Fat is also used by the body to produce sebum - this oily substance is secreted from inside the follicles that grow your hair. And, in excess, sebum can hinder hair growth too. It can clog up the follicles and literally form a plug that will hamper hair as it tries to grow along. This obstruction of hair growth can be counteracted to some extent by maintaining a high level of hygiene (i.e., by washing your hair everyday). But, the best way of keeping your sebum and testosterone levels in check is to reduce your fat consumption as well.
Male baldness has also been associated with high insulin levels. Just like testosterone, insulin is another anabolic hormone. And, generally speaking, insulin production will increase if you consume more sugar. This, by the way, includes alcohol! Sugar forms a significant part of many alcoholic drinks - so, if you're a frequent drinker, you could be putting a lot of sugar into your body!
There also seems to be a correlation between male baldness and cardiovascular disease (which, in turn, can be linked to insulin resistance).
Eating on the go can lead to health problems too. Poor digestion and absorption of food can result - especially if this is a regular habit. And, even if you do eat a healthy diet, an inefficient digestive system could lead to a lack of essential nutrients reaching your scalp follicles. (Rushing your food like this is also often a sign of stress - see the next section).
Your overall health is reflected in your hair. So, if you become ill or obese, your rate of hair loss can speed up.
So, will a weight loss programme help?
To a large extent, yes. But, bear in mind that most crash diets fail, and that these radical weight loss regimes might also adversely affect hormone production and balance. In other words, you might only make your hair loss problem worse!
(The best way to lose weight is to do it gradually by following a sensible diet. By increasing your intake of fibre, fruit and vegetables, you will, over time, naturally reduce your craving for foods high in fat, salt and sugar).
Anyway, the point is, if you eat and drink lots of sugar and fat, you won't be doing your hair any favours at all.
Whilst male baldness is not, by itself, a life-threatening condition, the degenerative diseases mentioned earlier, are.
And, whilst these diseases have been more historically associated with the West, they're now becoming increasingly common in other parts of the world too.
As countries such as Japan are becoming more and more westernised in their diet, lifestyle, etc, so too is the occurrence of these serious conditions and hair loss.
Since the end of World War II the typical Japanese diet of fish, rice, etc has progressively given way to a typical Western diet. And, at the same time, Japanese men and women have experienced a significant increase in hair loss.2. Stress
More and more men are living today's fast paced "24-7" lifestyle. The whole world, it seems, is getting faster!
| And with this hectic way of life comes an increase in stress. Physical, chemical, and mental stress can all upset a body trying to maintain balance. Physical and chemical stress can come from many sources - pollutants within the environment (city smog, exhaust fumes, etc), insufficient sleep (do you get 8 hours every night?) a junk food diet (see section above), cigarette smoke, deodorants, etc. |  |
Even when you play sport your body is placed under stress. Physical exercise is, quite obviously healthy to an extent. But, if you over exert yourself, or undertake rigorous exercise nearly every day, your body will experience more stress (and be in greater risk of injury too).
Mental stress can easily develop from work pressure (deadlines and responsibilities) and stressful relationships (perhaps the mother-in-law?) Stressful relationships at home and at work can fester in the mind and prolong the stress response that you experience.
Stress can seriously disrupt hormone balance, and that spells bad news for your hair - the cumulative damage caused by stress year-on-year can show itself by causing male baldness to increase.
To find out more about stress and hair loss,
click here - Stress, poor circulation and hair loss.
3. An ageing population
People are living longer than ever before. This means that the percentage population of older men is increasing (i.e., when compared to the percentage of younger men). As a result, the previous two reasons for this rise in male baldness will, quite simply, apply to more people.
| Generally speaking, women live longer than men (by about four years on average). But, due to a larger increase in obesity and smoking amongst women relative to men, it may well be that men will reduce this life expectancy gap in the future. As you age, your metabolism slows down. This means that your body will find it much more difficult to recover if you become ill or injured. Furthermore, it's harder for your body to simply maintain balance. |  |
Older men are less likely to maintain proper hormone balance (as explained earlier) and this is causing male hair loss to increase.
Male baldness that seems to result from the ageing process is not a medical condition. But it is indicative of the fact that, for the vast majority of men, an older body does not grow hair as well as it used to.
What causes each type of male baldness?
There is a common theme that runs through these three reasons for the rise in male baldness - hormone disruption.
Poor diet, stress and the ageing process can cause an existing hair loss problem to get even worse mainly by affecting hormone production and regulation. And this is especially true if you already have the genetic pre-disposition towards male baldness.
But hormones do not provide the underlying mechanism for each type of male hair loss.
For an explanation of the exact mechanism that causes hair to fall, you need to read the page that deals with your type of male baldness.
For male pattern baldness (androgenetic alopecia) you have two choices:
1. To find out what most hair professionals will tell you causes androgenetic alopecia,
click here - Hormones, genetics and hair loss.
2. But, if you want to know why they're wrong, and what really causes this type of male baldness,
click here - Skull Expansion Causes Hair Loss.
For a full explanation of skull expansion and how it causes androgenetic alopecia, you need to read the Skull Expansion ebook.
Click here
- it's completely FREE!
To find out what causes other types of male hair loss, click on the links below.
Alopecia areata
Alopecia totalis and alopecia universalis
Telogen effluvium
Traction alopecia (also known as friction alopecia)
Chemotherapy hair loss
Other types of hair loss
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