Hot peppers, soy foods, and pumpkin seeds may help with hair loss.
Food for Hair Growth
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Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
Androgenic or androgenetic alopecia, also known as male or female pattern hair loss, is one of the most common chronic problems seen by dermatologists. Wait; so it’s called male pattern hair loss and female pattern hair loss? Yeah, in men they call it male pattern hair loss, and in women they call it female pattern hair loss. Okay. Either way, it is characterized by progressive hair loss, predominantly of the central scalp. I’ve talked about hair-loss supplements. I’ve talked about hair-loss drugs. What about foods for hair loss? What role might diet play in the treatment of hair loss?
Human experiments with fecal transplants offer a clue to how powerful our microbiome is, with reports of improvements in hair loss after a fecal slurry made from freshly-passed stools from a donor was administered into another person’s colon, and not just by a little. A totally bald guy starts growing back hair a few months after a fecal transplant, and a little over a year later––check it out, completely regrown. The moral of the story is not to drink brown smoothies, but to keep your good gut bugs happy.
Population studies have found that male pattern baldness is associated with poor sleeping habits and the consumption of meat and junk food, whereas protective associations were found for the consumption of raw vegetables, fresh herbs, as well as the frequent consumption of soy milk. Drinking soy beverages on a weekly basis was associated with 62 percent lower odds of moderate to severe hair loss, raising the possibility that there may be compounds in plants that may be protective.
Complementary and alternative medicine treatments “boast the ability to ’cure’ hair loss ‘safely’ with ‘less side effects’ than conventional medicine. However, it is important…to look beyond the overarching claims and marketing to critically review the literature.” For example, many studies have little relevance because the evidence was obtained on shaved rodents. Hey, let’s smear shaved mice with bee venom. And even when they do clinical studies on actual people, sometime there’s no placebo control; so, you have no idea if the food had anything to do with it.
But there has been a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study of compounds in hot peppers and soy, showing significantly higher promotion of hair growth. Here are some before-and-after pictures of both men and women. Okay, but what kind of doses were they using? They used 6 mg of capsaicin a day, and 75 milligrams of isoflavones. Okay, what does that translate out to in real food? You can get 6 mg of capsaicin in just a quarter of a fresh jalapeno pepper a day. That sounds pretty doable. And you can get 75 mg of isoflavones eating ¾ of a cup of tempeh, or just straight soybeans. Soy nuts (dry-roasted soybeans) are even more concentrated, but given the formation of advanced glycation end-products in high fat/high protein foods at high temperatures, I’d suggest avoiding routinely eating roasted or toasted nuts, seeds, or soy.
There’s also been a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of pumpkin seed oil. Where did they get that idea? In 2009, a study out of South Korea found that randomizing men with BPH—enlarged prostate glands—to just 320 mg of pumpkin seed oil a day (that’s about a 16th of a teaspoon, so just a few drops a day) improved urinary flow rates. Urinary flow continued to kink off and decline in the control group, but those taking the equivalent of just like eating two single pumpkin seeds a day saw a significant improvement. That would seem to be an anti-androgen effect, so maybe it would help with hair loss.
It seems to work in mice when used topically, but what about in people just eating pumpkin seeds? It couldn’t hurt. Sadly, we often throw away pumpkin seeds, squash seeds, or watermelon seeds, and they actually have a rich repertoire of nutrition. But you don’t know if they actually work for hair loss, until you put it to the test.
In a study, 76 men with male pattern baldness received 400 mg of pumpkin seed oil a day hidden in capsules, or they took placebo capsules for a few months. Again, that’s only like eating two pumpkin seeds a day––maybe two and a half pumpkin seeds. They measured scalp hair growth with all sorts of objective and subjective measures, and…after 24 weeks of treatment, self-rated improvement and satisfaction scores in the pumpkin seed oil group were higher, and they objectively had more hair, a 40 percent increase in hair counts, compared to only 10 percent in the placebo group. Here are some representative before-and-after shots of the improvement in hair coverage on two and a half pumpkin seed’s worth of daily oil. Show those pictures to blinded investigators who don’t know who’s in which group, and they rate the placebo groups as getting slightly worse over time, but the pumpkin seed oil group getting significantly better.
In the pumpkin group, 95 percent remained either unchanged or improved, whereas in the control group, more than 90 percent remained unchanged or worsened. Given such a pronounced effect, might we be worried about sexual side effects. They looked before and after at an index of erectile dysfunction, and found no evidence of adverse effects.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Varothai S, Bergfeld WF. Androgenetic alopecia: an evidence-based treatment update. Am J Clin Dermatol. 2014;15(3):217-30.
