Flaxseeds, & other potential ways of "balancing" hormones :)

[OverMachoGrande]

Define "heavy stress".

Do we mean.. losing your keys? Starving? Getting dumped by your girlfriend? Getting obscene phone calls?

Occasionally studies use the vague term "psychosocial stress." But this is measured by medically accepted depression/anxiety inventories. A lot of studies deal with a specific event anyways.

First, please note the following article by Elizabeth Scott, M.S.,

http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/cortisol.htm

Cortisol is an important hormone in the body, secreted by the adrenal glands and involved in the following functions and more:
Proper glucose metabolism
Regulation of blood pressure
Insulin release for blood sugar maintanence
Immune function
Inflammatory response
Normally, it’s present in the body at higher levels in the morning, and at its lowest at night. Although stress isn’t the only reason that cortisol is secreted into the bloodstream, it has been termed “the stress hormone†because it’s also secreted in higher levels during the body’s ‘fight or flight’ response to stress, and is responsible for several stress-related changes in the body. Small increases of cortisol have some positive effects:

A quick burst of energy for survival reasons
Heightened memory functions
A burst of increased immunity
Lower sensitivity to pain
Helps maintain homeostasis in the body
While cortisol is an important and helpful part of the body’s response to stress, it’s important that the body’s relaxation response to be activated so the body’s functions can return to normal following a stressful event.Unfortunately, in our current high-stress culture, the body’s stress response is activated so often that the body doesn’t always have a chance to return to normal, resulting in a state of chronic stress.

Higher and more prolonged levels of cortisol in the bloodstream (like those associated with chronic stress) have been shown to have negative effects, such as:

Impaired cognitive performance
Suppressed thyroid function
Blood sugar imbalances such as hyperglycemia
Decreased bone density
Decrease in muscle tissue
Higher blood pressure
Lowered immunity and inflammatory responses in the body, slowed wound healing, and other health consequences
Increased abdominal fat, which is associated with a greater amount of health problems than fat deposited in other areas of the body. Some of the health problems associated with increased stomach fat are heart attacks, strokes, the development of metabolic syndrome, higher levels of “bad†cholesterol (LDL) and lower levels of “good†cholesterol (HDL), which can lead to other health problems!
To keep cortisol levels healthy and under control, the body’s relaxation response should be activated after the fight or flight response occurs. You can learn to relax your body with various stress management techniques, and you can make lifestyle changes in order to keep your body from reacting to stress in the first place. The following have been found by many to be very helpful in relaxing the body and mind, aiding the body in maintaining healthy cortisol levels:

Guided Imagery
Journaling
Self-Hypnosis
Exercise
Yoga
Listening to Music
Breathing Exercises
Meditation
Sex
Other Techniques

Cortisol secretion varies among individuals. People are biologically ‘wired’ to react differently to stress. One person may secrete higher levels of cortisol than another in the same situation. Studies have also shown that people who secrete higher levels of cortisol in response to stress also tend to eat more food, and food that is higher in carbohydrates than people who secrete less cortisol. If you’re more sensitive to stress, it’s especially important for you to learn stress management techniques and maintain a low-stress lifestyle.

Second, here is a stress table,

http://faculty.weber.edu/molpin/healthclasses/1110/bookchapters/selfassessmentchapter.htm

For example, losing your keys shouldn't be a stressor, and if it is, a minor one, having problems with spouse, moving, funerals, weddings etc... major events, that in any way have a negative impact on you, resulting in worry, anxiety, anger, fear, all elevate stress.

Psychological stress, is much more important than people think, as soon as your brain is taxed this way, your opening a flood gate of potential disasters to your entire system.

Raised it to what degree? How do we know? The fact that he may be under subjective stress does not mean his cortisol is medically abnormal.

True, but, regarding male pattern baldness, many guys losing hair, especially at a younger age, is an obvious physiological sign of many imbalances occurring at once, a few being unnatural hormone levels, elevated blood pressure, higher LDL/lower HDL etc...

The truth is, there can only be benefit from trying to keep stress levels down, in turn, down-regulating cortisol release,

It's deadly? Maybe if you really have high cortisol from untreated Cushing's syndrome or some form of tumor.

