Best greens/superfood for hair? + My protocol

[Matt Skiba]

So in a post in another section of this site somebody claimed that their friend basically regrew a teenage hairline by using the product called emerald balance. Looking further into this I actually don't think this sounds all that far-fetched. Basically male pattern baldness is described as a genetic disease where the hair follicles of a male are prone to being attacked by DHT. Funny thing is the same company who publishes the book that pretty much officially defines what a disease is are the same people who sell propecia and proscar. I don't buy this, there has to be many other factors in hair loss than just DHT, I'm sure that lifestyle, aging, immune system, and many other molecular factors have something to do with it. Minoxidil is able to grow back hair, but without affecting DHT. I sometimes wonder if the state that minoxidil puts the skin that is is applied onto is achievable by other non-synthetic means.

So I bought this emerald balance stuff, and without a doubt I am pretty sure it does have health benefits and lives up to containing about 6-8 servings worth of fruits and vegetables in one scoop. This stuff is supposed to be able to suppress cravings for things that affect your body negatively, as well as normalizing the pH balance of your body so it is not so acidic (which tends to happen to people who drink a lot of soda pop, myself included). The cravings reduction effect is immense, I read a testimonial of one woman who said her son was actually able to lose 65 pounds because of this stuff, and honestly I find it believable. I am not overweight and I do not have cravings for unhealthy foods but I usually do smoke more than a pack of cigarettes a day. Amazingly enough, within the first day of taking emerald balance, I noticed at the end of the day that I actually had about 5 cigarettes still left in my pack, and this was without me even giving a conscious effort to cut down on smoking or anything. They also tend to sell this stuff at health food stores like whole foods.

So why do I truly believe this stuff can grow back hair? Well, like I mentioned above there was a post in the experimental treatments section of this site about someone whose friend grew back ALL their hair with emerald balance. Also there is actually a post on balding blog about someone who had similar results = http://www.baldingblog.com/2007/03/...r-becoming-a-vegetarian-and-eating-healthier/. And finally, an older friend of mine actually told me that he knew someone who was slick bald, but basically grew it all back with fruit smoothies and the like. I also tend to think that generally people who are in good shape and have good skin tend not to have hair loss as often as people who don't have as good skin, I live in a large metropolitan city and tend to see a large number of people in public and on the subway.

As of right now this is my protocol:

-Emerald Balance
-Sustain Alpha from primordial performance for topical absorbable resveratrol (I actually think this thickened my hair up a bit on its own last time I ran a "cycle" of it)
-Toco-8 primordial performance for claimed benefits
-Sesamin oil to maximize absorption of tocotrienols and anti-oxidants.
-EndoAmp from primordial performance for cortisol/stress control
-Minoxidil sulfate in the form of either kura labs minoxidil/azelaic acid or spectral DNC which includes procyanidin as well, I am considering buzzing my hair down to make twice daily application an actual possibility without ruining the "do".
-Dr. Lee's shampoo for claimed superiority over standard nizoral.
-Curcumin pills for claimed synergy with resveratrol.

Here is some stuff I'd like to implement:

-Cardiovascular exercise for increased blood flow and vitality
-Cessation of my tobacco habit, I will do this the next time it is not a weekend and on a day where I don't have any cigarettes left over from the day before. It will be an exercise in will-power and self-worth.
-Cessation of ALL carbonated beverages to maintain healthy body pH level
-Increased intake of water, which should be a given if I am drinking water instead of carbonated beverages with meals
-Implementation of more healthy oils into my body, such as omega-3 fish oil, virgin olive oil, and virgin coconut oil, and possibly CLA oil, to hopefully synergize with the sesamin oil I'm already taking. This isn't so much for hair, but more for overall well-being.
-I am thinking of using american crew's copper peptide shampoo, I also think they might make a copper peptide hair spray, this might be helpful as I do in fact use hair spray if my hair is long to help cover up the sides and make my dominant forelock less noticeable. I have not used any of their products yet, but my impression is that they are a quality hair-product company, much better than that got2b crap.