- Dhurat R, Sharma A, Rudnicka L, et al. 5-Alpha reductase inhibitors in androgenetic alopecia: Shifting paradigms, current concepts, comparative efficacy, and safety. Dermatol Ther. 2020;33(3):e13379.
- Pham CT, Romero K, Almohanna HM, Griggs J, Ahmed A, Tosti A. The Role of Diet as an Adjuvant Treatment in Scarring and Nonscarring Alopecia. Skin Appendage Disord. 2020;6(2):88-96.
- Mahajan R, Midha V, Singh A, et al. Incidental benefits after fecal microbiota transplant for ulcerative colitis. Intest Res. 2020;18(3):337-40.
- Rebello D, Wang E, Yen E, Lio PA, Kelly CR. Hair Growth in Two Alopecia Patients after Fecal Microbiota Transplant. ACG Case Rep J. 2017;4:e107.
- Yi Y, Qiu J, Jia J, et al. Severity of androgenetic alopecia associated with poor sleeping habits and carnivorous eating and junk food consumption-A web-based investigation of male pattern hair loss in China. Dermatol Ther. 2020;33(2):e13273.
- Fortes C, Mastroeni S, Mannooranparampil T, Abeni D, Panebianco A. Mediterranean diet: fresh herbs and fresh vegetables decrease the risk of Androgenetic Alopecia in males. Arch Dermatol Res. 2018;310(1):71-6.
- Lai CH, Chu NF, Chang CW, et al. Androgenic alopecia is associated with less dietary soy, lower [corrected] blood vanadium and rs1160312 1 polymorphism in Taiwanese communities [published correction appears in PLoS One. 2014;9(8):e105915]. PLoS One. 2013;8(12):e79789.
- Daniels G, Akram S, Westgate GE, Tamburic S. Can plant-derived phytochemicals provide symptom relief for hair loss? A critical review. Int J Cosmet Sci. 2019;41(4):332-45.
- Hosking AM, Juhasz M, Atanaskova Mesinkovska N. Complementary and Alternative Treatments for Alopecia: A Comprehensive Review. Skin Appendage Disord. 2019;5(2):72-89.
- Herman A, Herman AP. Topically used herbal products for the treatment of hair loss: preclinical and clinical studies. Arch Dermatol Res. 2017;309(8):595-610.
- Park S, Erdogan S, Hwang D, Hwang S, Han EH, Lim YH. Bee Venom Promotes Hair Growth in Association with Inhibiting 5α-Reductase Expression. Biol Pharm Bull. 2016;39(6):1060-8.
- Grothe T, Wandrey F, Schuerch C. Short communication: Clinical evaluation of pea sprout extract in the treatment of hair loss. Phytother Res. 2020;34(2):428-31.
- Harada N, Okajima K, Arai M, Kurihara H, Nakagata N. Administration of capsaicin and isoflavone promotes hair growth by increasing insulin-like growth factor-I production in mice and in humans with alopecia. Growth Horm IGF Res. 2007;17(5):408-15.
- Marshall JT, Doperalski VL. Jalapeno pepper pungency as a quality controll factor for process cheese. J Dairy Sci. 1981;64:627-33.
- Bhawat S, Haytowitz DB, Holden JM. USDA database for the isoflavone content of selected foods: Release 2.0. US Department of Agriculture. 2008;1-67.
- Cho YH, Lee SY, Jeong DW, et al. Effect of pumpkin seed oil on hair growth in men with androgenetic alopecia: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2014;2014:549721.
- Hong H, Kim CS, Maeng S. Effects of pumpkin seed oil and saw palmetto oil in Korean men with symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia. Nutr Res Pract. 2009;3(4):323-7.
- Hajhashemi V, Rajabi P, Mardani M. Beneficial effects of pumpkin seed oil as a topical hair growth promoting agent in a mice model. Avicenna J Phytomed. 2019;9(6):499-504.
- Patel S, Rauf A. Edible seeds from Cucurbitaceae family as potential functional foods: Immense promises, few concerns. Biomed Pharmacother. 2017;91:330-7.
Motion graphics by Avo Media
Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
Androgenic or androgenetic alopecia, also known as male or female pattern hair loss, is one of the most common chronic problems seen by dermatologists. Wait; so it’s called male pattern hair loss and female pattern hair loss? Yeah, in men they call it male pattern hair loss, and in women they call it female pattern hair loss. Okay. Either way, it is characterized by progressive hair loss, predominantly of the central scalp. I’ve talked about hair-loss supplements. I’ve talked about hair-loss drugs. What about foods for hair loss? What role might diet play in the treatment of hair loss?
