September 29 2008, 3:34 pm PT | Posted in: Hair Loss Causes + Hair Pieces / Systems
Hello doc,
I found this text on a website recently “If you look at Japan, male pattern baldness was almost unheard of prior to World War II. The Japanese diet is now far more fatty and Westernized, and Japanese men are going bald everywhere. It’s clear that a high-fat, meat-based diet raises testosterone levels, and that may adversely affect hair follicles.”
- Do you have any information about this? Could this be true?
While it is true to some degree that we are what we eat, hair loss comes about because of four components. Our food intake (if normal nutrients are ingested) is not one of those four. They are:
- Genetic elements for balding
- The male hormone in adequate quantities for healthy men
- The time the hormones and the genetic defect interact
- The amount of stress in the life of the person
I have a problem when someone is comparing early 20th century assessments of hair loss and modern 21st century assessments of hair loss. I also have a problem with the comment that ties healthy diets to hair loss in any way. The “authority” seems to originate from a talented man and nutritionist, Michael A. Klaper, M.D. He does not cite any evidence for his opinions and uses the term “may” when commenting on the connection between meat in the diet, testosterone, and hair loss. In my opinion, a statement like, “male pattern baldness was almost unheard of prior to World War II,” really can not be based upon any reasonable scientific observation and if I am wrong, I would want to see it. Who would be making such an assessment in a closed, almost feudal society like pre-war Japan? Balding is big business in modern Japan, which supports the largest hair wig manufacturer in the world. Many of the people of Japan still maintain the more traditional diets (they are not hamburger freaks) yet they lose hair. Studies have shown that there is little difference in balding statistics between races.
The website which originated these comments appears to be MotherNature.com and it does not show any convincing evidence to support the posted statement. Show me the science and I would be willing to change my mind.
However, it is documented that daily vigorous exercise (like endurance training) and lower fat/total calorie intake will decrease the free testosterone and DHT levels, and you can assume that this can decrease hair loss (see Relationship between stress hormones and testosterone with prolonged endurance exercise). Does a low fat diet alone decrease the levels of testosterone and DHT? That is not clear.
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Balding Forum
Dr. Rassman,
In the last paragraph in your above answer you wrote the following……………
“However, it is documented that daily vigorous exercise and lower fat/total calorie intake will decrease the free testosterone and DHT levels, and you can assume that this can increase hair loss”
Did you mean to say that “you can assume that this can DECREASE hair loss” instead of saying that it can increase hair loss?
Dan,
Yeah, I changed a sentence before posting and it went from “won’t increase” to “can increase”. Oops! You’re right and I appreciate you catching it!
Just a side note, I recently watched a war-documentary. It featured rare and restored WWII video clips from the Japanese Army. Prior to my documentary view I’d heard about this baldness-theory, the thing is, several people in the clips were balding, especially one general who had an obvious NW7 pattern.
I’m intrigued in learning more about the hypothesis that pre-WW II balding was largely absent in Japan. I believe this was first put forward by Dr. Masumi Inaba, who Dr. Rassman even cites in an article from 2006 http://www.baldingblog.com/2006/01/05/tidbits-balding-in-indians-and-asians/
I’ve looked for Dr. Inaba’s book, but can’t find it anywhere except online for an exorbitant price, since it’s apparently long out of print.
Dr. Rassman, are you aware if anyone has further explored Dr. Inaba’s ideas? I believe he put forth this idea almost 2 decades ago.
There’s some decent science out there that already suggests how eating meat raises estrogen levels in girls, and leads to things such as earlier puberty. Maybe it has a similar effect on male hormones?
Also, in regard to Sidenote’s comment, it’s very possible that the more elite social classes, such as a General and Royalty in Japan could’ve likely eaten a diet richer in meat, or at least had more access to it than the average citizen. So perhaps the theory may still hold.