Over long periods, elevated cortisol kills the system with the effects listed above.

Virtually everyone experiences stress.

You could just as easily say stress is a precursor to sitting, having lunch, watching tv or bathing 99% of the time.

Yes, and some stress is healthy. Saying stress is a precursor to voluntary human action, rather than, a reaction in the biological function, or psychological function, is misleading. Sure someone under these stresses may eat more, and carbs at that, but replacing eating foods to calm stress, with eating food as a part of a necessary function to live is not the same.

Also, heart disease, enlarged prostate, and diabetes are three illness, which can help one anothers onset, but the one common precursor found is hair male pattern baldness, stress, increasing cortisol, have several promoting factors leading to these diseases.

 

[OverMachoGrande]

Because your talking rubbish, this is just a theory of yours with no evidence behind it, how do you know you are 'balancing' your hormones for all you know they could be balanced already (whatever balancing is) and you have no idea what effects altering them could have you're just guessing.

If his hormones were in balance, and been in balance, he would not be suffering from male pattern baldness.

Though, he is not altering them in a way as to put his body at harm, taking a couple of supplements, sleeping right, going for a run could only be of benefit,

Lewdbear, you in med school dude? You know your sh*t.

Nene, I am a pre-med student at CU, and am going to school for TCM. My grandmother is a great doctor, who has seen a great deal of illness in her day, she learned medicine while growing up in Ukraine. When I speak to her about any illness, including male pattern baldness, she confesses to seeing many balding guys reverse hair loss with diet, plenty of exercise (running), warm oil massages, and to stop stressing.

 

[Nene]

Then they never had male pattern baldness to begin with.

 

[OverMachoGrande]

Then they never had male pattern baldness to begin with.

How are you sure?

 

[Nene]

Then they never had male pattern baldness to begin with.

How are you sure?

I'm sure because you can't reverse male pattern baldness hair loss without a hair transplant, finasteride, or a miracle. If your studying to be in med school you should know this, and you should know better than to go off of anecdotal evidence, even if your grandma is the one who tells you the anecdote.

 

[OverMachoGrande]

Then they never had male pattern baldness to begin with.

How are you sure?

I'm sure because you can't reverse male pattern baldness hair loss without a hair transplant, finasteride, or a miracle. If your in med school you should know this.

I am also schooling in TCM.

 

[Nene]

I'm not familiar with that acronym.

 

[OverMachoGrande]

I'm not familiar with that acronym.

Traditional Chinese Medicine

 

[Nene]

Oh, well I do think there may be something to TCM. All you have to do is watch the incredible sh*t the Shaolin monks do with their qi gong to know something we don't quite understand is going on. But there are plenty of bald chinese dudes.

 

[OverMachoGrande]

Oh, well I do think there may be something to TCM. All you have to do is watch the incredible sh*t the Shaolin monks do with their qi gong to know something we don't quite understand is going on. But there are plenty of bald chinese dudes.

Hey, absolutely, I noticed the monk, I got into TCM through my Shaolin school I here in Denver, Master David Soard and Grandmaster Sin Kwang Thé, I had the honor of attending his seminar on Golden Leopard.

Anyway, what of the modernization of Japan/China, in adding more fat/sugar/processed foods?

 

[Nene]

People were going bald in East Asia and the rest of the world for that matter before processed crappy foods were even fathomable. I do think that it is possible that diet and overall health can play a role in hair loss, albeit a small role. Maybe it speeds up the process a bit or starts it earlier than it otherwise would have started? However, I think that if you don't have the gene for it, you won't lose your hair regardless of what you do. Likewise, if you do have the gene for it, you WILL lose your hair eventually. What we need our some twin studies to prove anything one way or the other. And I'm pretty confident that they would show that lifestyle has almost 0 effect on hair loss.

 

[OverMachoGrande]

People were going bald in East Asia and the rest of the world for that matter before processed crappy foods were even fathomable. I do think that it is possible that diet and overall health can play a role in hair loss, albeit a small role. Maybe it speeds up the process a bit or starts it earlier than it otherwise would have started? However, I think that if you don't have the gene for it, you won't lose your hair regardless of what you do. Likewise, if you do have the gene for it, you WILL lose your hair eventually. What we need our some twin studies to prove anything one way or the other. And I'm pretty confident that they would show that lifestyle has almost 0 effect on hair loss.