Human experiments with fecal transplants offer a clue to how powerful our microbiome is, with reports of improvements in hair loss after a fecal slurry made from freshly-passed stools from a donor was administered into another person’s colon, and not just by a little. A totally bald guy starts growing back hair a few months after a fecal transplant, and a little over a year later––check it out, completely regrown. The moral of the story is not to drink brown smoothies, but to keep your good gut bugs happy.
Population studies have found that male pattern baldness is associated with poor sleeping habits and the consumption of meat and junk food, whereas protective associations were found for the consumption of raw vegetables, fresh herbs, as well as the frequent consumption of soy milk. Drinking soy beverages on a weekly basis was associated with 62 percent lower odds of moderate to severe hair loss, raising the possibility that there may be compounds in plants that may be protective.
Complementary and alternative medicine treatments “boast the ability to ’cure’ hair loss ‘safely’ with ‘less side effects’ than conventional medicine. However, it is important…to look beyond the overarching claims and marketing to critically review the literature.” For example, many studies have little relevance because the evidence was obtained on shaved rodents. Hey, let’s smear shaved mice with bee venom. And even when they do clinical studies on actual people, sometime there’s no placebo control; so, you have no idea if the food had anything to do with it.
But there has been a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study of compounds in hot peppers and soy, showing significantly higher promotion of hair growth. Here are some before-and-after pictures of both men and women. Okay, but what kind of doses were they using? They used 6 mg of capsaicin a day, and 75 milligrams of isoflavones. Okay, what does that translate out to in real food? You can get 6 mg of capsaicin in just a quarter of a fresh jalapeno pepper a day. That sounds pretty doable. And you can get 75 mg of isoflavones eating ¾ of a cup of tempeh, or just straight soybeans. Soy nuts (dry-roasted soybeans) are even more concentrated, but given the formation of advanced glycation end-products in high fat/high protein foods at high temperatures, I’d suggest avoiding routinely eating roasted or toasted nuts, seeds, or soy.
There’s also been a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of pumpkin seed oil. Where did they get that idea? In 2009, a study out of South Korea found that randomizing men with BPH—enlarged prostate glands—to just 320 mg of pumpkin seed oil a day (that’s about a 16th of a teaspoon, so just a few drops a day) improved urinary flow rates. Urinary flow continued to kink off and decline in the control group, but those taking the equivalent of just like eating two single pumpkin seeds a day saw a significant improvement. That would seem to be an anti-androgen effect, so maybe it would help with hair loss.
It seems to work in mice when used topically, but what about in people just eating pumpkin seeds? It couldn’t hurt. Sadly, we often throw away pumpkin seeds, squash seeds, or watermelon seeds, and they actually have a rich repertoire of nutrition. But you don’t know if they actually work for hair loss, until you put it to the test.
In a study, 76 men with male pattern baldness received 400 mg of pumpkin seed oil a day hidden in capsules, or they took placebo capsules for a few months. Again, that’s only like eating two pumpkin seeds a day––maybe two and a half pumpkin seeds. They measured scalp hair growth with all sorts of objective and subjective measures, and…after 24 weeks of treatment, self-rated improvement and satisfaction scores in the pumpkin seed oil group were higher, and they objectively had more hair, a 40 percent increase in hair counts, compared to only 10 percent in the placebo group. Here are some representative before-and-after shots of the improvement in hair coverage on two and a half pumpkin seed’s worth of daily oil. Show those pictures to blinded investigators who don’t know who’s in which group, and they rate the placebo groups as getting slightly worse over time, but the pumpkin seed oil group getting significantly better.
In the pumpkin group, 95 percent remained either unchanged or improved, whereas in the control group, more than 90 percent remained unchanged or worsened. Given such a pronounced effect, might we be worried about sexual side effects. They looked before and after at an index of erectile dysfunction, and found no evidence of adverse effects.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Varothai S, Bergfeld WF. Androgenetic alopecia: an evidence-based treatment update. Am J Clin Dermatol. 2014;15(3):217-30.
- Dhurat R, Sharma A, Rudnicka L, et al. 5-Alpha reductase inhibitors in androgenetic alopecia: Shifting paradigms, current concepts, comparative efficacy, and safety. Dermatol Ther. 2020;33(3):e13379.
- Pham CT, Romero K, Almohanna HM, Griggs J, Ahmed A, Tosti A. The Role of Diet as an Adjuvant Treatment in Scarring and Nonscarring Alopecia. Skin Appendage Disord. 2020;6(2):88-96.
