Fight Female Hair Loss

Hair loss isn’t just a problem for men.

It affects about half of all women in their lifetime.^1,2

Thinning hair or bald spots can negatively affect a woman’s emotional well-being and quality of life.^2-4 The few medications approved for hair loss can be unpleasant to use and have unwanted side effects.⁵

Scientists have identified two well-tolerated plant-derived ingredients that have been shown to combat hair loss.

In a clinical trial, women with thinning hair and hair loss who took gluten-free wheat ceramides had a stunning 48% decrease in hair loss from baseline and a 12.5% improvement in hair growth as compared to placebo.⁶

In another clinical trial, women with hair loss who took saw palmetto oil reduced hair shedding by 34% and increased hair thickness from baseline.⁷

Together, these oral extracts may help resolve the top causes of hair loss in women and restore healthy hair growth.

Understanding Female Hair Loss

Hair grows in cycles. Usually, most hair is in the anagen (growth) phase, while approximately 10% is in the telogen (resting) phase.^8,9

The most common types of hair loss in women are:

• Telogen effluvium, which occurs when a greater proportion of hair transitions from the growth (anagen) phase to the shedding or resting (telogen) phase. This condition can result in the loss of up to 35% of scalp hairs, compared to the typical daily shedding of 50–150 hairs (about 10%). It may be triggered by physiological or psychological stressors such as trauma, illness, malnutrition, or childbirth.⁹
• Female pattern hair loss, progressive hair loss also known as androgenetic alopecia. This disorder, in which hair gradually gets thinner at the top of the head,10 is increasingly common with age, affecting about 40% of women by age 50.¹¹

Hormonal changes, such as the drop in estrogen and increase in androgens (particularly dihydrotestosterone DHT) around menopause, can contribute to female pattern hair loss.¹²

Elevated levels of DHT contribute to the progressive shrinkage of hair follicles, resulting in thinning hair, reduced follicular density, and eventual baldness.¹³

Female hair loss typically presents a different pattern than male-pattern baldness, characterized by diffuse thinning at the crown and a noticeable widening of the central part.¹⁴

Scientists have identified plant-derived extracts that, when taken orally, may help maintain healthy hair lifecycle and reduce hair loss.

Ceramides Halt Hair Loss

Ceramides are a type of lipid or fat. A hair strand’s outermost layer contains ceramides that help protect and strengthen hair.¹⁵

Preclinical research has found that ceramides may also promote cellular signaling to stimulate hair growth.^16-18

Scientists have developed a gluten-free wheat extract rich in ceramides and digalactosyldiglycerides, another plant lipid that promotes the absorption of ceramides in the gut.¹⁹

In a clinical trial, 66 healthy women aged 24 to 64 with more than 15% of total hair in the telogen phase took 30 mg of an oral wheat ceramide extract or a placebo daily. The participants initially reported brittle, thinning hair and experienced mild to moderate hair loss.⁶

Hair characteristics were evaluated at 56 and 84 days using a phototrichogram. This is a noninvasive imaging technique that monitors hair growth and loss through periodic scalp imaging and analysis. The phototrichogram assesses hair growth phases.

This clinical trial also used hair pull tests to measure shedding, while additional assessments evaluated hair diameter, strength, growth, sebum levels, density, and volume.

Within just two months, the extract group exhibited significant signs of healthier hair. After three months, the treatment group showed significantly greater improvements than the placebo group, including:

• 48% decrease in hair loss (per hair pull test) from baseline,
• 12.5% greater increase in hair growth compared to placebo, and
• 12% reduction in scalp oil from baseline among participants with oily hair.

Overall, up to 90% of women who took the ceramide extract reported that their hair was healthier, citing faster growth with fewer split ends. A subgroup analysis of postmenopausal women found that those who received the extract experienced similar improvements.

Fight Hormonal Hair Loss

Saw palmetto is a plant rich in beneficial compounds including fatty acids and beta-sitosterol.^20,21 Preclinical research suggests saw palmetto oil may help combat hair loss, especially androgenetic alopecia, by:^20,22-24

• Reducing the body’s production of DHT (dihydrotestosterone), a hair loss promoter,
• Blocking cellular uptake of DHT, and
• Decreasing DHT binding to receptors.

Excess DHT increases hair loss by shortening the growth phase and lengthening the shedding phase of the hair lifecycle.^8,20

Saw palmetto inhibited 5-alpha reductase—the enzyme that converts testosterone to DHT—and it also exhibited anti-inflammatory and pro-angiogenic effects in laboratory studies. Scientists formulated a saw palmetto oil standardized to contain 2%–3% beta-sitosterol and 85% total fatty acids, which was tested in a clinical study.⁷

Saw Palmetto Stops Shedding

A double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial recruited 80 healthy men and women (ages 18–50) with mild-to-moderate androgenetic alopecia. Participants were randomized into four arms and received daily treatments for 16 weeks:⁷

• 100 mg oral standardized form of saw palmetto oil
• Oral placebo

Participants were evaluated using hair comb and hair pull tests, self-assessment of perceived efficacy, and objective evaluation via global photographic assessment scores. Hair density, thickness, and the anagen/telogen ratio were measured through phototrichogram analysis.

After four months, those receiving saw palmetto, compared to placebo, exhibited:

• 11.3% increase in hair density,
• 34% decrease in hair shedding (per a hair comb test),
• 16.6% decrease in hair loss (per a hair pull test), and
• 18.9% reduction in blood levels of DHT.

Some improvements were observed as early as two months and became more pronounced over time. Both men and women experienced similar outcomes.

Combining saw palmetto and wheat ceramides may help stop many cases of female hair loss and boost hair growth.

Summary

Hair loss affects about half of women, whether due to a sudden uptick in shedding or progressive hair loss on the top of the head.

Standardized wheat ceramide extract and saw palmetto oil, when taken orally, have both been clinically shown to reduce hair loss and renew hair growth in women.

Significant improvements in hair growth commonly start within just two months of using the ingredients.

If you have any questions on the scientific content of this article, please call a Life Extension Wellness Specialist at 1-866-864-3027.

References

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