They were, but at much lower rates, and onset would be pushed back to older men, seeing much less prevalence younger men. Even men with no gene can lose hair, and constant stress to immune system, affecting the epithelial cells can result in poor defense against free radicals and hormone imbalances, and eventually without proper support, beginning a cycle of male pattern baldness. Same goes for us guys with a susceptible gene, if we stop, prevent, and reverse damage down to these organs and cells, and create a proper function in overall health, our hair will mirror those effects, just like what how these drugs work to regrow, it is certainly capable to achieve the same functions through natural means.

True, more studies would be very helpful, though, what about the apple polyphenol study(s) done in Japan? They show to exhibit an even more powerful effect than minoxidil, through a very similar process.

 

[Hoppi]

LewdBear, concerning cortisol, this compound is released under heavy stress, and long term consistency.

Define "heavy stress".

Do we mean.. losing your keys? Starving? Getting dumped by your girlfriend? Getting obscene phone calls?

Occasionally studies use the vague term "psychosocial stress." But this is measured by medically accepted depression/anxiety inventories. A lot of studies deal with a specific event anyways.

[quote="Lord_Justin13":23su57sf]
If Hoppi believes stress is in any way a factor, then it would be fair to assume he has raised cortisol for one reason or another.

Raised it to what degree? How do we know? The fact that he may be under subjective stress does not mean his cortisol is medically abnormal.

[quote="Lord_Justin13":23su57sf]
In fact, cortisol in high levels is very deadly, so anyone who trys to maintain it at a lower level is making a sound health decision,

It's deadly? Maybe if you really have high cortisol from untreated Cushing's syndrome or some form of tumor.

furthermore, stress has been shown to be the precursor to 99% of all illness.

Virtually everyone experiences stress.

You could just as easily say stress is a precursor to sitting, having lunch, watching tv or bathing 99% of the time.[/quote:23su57sf]

Lewdbear, you in med school dude? You know your sh*t.[/quote:23su57sf]

no he DOESN'T

He's making vague, sloppy comments

But never mind ._.


and thanks Lord_Justin13 For actually contributing the kind of things I made this thread for!

I didn't want this thread to be for fighting like this I wanted it to be for those who DID believe in it, like me, misterE, Justin, dpdr, people like that!

It's hard to specify that on the net sometimes though! heh

 

[Nene]

@Justin - As far as I know, and I'm no science or medical expert, but men who do not carry the male pattern baldness gene can lose hair due to stress, illness etc but it won't be in the male pattern baldness pattern. It would likely be patchy and could entail hair loss at the sides and back where the hair is DHT proof. For example, my father has 0 male pattern baldness and was on some really strong drugs a few years back. He got a couple of bald spots in random places but it's not like his hairline started receding.

@Hoppi - Don't know how you could all those comments sloppy. He sounded like a true man of science to me.

 

[Hoppi]

@Justin - As far as I know, and I'm no science or medical expert, but men who do not carry the male pattern baldness gene can lose hair due to stress, illness etc but it won't be in the male pattern baldness pattern. It would likely be patchy and could entail hair loss at the sides and back where the hair is DHT proof. For example, my father has 0 male pattern baldness and was on some really strong drugs a few years back. He got a couple of bald spots in random places but it's not like his hairline started receding.

Sorry I know that was to Justin but just to throw in my 2 cents - yeah you're right, as far as I understand it

You need it in your genes to bald due to DHT, you also need it in your hormones (if you have too little free T or DHT, then you won't bald, simple as. However, all guys seem to have enough... I don't know about women, possibly depends on follicle sensitivity)

@Hoppi - Don't know how you could all those comments sloppy. He sounded like a true man of science to me.

They're just... very broad and very... almost simplified. It's like your body flicks a little switch and decides "yes I think I want to produce more cortisol today..."