- Mahajan R, Midha V, Singh A, et al. Incidental benefits after fecal microbiota transplant for ulcerative colitis. Intest Res. 2020;18(3):337-40.
- Rebello D, Wang E, Yen E, Lio PA, Kelly CR. Hair Growth in Two Alopecia Patients after Fecal Microbiota Transplant. ACG Case Rep J. 2017;4:e107.
- Yi Y, Qiu J, Jia J, et al. Severity of androgenetic alopecia associated with poor sleeping habits and carnivorous eating and junk food consumption-A web-based investigation of male pattern hair loss in China. Dermatol Ther. 2020;33(2):e13273.
- Fortes C, Mastroeni S, Mannooranparampil T, Abeni D, Panebianco A. Mediterranean diet: fresh herbs and fresh vegetables decrease the risk of Androgenetic Alopecia in males. Arch Dermatol Res. 2018;310(1):71-6.
- Lai CH, Chu NF, Chang CW, et al. Androgenic alopecia is associated with less dietary soy, lower [corrected] blood vanadium and rs1160312 1 polymorphism in Taiwanese communities [published correction appears in PLoS One. 2014;9(8):e105915]. PLoS One. 2013;8(12):e79789.
- Daniels G, Akram S, Westgate GE, Tamburic S. Can plant-derived phytochemicals provide symptom relief for hair loss? A critical review. Int J Cosmet Sci. 2019;41(4):332-45.
- Hosking AM, Juhasz M, Atanaskova Mesinkovska N. Complementary and Alternative Treatments for Alopecia: A Comprehensive Review. Skin Appendage Disord. 2019;5(2):72-89.
- Herman A, Herman AP. Topically used herbal products for the treatment of hair loss: preclinical and clinical studies. Arch Dermatol Res. 2017;309(8):595-610.
- Park S, Erdogan S, Hwang D, Hwang S, Han EH, Lim YH. Bee Venom Promotes Hair Growth in Association with Inhibiting 5α-Reductase Expression. Biol Pharm Bull. 2016;39(6):1060-8.
- Grothe T, Wandrey F, Schuerch C. Short communication: Clinical evaluation of pea sprout extract in the treatment of hair loss. Phytother Res. 2020;34(2):428-31.
- Harada N, Okajima K, Arai M, Kurihara H, Nakagata N. Administration of capsaicin and isoflavone promotes hair growth by increasing insulin-like growth factor-I production in mice and in humans with alopecia. Growth Horm IGF Res. 2007;17(5):408-15.
- Marshall JT, Doperalski VL. Jalapeno pepper pungency as a quality controll factor for process cheese. J Dairy Sci. 1981;64:627-33.
- Bhawat S, Haytowitz DB, Holden JM. USDA database for the isoflavone content of selected foods: Release 2.0. US Department of Agriculture. 2008;1-67.
- Cho YH, Lee SY, Jeong DW, et al. Effect of pumpkin seed oil on hair growth in men with androgenetic alopecia: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2014;2014:549721.
- Hong H, Kim CS, Maeng S. Effects of pumpkin seed oil and saw palmetto oil in Korean men with symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia. Nutr Res Pract. 2009;3(4):323-7.
- Hajhashemi V, Rajabi P, Mardani M. Beneficial effects of pumpkin seed oil as a topical hair growth promoting agent in a mice model. Avicenna J Phytomed. 2019;9(6):499-504.
- Patel S, Rauf A. Edible seeds from Cucurbitaceae family as potential functional foods: Immense promises, few concerns. Biomed Pharmacother. 2017;91:330-7.
Motion graphics by Avo Media
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Title
Food for Hair Growth
LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Content URLDoctor's Note
This is the last in a three-part series on hair loss and growth. The previous two videos were Supplements for Hair Growth and Pills for Hair Growth.
A handful of pumpkin seeds would satisfy my Daily Dozen recommendation for nuts and seeds. See Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen Checklist.
CORRECTION on the pepper information around minute 2:40: I was confused by the “fresh” in the table, but as our fact-checker just pointed out, the mg/g values for capsaicin were for fresh peppers… that were then dried! So it’s a little more daunting; instead of “a quarter of a fresh jalapeño,” it would really be like “a third of a habanero or a teaspoon of medium-hot red pepper (as per https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7455983/pdf/FSN3-8-4611.pdf).
2023 Update: You may also be interested in my newer video, Caffeine Shampoo and Rosemary Oil for Hair Growth.
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