So there you have it, even if I don't grow back hair from this, I should at least be in top-notch health condition and be more attractive because of the skin benefits, and to be totally honest I would probably be satisfied with just that. I am only 20 years old and I have a good amount of faith in my body's regenerative abilities, I am also not bald by any means, I have absolutely no crown thinning, and am barely an nw2, and I can still get with some top-notch babes if I play my cards right . In all seriousness though I have just about had enough with losing my hair, it has caused me a loss in self-esteem, a premature forcing of acceptance that I am getting older, and indirectly it has also raped me of my libido when I decided to try propecia. So hopefully now I will be able to grow it back, and kick some *** while I am doing so. I also have no doubt that with all of the stuff I'm taking my libido will once again be full-blown, possibly to ridiculously high levels.

So now let's venture back into the original point of my post, what is the best superfood/greens supplement? Without a doubt, phytonutrients are highly beneficial, but there are many different preperations of superfood/greens supplements, pretty much all of them are somewhat expensive, but they have different prices and different lists of ingredients, as well as different ORAC ratings(supposed to be standardized antio-oxidant potency rating). I will be sticking with emerald balance for the time being, but here is a list compiled of a bunch of different supplements of the sort. Maybe I'll go back and edit to add all their lists of ingredients, ORAC ratings, as well as adding more products to be compared, but it is getting late and I have to go to bed soon.

Emerald Balance

http://www.sgnnutrition.com/

Miracle Greens

http://www.macrolifenaturals.com

Biotest Superfood

http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do?id=1900223

Amazing Grass

http://www.amazinggrass.com/

NOW Phytofood

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/now/green.html

Greens plus

http://www.greensplus.com/

Boku Superfood

http://www.bokusuperfood.com/

Nanogreens

http://www.biopharmasci.com/

From what I can tell there's many, many more, and some of these products look a lot more generic, but I think the ones I mentioned are the big ones. I highly recommend that anyone take these products, especially someone on this site, I have even gotten my mom to take it for all the anti-aging benefits. I'm not gonna lie, I'm also not the type of person to eat much fruits and vegetables at all in the first place, and I still eat quite a bit of fast food which I will have to eradicate from my system.

These supplements are incomparably superior to multi-vitamins, and I really believe that there is much to be learned from them. The following website may be of interest to some on here: http://www.naturalnews.com/.
You might also want to read the following article: http://www.sensablehealth.com/wp/2007/09/15/comparing-green-superfood-products/ .

I would be very happy if we could make a group effort to stack all these supplements up next to each other, and find the definitive answer to which one is truly the best for hair, and possibly for overall general health as well.

Never forget that your body is a temple and a sanctuary that is not to be befouled, and that you only get to live once so why not make the absolute best of it, even if you are losing your hair.

 

[philly]

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[the Last Fight]

Matt, i am also implmenting a protocol that benefits the hair, inturn it benefits the hair as well

 

[Matt Skiba]

Good post Matt! How are you doing with Kura labs' minoxidil sulfate? How long have you been on it? How many daily applications? What are your Norwood?

I'm still only on my first bottle of kura labs minoxidil sulfate, so I can't really say if it's been doing anything, also I just shaved my head(bad idea) so I should start applying it twice daily as soon as the sunburns on my scalp clear up. I don't want to mess with irritated skin by putting minoxidil on it. I'm thinking maybe I should use spectral DNC in the morning and kura at night since androgens are supposed to be highest then, hence the use of azelaic acid. I'm gonna use minoxidil twice daily pretty much until my hair grows long enough to the point where it messes up my hairdo, which should hopefully last enough months to make a difference.

As of now I am basically barely an NW2, I have more of a widow's peak kind of formation so I can still grow my hair out thankfully, but I am fearing that the sides may be thinning as made visible under bright lights.

My mother has been drinking emerald balance and she loves it, in a short amount of time she tells me that her fingernails have gotten harder, and I take this to be a very good sign that this stuff is indeed effective at improving skin related conditions.

I plan on following my protocol for at least 6 months, and if I am successful I will post before and after pictures.

 

[philly]

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[Matt Skiba]

Good post Matt! How are you doing with Kura labs' minoxidil sulfate? How long have you been on it? How many daily applications? What are your Norwood?

I'm still only on my first bottle of kura labs minoxidil sulfate, so I can't really say if it's been doing anything, also I just shaved my head(bad idea) so I should start applying it twice daily as soon as the sunburns on my scalp clear up. I don't want to mess with irritated skin by putting minoxidil on it. I'm thinking maybe I should use spectral DNC in the morning and kura at night since androgens are supposed to be highest then, hence the use of azelaic acid. I'm gonna use minoxidil twice daily pretty much until my hair grows long enough to the point where it messes up my hairdo, which should hopefully last enough months to make a difference.

As of now I am basically barely an NW2, I have more of a widow's peak kind of formation so I can still grow my hair out thankfully, but I am fearing that the sides may be thinning as made visible under bright lights.

My mother has been drinking emerald balance and she loves it, in a short amount of time she tells me that her fingernails have gotten harder, and I take this to be a very good sign that this stuff is indeed effective at improving skin related conditions.

I plan on following my protocol for at least 6 months, and if I am successful I will post before and after pictures.

Matt, how's the minoxidil sulfate going? Is it as good as it's supposed to be?

To be totally honest I think I might just stick with spectral DNC, as procyanidin seems to be a more promising ingredient than azelaic acid. I only used one bottle of kura labs product though so I can't really judge it too well. Now if someone came out with a product that had minoxidil sulfate, azelaic acid, and procyanidins then we might have a knockout product.

I'm curious of spectral dnc-l though, but no one seems to have the answer as to why only people with advanced balding should use it. I don't have advanced balding, but from what I can gather the fringe areas are the hardest to treat so it is confusing as to why I shouldn't be using a more powerful formula. No one has been able to give me a straight answer so I might have to shoot up an email to the company.

Otherwise I feel that my complexion has actually been improved, and I am actually gaining weight now which has been difficult for me in the past, this is working out pretty nicely and I feel that I have a physically more fit body, as well as being more motivated to work out. I have a lot of faith that quitting cigarettes will improve my hair, but this has been a difficult task. I went two days without cigarettes and I could already feel increased blood flow and vitality to different parts of my body, especially the extremities.

 

[philly]

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[Matt Skiba]

Spectral DNC is one of the worst products ever made. It's a COMPLETE SCAM. If I were you I'd stick with the minoxidil sulfate (No, Spectral DNC has NO minoxidil sulfate).

Look at these boards (HairLossTalk.com, HLH, Regrowth). No one has ever had success with Spectral DNC.

Good luck!

Are you positive spectral DNC has no minoxidil sulfate? The following forum post has someone who supposedly sent a letter to the company and the company stated that they do use minoxidil sulfate:

http://www.hairlosshelp.com/forums/...&threadid=54288&FTVAR_MSGDBTABLE=&STARTPAGE=1

I don't know though, if you'd like to prove me wrong then go right ahead.

 

[philly]

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[Matt Skiba]

Spectral DNC is one of the worst products ever made. It's a COMPLETE SCAM. If I were you I'd stick with the minoxidil sulfate (No, Spectral DNC has NO minoxidil sulfate).

Look at these boards (HairLossTalk.com, HLH, Regrowth). No one has ever had success with Spectral DNC.

Good luck!

Are you positive spectral DNC has no minoxidil sulfate? The following forum post has someone who supposedly sent a letter to the company and the company stated that they do use minoxidil sulfate:

http://www.hairlosshelp.com/forums/...&threadid=54288&FTVAR_MSGDBTABLE=&STARTPAGE=1

I don't know though, if you'd like to prove me wrong then go right ahead.

THEY DON'T USE MINOXIDIL SULFATE. They use minoxidil USP. It's written on the bottle. I've sent so many emails to annie and when our discussion started to go my way she just stopped replying!

I have also bought Spectral DNC-L. I suggest you buy it and read carefully the booklet and you'll realize it's a SCAM!

Please don't buy this s***, will you?

Well I'm sold on your statement, but I've already ordered a bottle of spectral DNC. Oh well, these things run out pretty quickly anyways.

I am really hopeful for anything I might be able to accomplish for my hair. To be totally honesty with you I still have for the most part a straight hairline. Well more of kind of a widow's peak with fading crescents of thinning hair on the sides. If I can make those crescents (which are mostly only significantly visible when I grow my hair out as these hairs don't grow as long) grow back I think I would be set and be able to use pomade again!

 

[philly]

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[the Last Fight]

minoxidil sulfate??? i couldnt find this at Kuralabs .. where did you find it?

 

[masculineyourheart]

Hey, thanks for the post Matt. I've got nothing to add other than I plan to purchase myself a tub of Emerald Balance in the next few days.

An anecdotal success story on a hair loss board is such good advertising.

 

[Matt Skiba]

Good for you!

If I were you though, I'd return the Spectral DNC and continue with the real (we can only hope) minoxidil sulfate (Kura labs). It they use minoxidil sulfate indeed, they have clearly made the most appealing minoxidil solution on the market! Go with their product WITHOUT azelaic acid. I've done COMPLETE research on the latter on this board, HLH and regrowth.com and there isn't even a single success story! Please not that AA has been out for ages too (7-8 years).

P.S. Moreover, you could be sort of a first tester of their product. Your monthly reports would benefit everyone over here, including me!

Has anyone even been able to even maintain what they have with azelaic acid? I think I read on pubmed.com that it does indeed have an effect on 5-alpha reductase in the scalp.

But man it's seriously raining down on me that I'm losing my hair. I feel like people smile less when I walk into a room or if they see me. I also feel like I can't get away with having a goofy care-free and energetic attitude like I used to. I feel like people look at me weird nowadays instead of laughing when I act like an ***. I also think this has especially been apparent after I shaved my head. All this and I used to be the type of guy that got stalked by girls, and had several clean-cut hot cheerleader type girls having crushes on me.

I grew up as being kind of a skater-punk kinda kid with spikey hair, and I love to play music, and I feel like my hair is f*****g with my motivation to play music on a subconscious level. I still feel like I have to do it though, since it can really brighten me up to be on a stage and have a crowd of people enjoy what I'm doing. I feel like my hair and me getting older in general is seriously affecting my lifestyle. Also, like I mentioned, I think people are not treating me as well as they used to upon first impressions, sometimes even afterwards. What is also seriously freaking me out is that I think I might possibly be developing a bald spot on the back of my head, I'm not totally sure on this and I would still really like to believe that it's just the vortex shape of my hair, it doesn't really feel thinner if I run my fingers back there, but it looks like it is with a cellphone picture. My appearance is stressing me out and bringing me down so much... I'm only 20 years old!! Hair loss was not something that I even would have thought ran in the family. My dad has good hair, his dad had good hair until he died, and everyone else had good hair until they were at least 30, minus an overweight cousin I have that was worse off than me at only age 18. Even though my uncle whose the dad of my cousin is bald, I still like to think that his health habits had something to do with it.

I'm not going to be in denial about anything, I have a stressed out life and an erratic diet. I pretty much never eat breakfast and eat out most of the time. Hell I've even experimented with hard drugs as a teenager. Right now in my life I feel pretty lonely and sorrowful, even though I have friends. I just feel empty as hell! I can't help but feel that all this negative emotion and energy is not good for my hair, and is causing me to age prematurely, especially with my crappy diet, crappy exercise, and heavy smoking. I think how negatively I feel towards my life tends to make the act of quitting cigarettes all the more difficult.

