July 31 2006, 3:34 pm PT | Posted in: Drugs + Hair Loss Causes
Dear Dr. Rassman,I am a 24 year old male medical student. I have had a very gradually receding hairline for the past 2-3, but just recently (past 6-8 months) I noticed the shedding of hair has increased and my hair is thinning in the front. This realization really is depressing because I didn’ think I would start REALLY balding until I was well in my 30s. At least thats been the pattern in my immediate family. I have an appointment with the dermatologist in a month to pinpoint it to male pattern baldness and not something else just to make sure. Anyways, my question to you is whether or not there is a correlation between weight lifting and hairloss?
Working out, especially with heavy weights, will increase your testosterone levels. So the natural assumption would be that increased testosterone levels = increased DHT production = more hair loss. I personally have been a big fan of whey protein supplements, glutamine, and creatine to boost my gains in the gym. My parents always warned me against taking these saying it was “unnatural” and would have consequences in the long run, and now I’m wondering if they might have been right after all. I’ve had a protein shake(30 grams whey protein) and maybe 5 grams of glutamine maybe 3-5 times a week for the past 4-5 years. This is very coincident with the time that my hairline started to gradually recede.
I’m starting to wonder now whether my dedication to weight training and diet actually hastened the hair loss process. For now, I am discontinuing all forms of supplements including protein drinks and glutamine. Doing this will obviously cut my gains in the gym, but as long as I can save my hair for now I don’t care what it takes. What is your opinion on this???
What you are suggesting is logical, but there is no proof to it. Since you are 24 years old and at the peak of the early balding process when genetics generally tend to kick in, it may be coincidental with your training process. Realistically, if you have genetic hair loss you should have a diagnosis made, then probably treat it with Propecia, which should stop the hair loss impact of DHT reasonably well. As a medical student you should approach this process the correct way.
Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):
I have been a bodybuilder for 40 years. While I am bald, I doubt if weightlifting has much to do with my baldness (except maybe for speeding it up a bit). There are bald guys and guys at the gym with full heads of hair that have all been training for comparable periods of years. Look at any bodybuilding event on TV. There are both bald and non-bald men competing and both types are hard trainers.
Hey, Im on the same line of thought as you are. While some people can work out and take suppliments without side effects, others will recieve excelerated hair loss, either due the elavated t-hormones which will convert to dht, or from the ingrediants. Im 24 also and have experienced premature balding, mostly in the front hair line. I have stoped taking everything including protein,creatines, and arginine. My hair loss has slowed down almost completely since ive been off. There are a few lucky individuals who naturally have very strong hair genes that can take any suppliment they want including steriods and not have any hair loss. I love how the fitness suppliment industry plays dumb to the fact that their suppliments can cause premature hairloss. It wont cause it, but will severely excelerate it. There’s thousands of similar testimonys all of the internet. I know by experimenting with myself by staying off of a product for a few months and then starting a cycle of anything with arginine will almost immediatly cause a massive shedding. I might start taking propecia, however there are side effects such gynocomastia, tumors, lowered libido, etc. and a nice 40-60 $ a month price tag.
I’m a natural bodybuider in my mid 20s who’s been taking Propecia for a few weeks now, and I think it has definitely helped me in the gym so far. I feel much stronger. As far as lifting weights and diet causing hair loss, it comes down to genetics.
I think initially, we look for differences in people who have hair and who don’t have hair and try and correlate that to a reason for why we are balding. I.e. whey protein, arginine, creatine, etc. causing balding.
As far as those supplements go, whey protein seems fairly safe because it’s basically an isolate of milk. If anything, drinking milk would be worse tahn drinking whey protein shakes. Arginine comes in a lot of whey proteins, and is supposed to increase natural growth hormone levels, but I doubt it’s enough to do anything. Although it’s a precursor to nitric oxide, which is a vasodilator (and Minoxidil is a vasodilator as well), so I am unclear as to why these seem contradictory to each other as growth hormone is supposed to accelerate hair loss. My guess is that external injections of growth hormone (HGH) at high levels is totally different than simply increasing natural growth hormone levels. Your body doesn’t need arginine though. It’s created inside of you already, meaning it’s non-essential. Creatine, I don’t think, affects our hormones as it only has to do with the cellular level and the role of creatinine.
I know people who take whey protein supplements like it’s their job. And good point above. Many bodybuilders take steroids, which is A MILLION TIMES WORSE than any “natural supplement” such as whey, creatine, arginine, and many of them still have all their hair! Look at Lee Priest, Arnold of course, Franco Columbu, Dorian Yates, TJ Hoban, Tom Platz, and so forth and so on.
WHen I first noticed my hair thinning, I thought it was maybe dairy products causing it, so I stopped drinking milk and started with soymilk and soy yogurt, which I found to taste much better anyhow. Different but better. I also stopped whey protein, creatine, and nitric oxide, the latter which I took on occasion. Ii thought all of the above were possibly related to my thinning hair, but it’s genetics only. Right now, I get my protein from chicken or fish only, or from nuts, or soy. At first, going off dairy was REALLY HARD, but after a couple weeks you get used to it and it doesn’t feel essential.
In addition to Propecia, I also take saw palmetto for the record.
I am experiencing the same things that you are. I have only been working out for 6 months now, and was originally taking a pro-amino protein shake with 45 grams or protien per serving and I also took creatine monohydrate for a short period of time as well. I noticed my hair beginning to shed and thought that it may just [at the time since it was the end of a semester at college] be the stresses of school. But than came the summer a time when i had very little stress but still was shedding, it seemed to be in patterns of maybe 3 to 4 weeks then slow down for a week or 2 than speed up again. It seems that everytime I would work out especially when im in the gym for more than an hour at a clip the shedding is really bad for the following week or so. Also just to inform everyone who is going to say that its male pattern baldness. Male pattern baldness does not run in my family both of my grandfathers had full heads of hair even into there late 70’s and my father has a full head of hair, two of my uncles have mild balding but nothing much.
i think its nothing to do with the whey protien,as i am taking it from last 2 years ,my hair is same as before.
I came to this blog page, searching for correlation between whey, creatine monohydrate, skimmed milk powder and hair loss. I have taken 100% gold standard (OPTIMUM NUTRITION product) whey + creatine monohydrate + skimmed milk together in a mix (of around 45 mg protein). My hair started receding in a 3 weeks time. I am almost bald now. In turn i have got good muscles. I don’t know what to do now.
I m using whey protein,i wud like to know if its safe?and no hair loss probs?