Study: Chronic Diffuse Thinning - Lack of Red Meat

[HairlossTalk]

Red Meat consumption in the UK has declined over the past 15 years with significant health consequences for the UK adult population, potentially leading to more women and men developing chronic Telogen Effluvium
Nina Frige' and D. Hugh Rushton
University of Surrey, UK & School of Pharmacy, University of Portsmouth, UK

"Objectives:
Has the reduction in red meat consumption in the UK resulted in adverse changes in health?

Methods:
Apparently healthy males in whom only male pattern hair loss was their presenting complaint were evaluated for a variety of blood variables, including Full Blood Count, ESR, Ferritin Levels, Vitamin b12, Zinc, Testosterone, and Thyroid function. In addition, a food questionnaire covering their eating habits over the past 10 years was also obtained. Blood variables were compared with historical data obtained on a similar population 10 years earlier. Cohort data will also be presented.

Results:
Data analysis was undertaken after excluding subjects with a raised ESR level or those with an abnormal liver function. All subjects were euthyroid and had normal testosterone levels. There was no significant difference between the mean ages of the study populations. Significantly higher mean values were found in men from 1990 compared with those 10 years later for Haemoglobin. Significantly lower mean values were found for serum Ferritin and vitamin b12. Analysis of the food questionnaire data found a significant reduction in red meat consumption in 2000 compared with 1990.

Conclusions:
The data shows that dietary influences have had a negative impact on the physiology of adult UK males. We have shown that UK men were unable to compensate for the reduction in nutrients present in red meat by relying on other foud sources. The idea of being able to substitute one dietary source of nutrients with another needs to be reviewed. Given the fact that many women buy, cook, and influence the dietary habits of men, we suspect the reduction in red meat consumption will have a greater impact in women. Women are prone to persistent excessive hair shedding (chronic telogen effluvium) due to low serum Ferritin levels and we suspect this position is exacerbated by the reduction in red meat consumption. These findings have major implications for the health of menstruating women, and tynanW."

HairLossTalk.com

 

[Guest]

These findings have major implications for the health of menstruating women, and tynanW."

:shock:

I have not eaten red meat since 1989 (16 years), I didn't quite digest what it was in red meat that was lacking from a diet without red meat?

Ty

 

[HairlossTalk]

They asked the participants what they'd been eating. The noticeable difference in comparison to 10 yrs prior was a lack of red meat. Simultaneously, the noticeable difference in the blood profiles in comparison to 10 yrs prior was a lack of things that are well known to be provided by red meat. The probabilities of these two being coincidental were unlikely, according to the people who conducted the study.

People were low in ESR, Ferritin (Iron) Levels, Vitamin b12, Zinc. This along with Iron are provided by red meat, and are directly related to the health of hair.

HairLossTalk.com

 

[Luther007]

Yeehaw. Time to fire up the BBQ. Now we have a great excuse to indulge our carnivorous appetites. Boo PETA, boo.

 

[Old Baldy]

I'm thawing out a sirloin steak!! I'm also going to suck on rusty nails like a toothpick!

 

[Guest]

so if this lack of red meat was thinning the hair, how long after a consistent diet with red meat till the hair improves in quality again? Im guessin 6 months maybe?
This is important to me as my senior year i started eating dramatically less and especially less red meat. Now sophomore in college w/ very thin hair. Good study HairLossTalk.com

 

[goingoinbutnotgone]

Well, I have read that eating red meat actually causes MORE hairloss.
Here's why. It is the steriods that are pumped into the cattle to stimulate muscle growth. These steriods in turn enter out bloodstream and wreak havoc. We know that anabolic steriod use will stimulate more testosterone.

So, I basically quit eating red meat 4 years ago. Did my hairloss slow down? No.

But, I did notice a few nice results. I did not feel as sluggish. My cholesterol levels finally went down to normal. I noticed that I did not sweat as much and I stopped using anti-persperants.

I say nix the red meat. Even if your hairline doesn't improve-do it for the other benefits.

 

[Guest]

im sure that there is more benefits to eating red meat then there are to not eating it

 

[slackdar]

Guys, have your blood checked!

I plan to post more on this when I can see how it's working for me, but I suspect a lot of balding men today might be deficient in Iron and B vitamins.

I'm 25, and I first noticed that my hair had significantly thinned at age 20. Propecia has maintained a lot of my hair, but I inevitably had some bad sheds. Well, last week I got a blood test as part of a prostate screening, and my doctor told me that it showed anemia. This is very interesting, looking back on the last 7 years.

Once I started college, I was eating low-fat in order to keep the weight off. I rarely let myself eat red meats, cheeses, or eggs. I lived on the cheap: carbs, the canned vegetables and rarely any sources of B's or Iron, both of which can cause anemia if you lack them.

I also started a bad off-and-on battle with depression when I started college. I got my physics degree just fine, but I had some HORRID fights with attention deficiency and depression. In fact, I'm starting to correlate my worst sheds with when I was getting very little Iron and B viatmins.

Now, I'm eating lots of Iron and B-vitamin sources, but I'm avoiding fatty cuts and things injected with growth hormones. I've switched to eggs from toast, and eating for high iron and low animal fat. I'm also drinking a supplement called Flor-Vital which is a good mix of B's and Irons. I've been taking Centrum and B-Complexes for a long time, but don't think they've helped.

I've seen very few guys on this site take anemia in men seriously, but I have to address it regardless. I'll update y'all if it helps my hair, but given the near-breakdown fits I used to have with depression (and other anemic correlations), I'm starting to wonder why no one in my family is balding.

AVOID ANIMAL FATS & GROWTH HORMONES - BUT GET IRON & B's

 

[Dice_Has_Hair]

I would say that yes the red meat has good nutrients in it for the hair, but bad too, which is.........the fats in it. The Animal fat is bad. We can get these important nutrients from other sources.

 

[michael barry]

Beef Jerky is made from red meat and has almost zero fat. Its the gooey burgers that have all the steroidial gunk. Animal fats from red meats have loads of the growth hormone, steroids that corporate farming has fed these animals.

 

[Dice_Has_Hair]

Beef Jerky is made from red meat and has almost zero fat. Its the gooey burgers that have all the steroidial gunk. Animal fats from red meats have loads of the growth hormone, steroids that corporate farming has fed these animals.

mmmmmmm.....tasty!! I agree. Another reason why there is so much disease in this country.

 

[Guest]

Years ago when I was at school, this guy who was a few years older than me that travelled on the same bus as me decided to become a vegetarian.

Within 2 weeks he lost 75% of his hair in giant patches all over his head and the majority of the horseshoe area. It was the Telogen Effluvium from hell.

Anyway he got back on the red meats and it all grew back within 6 months.

 

[sublime]

 

[Guest]

Years ago when I was at school, this guy who was a few years older than me that travelled on the same bus as me decided to become a vegetarian.

Within 2 weeks he lost 75% of his hair in giant patches all over his head and the majority of the horseshoe area. It was the Telogen Effluvium from hell.

Anyway he got back on the red meats and it all grew back within 6 months.

What kind of vegetarian? The kind that doesn't eat meat or the kind that doesn't eat meat and knows how to balanace a diet. Either way sudden dietary changes may cause an effect such as Telogen Effluvium. This all subsides once the body becomes used to the food it is receiving.

Plus the article provides no real data. How many more men are balding now then 10 years ago according to their data? Unsure cause the article does not tell us that. But the article does tell us this, "The data shows that dietary influences have had a negative impact on the physiology of adult UK males."

I'm afraid I didn't scrutinise his diet in enough detail to know whether it was a balanced diet. :roll: