Hey, just wanted to share my experiment with curcumin and resveratrol. First off, the disclaimer: I'm also using minoxidil foam 5% twice a day, and it's entirely likely that minoxidil is the only thing that has had any effect at all. That said, I suspect curcumin and/or resveratrol have had an effect for reasons that I'll mention below.
Feb - September:
- Kirkland minoxidil foam 5% 2x a day
- Curcumin Phytosome 500mg from Now Foods (enhanced w/ minriva for bioavailability)
- ~150mg of resveratrol powder from PowderCity, capped myself
I've seen very impressive regrowth from this. I'm a diffuse balder and I went from being able to see a depressing amount of scape poking through my hair in February to hardly even being able to tell that I'm balding in June. I suspect that the minoxidil was what caused the regrowth and the curcumin and res was effective at maintaining. I'm also 24 and started losing hair at 20, so there's a good chance that since I'm young, curcumin/res worked whereas someone who has been balding for longer wouldn't see the same results. The whole time that that I've been taking curcumin and res, I shrugged them off as generally healthy things to take for longevity and overall health, only vaguely interested in them as hair loss supplements.
A week ago I discovered that curcumin is thought to possibly cause DNA damage and that it might be related to ED: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/stor...075325D62F8F2D.f02t02?v=1&t=ifcy8v36&3aa4ec08
http://www.peaktestosterone.com/Turmeric_Erectile_Dysfunction.aspx
I also saw a convincing argument not to take antioxidants: http://gettingstronger.org/2011/03/the-case-against-antioxidants/
These arguments might be flawed or they might be valid. I don't know. But I was at least convinced enough to stop taking supplements for awhile and see what happens. A few days after taking Curcumin and Res, I noticed two things immediately happen: (1) my morning erections were back after having been mostly gone for the last six months. (2) I suddenly felt a very noticeable scalp itch. I also subjectively feel like I am thinking a little more clearly and have increased sex drive, but this effect is so minor that it's very possibly placebo.
So, after this experience, I just wanted to say that I am mildly convinced that curcumin and resveratrol *do* probably work and that they *do* affect the hormones relevant for sex drive and male pattern baldness. To what extent, I don't know, but I think it's worth exploring. I'm also not convinced that they are the amazing healthy supplements that the health industry is portraying them, as they clearly have dark sides, as argued in the above papers.
I don't have many good photos of from this experiment since I was primarily trying this for general health and not for my hair, but I might be able to dig some up if there is enough interest.
Feb - September:
- Kirkland minoxidil foam 5% 2x a day
- Curcumin Phytosome 500mg from Now Foods (enhanced w/ minriva for bioavailability)
- ~150mg of resveratrol powder from PowderCity, capped myself
I've seen very impressive regrowth from this. I'm a diffuse balder and I went from being able to see a depressing amount of scape poking through my hair in February to hardly even being able to tell that I'm balding in June. I suspect that the minoxidil was what caused the regrowth and the curcumin and res was effective at maintaining. I'm also 24 and started losing hair at 20, so there's a good chance that since I'm young, curcumin/res worked whereas someone who has been balding for longer wouldn't see the same results. The whole time that that I've been taking curcumin and res, I shrugged them off as generally healthy things to take for longevity and overall health, only vaguely interested in them as hair loss supplements.
A week ago I discovered that curcumin is thought to possibly cause DNA damage and that it might be related to ED: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/stor...075325D62F8F2D.f02t02?v=1&t=ifcy8v36&3aa4ec08
http://www.peaktestosterone.com/Turmeric_Erectile_Dysfunction.aspx
I also saw a convincing argument not to take antioxidants: http://gettingstronger.org/2011/03/the-case-against-antioxidants/
These arguments might be flawed or they might be valid. I don't know. But I was at least convinced enough to stop taking supplements for awhile and see what happens. A few days after taking Curcumin and Res, I noticed two things immediately happen: (1) my morning erections were back after having been mostly gone for the last six months. (2) I suddenly felt a very noticeable scalp itch. I also subjectively feel like I am thinking a little more clearly and have increased sex drive, but this effect is so minor that it's very possibly placebo.
So, after this experience, I just wanted to say that I am mildly convinced that curcumin and resveratrol *do* probably work and that they *do* affect the hormones relevant for sex drive and male pattern baldness. To what extent, I don't know, but I think it's worth exploring. I'm also not convinced that they are the amazing healthy supplements that the health industry is portraying them, as they clearly have dark sides, as argued in the above papers.
I don't have many good photos of from this experiment since I was primarily trying this for general health and not for my hair, but I might be able to dig some up if there is enough interest.