In reality it's complex and cortisol levels just like any hormone can be "a little high" or "very high", and both cortisol and adrenaline are released in response to stress, by the same gland (the adrenal gland). I think if someone has high levels of adrenaline due to stress (which I often do) it would make sense to assume that their cortisol is also something to just encourage to stay balanced. I'm not SURE no, but I think this crude line people mark between "completely normal cortisol levels" and stuff like Cushing's Syndrome is just preposterous - NO hormones work that simply. It's like if you put a chemical into your blood stream, it will have varying effects depending on how much you put in.

I mean to be fair it makes little difference - I would be taking Omegas and trying to cut my stress regardless, which is why I am not dwelling on my cortisol levels too much, but personally I just have reason to assume they are somewhat elevated.

Please could we talk about other hormones now though, and stick to the point of the thread?

 

[47thin]

No offense Hoppi, but a 3rd year medical student knows more about hormones and stress then you do. And stress has been around forever. If anything, people have lived with more stressors in the past- starvation, land wars, slavery, oppression, then they do now. "Oh I have to get to work, there's traffic, argh!

 

[LewdBear]

First, please note the following article by Elizabeth Scott, M.S.,

Since the article you linked only seems to cite one source (regarding wound healing), I cannot know what some of those claims are based on.

Here is the most basic problem :

Cortisol can do everything the article claims in disease states where it is medically abormal. A healthy person can experience medically normal cortisol increases. But A + B does not necessarily equal C.

From The Mayo Clinic : http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cortisol-blockers/AN01275

"Until recently, the manufacturers of cortisol blockers claimed that high levels of stress increase your body's production of the hormone cortisol supposedly to the point that causes you to accumulate excess fat. But what they didn't tell you is that this occurs only when your body produces large amounts of cortisol due to a side effect of medication or due to an underlying medical condition such as Cushing's syndrome"

Also, do you not find it slightly weird that this hypothesized 'stress-induced' mild hypercortisolism would be so selective in its symptoms?

Cushing's Syndrome, for example, can cause a moon face, buffalo hump (non-HIV-ARV related lipodystrophy) and purpura.

Why would people under chronic stress not experience mild versions of these symptoms as well?

For example, losing your keys shouldn't be a stressor, and if it is, a minor one, having problems with spouse, moving, funerals, weddings etc... major events, that in any way have a negative impact on you, resulting in worry, anxiety, anger, fear, all elevate stress.

That's cool. You should make the "Lord_Justin13" anxiety inventory.

As I said before, psychosocial stress is usually measured with medically accepted anxiety and/or depression inventories, such as the Beck Depression Inventory or HADS.

Simply going 'OMG I'm stressed!!' is not medically meaningful.

Psychological stress, is much more important than people think, as soon as your brain is taxed this way, your opening a flood gate of potential disasters to your entire system.

You are now making very vague claims about "disasters" which I can't really comment on.

True, but, regarding male pattern baldness, many guys losing hair, especially at a younger age, is an obvious physiological sign of many imbalances occurring at once, a few being unnatural hormone levels, elevated blood pressure, higher LDL/lower HDL etc...

Really? Where's the evidence of this imbalance in healthy men? Let me tell you where I think some of these disease associations are coming from.

Losing your hair early may, in a small number of cases, be a sign of the hypothesized male PCOS analog. But there is emerging evidence that such a condition has a strong genetic component.

http://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/news/past-years/2002/2002E-August/pcos.html

"Dr. Dunaif and co-investigators believe the location of the PCOS gene mutation is on chromosome 19, near the insulin receptor gene, which plays a key role in allowing insulin to enter cells and metabolize sugar. This marker, called allele 8 of D19S884, was associated with risk factors for diabetes in PCOS women and their brothers."

"The PCOS brothers also had significantly elevated levels of the androgen DHEAS, which correlated with the high androgen levels in their sisters with PCOS."

To the best of my knowledge, there has been no male pattern baldness/heart disease/obesity/insulin resistance study which attempts to weeds out potential male PCOS partipants.

Over long periods, elevated cortisol kills the system with the effects listed above.

In Cushing's or another disease state causing hypercortisolism, yes. Prove that this occurs in healthy individuals.

Yes, and some stress is healthy. Saying stress is a precursor to voluntary human action, rather than, a reaction in the biological function, or psychological function, is misleading.

My point was that you can correlate 'stress' with anything. I was lampooning it.