Basically this sh*t is not even supposed to be happening to me since it doesn't really run in the family, unless you consider the fact that something like 92% of caucasian men will lose hair at some point in their lives, which I think supports the theory that hair loss might be more diet and lifestyle based than what big-pharm tells you.

Well thanks for reading, I know this isn't really the right forum sub-section for it but I think it helps to vent out thoughts and feelings that I pretty much can't really talk to friends about.

 

[philly]

...

 

[masculineyourheart]

Man, I've practically no chest hair, though my beard's getting decent enough now. If I leave it for a week or so I look like my old science teacher but less nuts.

I feel for you Matt, I went through the same thing moving away from the local band scene and not wanting to see people. I figured it'd just be a matter of cutting off from them for a bit, wearing a hat for a while and then I'd work out some way of stopping this damn hair loss before it's really noticeable. It's just left me isolated however. Still, I'm hopeful. We have enough success stories and studies to find something that works for us. Surely.

Finasteride didn't work out for me but if chuck norris chest hair and a hella beard are tell tale signs of high dht, maybe I should get tested for something more exotic like thyroid problems or sids. Is that serious about the hairy thing?

 

[Matt Skiba]

Good for you!

If I were you though, I'd return the Spectral DNC and continue with the real (we can only hope) minoxidil sulfate (Kura labs). It they use minoxidil sulfate indeed, they have clearly made the most appealing minoxidil solution on the market! Go with their product WITHOUT azelaic acid. I've done COMPLETE research on the latter on this board, HLH and regrowth.com and there isn't even a single success story! Please not that AA has been out for ages too (7-8 years).

P.S. Moreover, you could be sort of a first tester of their product. Your monthly reports would benefit everyone over here, including me!

Has anyone even been able to even maintain what they have with azelaic acid? I think I read on pubmed.com that it does indeed have an effect on 5-alpha reductase in the scalp.

But man it's seriously raining down on me that I'm losing my hair. I feel like people smile less when I walk into a room or if they see me. I also feel like I can't get away with having a goofy care-free and energetic attitude like I used to. I feel like people look at me weird nowadays instead of laughing when I act like an ***. I also think this has especially been apparent after I shaved my head. All this and I used to be the type of guy that got stalked by girls, and had several clean-cut hot cheerleader type girls having crushes on me.

I grew up as being kind of a skater-punk kinda kid with spikey hair, and I love to play music, and I feel like my hair is f****ing with my motivation to play music on a subconscious level. I still feel like I have to do it though, since it can really brighten me up to be on a stage and have a crowd of people enjoy what I'm doing. I feel like my hair and me getting older in general is seriously affecting my lifestyle. Also, like I mentioned, I think people are not treating me as well as they used to upon first impressions, sometimes even afterwards. What is also seriously freaking me out is that I think I might possibly be developing a bald spot on the back of my head, I'm not totally sure on this and I would still really like to believe that it's just the vortex shape of my hair, it doesn't really feel thinner if I run my fingers back there, but it looks like it is with a cellphone picture. My appearance is stressing me out and bringing me down so much... I'm only 20 years old!! Hair loss was not something that I even would have thought ran in the family. My dad has good hair, his dad had good hair until he died, and everyone else had good hair until they were at least 30, minus an overweight cousin I have that was worse off than me at only age 18. Even though my uncle whose the dad of my cousin is bald, I still like to think that his health habits had something to do with it.

I'm not going to be in denial about anything, I have a stressed out life and an erratic diet. I pretty much never eat breakfast and eat out most of the time. Hell I've even experimented with hard drugs as a teenager. Right now in my life I feel pretty lonely and sorrowful, even though I have friends. I just feel empty as hell! I can't help but feel that all this negative emotion and energy is not good for my hair, and is causing me to age prematurely, especially with my crappy diet, crappy exercise, and heavy smoking. I think how negatively I feel towards my life tends to make the act of quitting cigarettes all the more difficult.

Basically this s*** is not even supposed to be happening to me since it doesn't really run in the family, unless you consider the fact that something like 92% of caucasian men will lose hair at some point in their lives, which I think supports the theory that hair loss might be more diet and lifestyle based than what big-pharm tells you.

