What Does Caffeine Do For Hair?
Caffeine: An Unlikely Hair Growth Powerhouse
Whether male or female, young or old, you may be one of the millions who deal with androgenic alopecia, or pattern hair loss. This condition is extremely common, affecting scores of men and women, especially later in life.
If you struggle with pattern hair loss, you need to know about caffeine and its benefits for your hair. Caffeine is probably best known as the stimulant that makes coffee wake you up. However, caffeine also has some notable growth-promoting benefits for your hair.
In this post, we’ll dive into these benefits and provide you with some key information about the science behind hair loss prevention.
What is pattern hair loss?
Male and female pattern hair loss, or androgenic alopecia, is a condition that affects millions of men and women, particularly those over the age of 50. Androgenic alopecia is present in 50% of males over this age, and in 25% of females over 50 as well. Pattern baldness is not the complete loss of your hair. Instead, androgenic alopecia typically causes thinning in specific areas.
The parts of the head that are most frequently affected by androgenic alopecia often differ between males and females. In males, pattern hair loss often looks like a receding hairline and a growing bald spot at the top of the head. This type of hair loss can start developing as early as a man’s 30s, but typically becomes more pronounced in his 50s.
For women, androgenic alopecia can cause similar thinning to how the condition manifests in males. However, while some women may experience a receding hairline due to androgenic alopecia, others may see a different pattern of thinning. It is common for female pattern hair loss to cause significant thinning in the divide between the two sections in a woman’s hair, the natural “part” between the left and right sides of her head.
What causes pattern hair loss?
The primary culprit behind androgen alopecia is, as you might expect, an androgen. Androgens are male sex hormones, a set of hormones produced by the male and female body that regulate masculine characteristics such as depth of voice, body hair and facial hair.
The androgen that is primarily responsible for pattern hair loss is called dihydrotestosterone, or DHT.
DHT is produced by your body as a product of testosterone. As you age, this hormone’s continual production can cause a disruption in your hair’s natural growth cycle. Too much DHT can extend the amount of time that your hair spends in the rest phase of its growth cycle and shorten the time spent growing. The telogen (rest) stage of your hair’s growth gets longer, and your follicles can start shrinking, leading to shorter, less frequent growth in specific parts of your head.
In addition to DHT, factors such as stress and aging can lead to thinning hair. While aging is impossible to control, reducing stress through building healthy habits like exercise and meditation can contribute to healthier hair.
How Caffeine Can Help Reduce Hair Loss
Caffeine is a natural blocker of your body’s conversion of testosterone into DHT. By blocking DHT, caffeine can help to stimulate your hair follicles, allowing for your hair to resume its natural cycle of growing and resting.
In addition to blocking DHT, caffeine can also increase blood flow to your scalp, a similar effect to that shown by minoxidil, or Rogaine. Increased blood flow to your scalp can help you maintain a healthy rate of growth in all parts of your head, which may help to reduce the unevenness caused by androgenic alopecia.
You might be wondering if drinking caffeinated beverages such as tea and coffee has the same effects on your hair as topical caffeine. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
However, there are still plenty of benefits to drinking coffee and tea in moderation. These caffeinated drinks can be rich in antioxidants, a set of nutrients that are essential for the health of both your body and your hair.
A healthy amount of antioxidants in your diet can improve your hair’s health, so there’s no need to stay away from your morning cup of coffee when trying to improve hair growth!
Using Caffeine in Your Hair
You don’t need to rub coffee grounds into your scalp to reap the growth-boosting benefits of caffeine, either. Instead, make your daily hair wash of choice GroMD’s Shampoo & Conditioner for Hair Loss Prevention.
Packed with natural DHT-blocking ingredients, including caffeine, our shampoo and conditioner is designed to help you get your hair back to its healthy rate of growth, preventing further hair loss and reversing the thinning you have already experienced.
In addition to washing your hair with GroMD’s shampoo and conditioner, you can also stimulate your follicles with our caffeine-enhanced Follicle Activator Spray. This spray contains biotin, caffeine, saw palmetto, and more -- all ingredients that can help to improve your hair’s health and growth rate.
For best results, use our shampoo, conditioner and follicle activator spray every day. Consistency is key when you want the best results possible.
By washing your hair with natural DHT-blocking ingredients, you can work to inhibit the follicle-shrinking effects of DHT. Reversing hair loss takes diligence and patience – it may be some time before you see significant results, but it’s worth the wait.
Pairing DHT-Blocking Ingredients with Minoxidil
Caffeine is a natural blocker of DHT that can also stimulate blood flow to your scalp. These properties make it a perfect pairing for minoxidil, also known as Rogaine. Rogaine is one of the most reputable topical hair treatments on the market, and is an ideal treatment to use in tandem with natural DHT blockers like caffeine.
Minoxidil has produced great results for many men and women struggling with androgenic alopecia. However, it is not a complete hair care regimen in and of itself.
To prevent unwanted side effects like dryness, flakiness and irritation, supplement your use of minoxidil with GroMD’s shampoo and conditioner. Moisturizing ingredients like argan oil can keep your scalp from drying out while you use minoxidil, and DHT blockers like caffeine can help to compound the treatment’s effectiveness.
The Bottom Line: Hair Loss is a Struggle, But Caffeine Can Help!
By naturally blocking DHT, caffeine is an ingredient that can make a big difference in your hair’s ability to grow when included in your daily hair care regimen. We’ve combined caffeine with a blend of other powerful DHT blockers to create a formula that is great for your hair and can produce excellent results over time.
To maximize the benefits of using our DHT-blocking shampoo and conditioner in your hair, you can add minoxidil to your hair care routine. In addition, forming healthy habits to reduce stress and supply your body with the nutrients it needs can make a big difference in your hair’s health.
You can help to maximize the effectiveness of your hair loss prevention treatments by eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, and creating habits that help you regulate the stress of everyday life.
Dealing with thinning hair is a struggle, but it isn’t impossible. With the right combination of ingredients, including caffeine, you can significantly improve the health and appearance of your hair, and can even prevent further thinning and hair loss in the future.
Preventing hair loss doesn’t have to be too complicated, and some of the ingredients that can make the biggest impact on your hair may be the ones you’d least expect, even caffeine.
Dr. Amir Yazdan, MD, is an internationally renowned hair transplant surgeon, expert guest on Dr. Phil and The Doctors, creator of the GroMD hair restoration product line, ISHRS member, accredited member of the IAHRS and a visceral advocate for patient care. Learn more about Dr. Yazdan or read rave reviews from his patients.
Sources:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2133.2011.10633.x