Emu Oil
- Thread starter betz
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I am currently trying it out... not soley emu oil but GLA mixed with emu oil to help it penetrate better because supposedly it is a good carrier.... not sure alot of people round here have really used it... i asked a question about GLA but got no response even though theres some nice in depth studies backing up the theory behind it....
Personaly i dont think it will do much, its a good moisturiser but a greasy one!
Personaly i dont think it will do much, its a good moisturiser but a greasy one!
betz
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Good to hear. I bought a bottle of Swansons 100% Pure Emu Oil and figure, at the very least, it will feel good on my scalp to soothe the itchiness I get from Nizoral and minoxidil drop. Could you please explain what GLA is or what is in it? I have to admit, I've never heard of it myself.
GLA -> Gamma Linolenic Acid...
It is found naturally at high concentractions in borage oil & black current seed oil and at lower concentrations in evening primrose. It is supposedly a potent blocker of 5 alpha reductase which synthesises testosterone into DHT the molecule thought to be responsible for androgentic alopecia.
Now i am no expert on these matters, i work in the construction industry but from the research i have done into hair loss and subsequently other androgen dependent conditions. Tt appears that locally made DHT that is DHT synthesised within the follicule its self is actually what causes the damage to the follicule.
This would make sense as this DHT is more readily availiable to bind to the androgen receptors. Now serum DHT, that is the DHT that is circulating within our blood stream can still impact upon these follicules but from what ive read to a lesser extent. This could be because serum DHT would have to enter the cell to bind to its androgens and it may not have a high affinity for passing a cells cell membrane. Again very basic scientific knowledge here!! This isn't civil engineering!
This is why i use a topical of emu oil + GLA with crushed zinc & copper tablets. Zinc and GLA are proven inhibitors of both types of 5 alpha reductase and emu oil is known for its skin penatrative properties. There are proberly better carriers i dont know. I made up a solution with the following...
approx 30ml of emu oil
20 capsules of black current seed oil containing 80mg each of GLA = 80x20 =1600mg (not sure how many ml each capsule contains)
5x 15mg zinc 5mg copper tablets crushed up and put in
apply twice a day approx 2-3 ml each time to my temples
Its greasy is the main downside ive got with it... to early to tell if its doing anything only been doing it for bout 2 & half weeks, took baseline pics so will be able to see if its doing anything.
My main advice to you if you have just started with all this is to read loads of threads. You will find little golden nuggets (not the cereal!) and loads of studies to read. Just do as much research as possible!
Hope this helps,
Cheers
It is found naturally at high concentractions in borage oil & black current seed oil and at lower concentrations in evening primrose. It is supposedly a potent blocker of 5 alpha reductase which synthesises testosterone into DHT the molecule thought to be responsible for androgentic alopecia.
Now i am no expert on these matters, i work in the construction industry but from the research i have done into hair loss and subsequently other androgen dependent conditions. Tt appears that locally made DHT that is DHT synthesised within the follicule its self is actually what causes the damage to the follicule.
This would make sense as this DHT is more readily availiable to bind to the androgen receptors. Now serum DHT, that is the DHT that is circulating within our blood stream can still impact upon these follicules but from what ive read to a lesser extent. This could be because serum DHT would have to enter the cell to bind to its androgens and it may not have a high affinity for passing a cells cell membrane. Again very basic scientific knowledge here!! This isn't civil engineering!
This is why i use a topical of emu oil + GLA with crushed zinc & copper tablets. Zinc and GLA are proven inhibitors of both types of 5 alpha reductase and emu oil is known for its skin penatrative properties. There are proberly better carriers i dont know. I made up a solution with the following...
approx 30ml of emu oil
20 capsules of black current seed oil containing 80mg each of GLA = 80x20 =1600mg (not sure how many ml each capsule contains)
5x 15mg zinc 5mg copper tablets crushed up and put in
apply twice a day approx 2-3 ml each time to my temples
Its greasy is the main downside ive got with it... to early to tell if its doing anything only been doing it for bout 2 & half weeks, took baseline pics so will be able to see if its doing anything.
My main advice to you if you have just started with all this is to read loads of threads. You will find little golden nuggets (not the cereal!) and loads of studies to read. Just do as much research as possible!
Hope this helps,
Cheers
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n0142248 said:
GLA as it occurs in most natural oils (borage, black currant, evening primrose, etc.) doesn't inhibit 5a-reductase to any significant extent. That's because in such oils, it's almost entirely in the form of various mono-, di-, and triglycerides, and that chemical bond almost completely destroys its ability to inhibit 5a-reductase. To use it for the purpose you want, you have to get it in its purified, "free" form. The only way to do that is to buy it from a chemical company, and it's extremely expensive.
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n0142248 said:
You mean pure GLA? You could probably buy it from most any large chemical company, but as I said before, the stuff is prohibitively expensive. Furthermore, there are other very serious problems with buying chemicals from such companies: the vast majority of them won't sell chemicals to private individuals, especially in this day and age of threats of terrorism. You generally have to be a member of something like a college or university, or be an accredited doctor or scientist, before they'll do that.
The reason that the folks at Revivogen can sell their product at a much more reasonable price is that they take their starting oils and have them de-esterified en masse, without bothering to separate each individual "free" fatty acid. That's perfectly fine, and VASTLY reduces the associated costs. Revivogen may still seem expensive, but trust me on this: if they bought each individual fatty acid (including GLA) and mixed them together into Revivogen, it would be even a hell of a lot MORE expensive! :woot:
n0142248 said:
By "BCSA", do you mean black current oil? Short of expensive laboratory tests by a trained chemist using sophisticated equipment, I can't imagine how you could find that out for sure, with any degree of certainty.
A college chemistry textbook I have here states that natural oils like that generally have only traces of "free" fatty acids in them (1% to 2% or so).
Just one last thing while ive got your attention Byran.... What do you reckon to revivogen? I have a slight receeding hairline, its very gradual its just got to the point where its noticable (NW2) and has taken around 5 years to get to this point. Ive heard some good but mostly bad things about revivogen but this could possible be from people with more aggressive thinning then myself. Do you think its worth a shot or am i just kidding myself and nothing is as good as finasteride?
I doubt it is a mature hairline because its always gradually thinnning away plus father and granddad are both nw3 & 4's but my granddad actually was put on 5mg of finasteride for his prostate and now hes like a nw2 at 78! He grew back quite abit of hair!
I doubt it is a mature hairline because its always gradually thinnning away plus father and granddad are both nw3 & 4's but my granddad actually was put on 5mg of finasteride for his prostate and now hes like a nw2 at 78! He grew back quite abit of hair!
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n0142248 said:
I simply don't know what the correct answer to that is. Believe me, I wish I did! Some perfectly good and competent scientists took out a patent on the use of fatty acids to fight androgen-related problems like that, but as far as I know, it's never been tested in a rigorous way for male pattern baldness. I wish they would do it!