Well thanks for reading, I know this isn't really the right forum sub-section for it but I think it helps to vent out thoughts and feelings that I pretty much can't really talk to friends about.

Man, I feel for you. You GOTTA get on finasteride ASAP! Do you have chest hair? Hair on your back? Already a developed beard? If that's the case you have high DHT levels and you'll go bald very rapidly if you don't reduce your DHT levels. Trust me, if you do nothing, you'll rapidly realize that your hair loss has NOTHING (when I say nothing I mean NOTHING) to do with diet and stress and the like. Right now DHT hormones (from 5AR2 enzyme complexes in your follicles) are attaching to your hair follicules' ARs causing them to shrink fast! For your best, take action now!

Personally, I'd never recommend finasteride before 20 (you're good) and before your dick has fully developed (is that's the case?).

Get on Kura labs minoxidil without AA (COMPLETELY useless)

Get on finasteride 1mg/day. If you get sides, reduce your dosage to 0.5mg, then 0.25mg, etc.

Nizoral 2% every 3 days.

Personally, I wish someone had told me this when I was in my early twenties.

Good luck!

I tried finasteride last year when I was 19 and I still feel like I haven't fully recovered from the sexual sides, and I only took it for something like 2 weeks. I think cigarette smoking might have something to do with this. I've actually read somewhere that someone who is taking HGH should pretty much not have any vices under any circumstance, as vices deter the endurance of the body and this goes for testicular and sexual health as well. Also when I didn't smoke for as little as 2 days I could feel things getting better... I really need to give up the cancer sticks.

As for body hair, in all honesty I don't have all that much. I have a decent amount in the front, but absolutely no back hair thankfully. There's a lot of hairier guys than me out there who have a full head of hair. My beard has actually just begun maturing into the handlebar formation within the last year, and I actually think this begun after I took and quit finasteride which seems kind of odd to me. To top it all off I think finasteride may have even messed with my complexion. I think finasteride may have posssibly even overshot my DHT levels when my body rebounded after I stopped taking the drug. I also tried things like reducing dosage and taking it every other day to avoid sides, but that didn't work out. Like you said I might have been luckier had I taken this stuff after I got into my 20s.

I would be very satisfied even if I can only just recover my innate ability to be happy and good health and complexion. It seems like everything else would pretty much fall into place after that. I REALLY want to quit smoking cigarettes, but without the aid of any more pharmaceuticals like chantix, I'm thinking maybe acupuncture can help with this. I actually feel like I would be happier as a non-smoker, and just less stressed out and irritated. It's just so goddamn hard to quit!

 

[Matt Skiba]

Okay, so it seems that god has played a cruel joke on me when I woke up this morning.

Basically there is a big red bump on the left side of my forehead, now this side has already been thinning worse than the other side of my head, but since this big bump has appeared, it seems as though I have shed some hair, and now I look like a dude with an asymettrical half-receding hairline, only on the left side.

The bump actually looks like the result of blunt trauma, and I would not be surprised to find out that I've been banging the receding part of my head against the backboard of my bed subconsciously in my sleep because of how frustrated and pissed off I am about it.

Hopefully it will in the least fill up with what little hair there was there in the first place, I guess the good part is that I'm still seeing a significant amount of little hairs in there.

Here's 2 pictures, notice how the right side of my hairline is really acceptable... but the damage to my left side pretty much just happened within the time-span of last night. You can see the bump too.

 

[masculineyourheart]

Try taking the photo with the direct light on your right side instead of your left.

 

[justaguy2005]

1) I just started using emerald balance a little under a month ago, and i've already noticed my temples seem a little fuzzier and my hair overall seems happy. Will be able to say better in another couple months.

2) If you want to quit smoking, ask your doctor about wellbutrin/zyban/buproprion. That stuff worked great for me, have been cig-free for two years, which is statistically the point when you become very unlikely to relapse.