Where exactly did you get that 99% figure from anyways?

Also, heart disease, enlarged prostate, and diabetes are three illness, which can help one anothers onset, but the one common precursor found is hair male pattern baldness, stress, increasing cortisol, have several promoting factors leading to these diseases.

Wow.. this is real mess of claims. male pattern baldness is the precursor? And cortisol? References please.

 

[LewdBear]

no he DOESN'T

He's making vague, sloppy comments

I'll try to use more happy faces.

 

[Hoppi]

Please stop having this argument, this is NOT why I started the thread. LewdBear and Nene you obviously don't believe in the topic of this thread - so why are you posting in it?

If you don't like something, unless it is hurting you directly, just let it be. It's live and let live.

 

[OverMachoGrande]

Also, do you not find it slightly weird that this hypothesized 'stress-induced' mild hypercortisolism would be so selective in its symptoms?

Stress does not have to only have a few selective outputs.

Like I said, it lowers the immune-system, raises blood pressure, raises LDL, lowers HDL, etc...

Why would people under chronic stress not experience mild versions of these symptoms as well?

They do, here are a few,

https://health.google.com/health/ref/Cushing+syndrome,

Men may have:
Decreased fertility
Decreased or no desire for sex
Impotence

Other symptoms that may occur with this disease:
Mental changes, such as depression, anxiety, or changes in behavior
Fatigue
Headache
High blood pressure
Increased thirst and urination

That's cool. You should make the "Lord_Justin13" anxiety inventory.

Good idea, I just might do that.

As I said before, psychosocial stress is usually measured with medically accepted anxiety and/or depression inventories, such as the Beck Depression Inventory or HADS.

Oh? And how many people have such little awareness over their own bodies to understand they are suffering from excessive stress. Many of these people are suffering form anxiety and depression, and male pattern baldness worsens this state, male pattern baldness is regarded as being severely psychological stressing, and can easily bring on or worsen the onset of depression and anxiety.

Really? Where's the evidence of this imbalance in healthy men? Let me tell you where I think some of these disease associations are coming from.

Let's understand something as one big happy group, male pattern baldness, is associated with heart disease, enlarged prostate and diabetes, and these conditions are linked to unnatural hormone levels, (I think that's what male pattern baldness has a basis around, something about too much DHT, but hey, who knows..., elevated blood pressure and high LDL, low HDL, can easily result in free-radicals morphing LDL into arterial plaque.

In Cushing's or another disease state causing hypercortisolism, yes. Prove that this occurs in healthy individuals.

Hardy har, Interesting, the link I provided above regarding Cushings, have many similar symptoms as the 3 correlated disease, and male pattern baldness, which they all tie in together, just because your suffering from elevated stress, does not mean it has to only develop into Cushing's, Human beings are more complex than that. This has many bridges that can move to other illness.

Where exactly did you get that 99% figure from anyways?

http://www.articlesbase.com/health-arti ... 48622.html

There's a link

Wow.. this is real mess of claims. male pattern baldness is the precursor? And cortisol? References please.

Take a look at viewtopic.php?f=32&t=57572

I do a step by step review on exactly what happens there.

Look dude, Anyone knows excess stress can bring on many onsets of various diseases, ever notice how people stressed out get sick easier, or they start losing hair, shedding alot. I mean seriously, I thought everyone knew of this from the 90's. This is common knowledge.

Do you honestly believe someone who can't 'chill out', or constantly worrying, in fear, angry, sad, is in just as good health as someone who's not?

In fact, lets take a quick poll on the forum, Yes if you think stress can bring health problems, or No if it has no effect on overall health.

Stress drains the body of energy, important nutrients need to be burned faster to keep up with itself, that's why people suffering constantly, or even seldom, aren't relaxing, hence, one point here is there bodies can't return to a slower heart rate, lower blood pressure, and the body has difficulty dealing with cholesterol, this can absolutely lead to heart failure.

Impaired cognitive performance
Suppressed thyroid function
Blood sugar imbalances such as hyperglycemia
Decreased bone density
Decrease in muscle tissue
Higher blood pressure
Lowered immunity and inflammatory responses in the body, slowed wound healing, and other health consequences

I don't know dude, seems pretty obvious to me.