The #1 Blood Test Most Overlooked for Hair Loss
Summary
TLDRThis video discusses the importance of vitamin D in preventing hair loss and promoting healthy hair growth. The speaker explains how the hair follicle functions, highlighting the role of vitamin D in regulating genes and stem cells vital for hair growth. Vitamin D deficiencies, often overlooked, can lead to hair thinning, scalp issues like psoriasis, and even autoimmune conditions like alopecia. Magnesium is also crucial, as it helps vitamin D work effectively by preventing scalp calcification. Regular vitamin D intake, along with magnesium and other nutrients, is recommended for optimal hair health.
Takeaways
- 𧬠Hair follicles are living cavities that support hair, but the hair itself is not alive.
- β³ Hair grows in three phases: growth (2-7 years), transition, and rest, where the hair is replaced by new growth.
- π§ͺ DHT (dihydrotestosterone) and scalp calcification can interfere with hair growth by affecting the follicle and blood supply.
- π Vitamin D3 plays a critical role in hair health, affecting genes responsible for hair growth regulation, such as the beta Kine and Sonic Hedgehog genes.
- 𧬠High concentrations of vitamin D receptors are located in the hair follicle, crucial for healthy hair growth.
- π Autoimmune diseases like alopecia are often related to vitamin D deficiencies, and vitamin D helps regulate immune responses.
- π¦ Scalp conditions like psoriasis, dandruff, and dermatitis are linked to vitamin D deficiency, as it acts as a potent anti-inflammatory agent.
- πͺ Magnesium is vital for calcium regulation, preventing calcification of the scalp, and is crucial for hair health through its involvement in enzyme function and energy production.
- π¬ Regular vitamin D blood tests may not fully reflect vitamin D's impact on hair, as different systems in the body utilize it differently, with skin and hair requiring higher levels.
- π Optimal vitamin D levels should be 70-100 ng/mL, and daily supplementation of vitamin D (around 20,000 IU) with magnesium and co-factors like K2 and zinc is recommended for hair health.
Q & A
What is a hair follicle and how is it different from hair?
-The hair follicle is the cavity that supports the hair, while the hair itself is not alive. The follicle is alive and responsible for hair growth, whereas hair is simply a non-living structure.
What role does DHT play in hair loss?
-DHT (dihydrotestosterone) is a powerful form of testosterone that can damage hair follicles, interfere with hair growth regulation, and cause the hair to shrink, leading to hair loss.
What is scalp calcification and how does it affect hair growth?
-Scalp calcification occurs when calcium builds up around hair follicles, cutting off blood supply and nutrients to the hair. This can cause hair loss or thinning.
Why is vitamin D important for hair growth?
-Vitamin D is crucial for triggering certain genes, like the beta-catenin gene, which regulates the hair growth cycle. Without enough vitamin D, the hair growth process is disrupted.
What is the Sonic Hedgehog gene and how is it related to hair growth?
-The Sonic Hedgehog gene is one of the genes affected by vitamin D and plays a role in hair growth. It's involved in regulating hair follicle development and growth phases.
How is alopecia related to vitamin D deficiency?
-Alopecia, an autoimmune disease, is linked to vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D helps regulate the immune system and reduces inflammation, which can help prevent autoimmune attacks on hair follicles.
What role does magnesium play in preventing hair loss?
-Magnesium helps regulate calcium buildup, which can cause scalp calcification and affect hair growth. It's also a co-factor for enzymes that assist vitamin D in its functions.
Why is magnesium difficult to test in the blood?
-Only 1% of the body's magnesium is present in the blood, with most of it stored inside cells. This makes blood tests for magnesium unreliable in determining magnesium levels in the body.
Why is it important to maintain high levels of vitamin D for hair growth?
-Vitamin D influences many functions beyond calcium regulation, including skin and hair health. For optimal hair growth, vitamin D levels in the blood should be at least 70 nanograms per milliliter.
What are some other important nutrients for hair growth?
-Zinc, iron, B12, and omega-3 fatty acids are also crucial for hair health. Zinc supports hair growth and repair, iron and B12 help supply oxygen to the hair follicles, and omega-3s prevent dryness.
Outlines
𧬠Understanding Hair Follicles and Hair Loss
This paragraph introduces the concept of hair follicles and their relationship with hair health. The hair follicle is a cavity that supports hair, and while the follicle is alive, the hair itself is not. It also explains the three stages of hair growth: the growth phase (lasting 2-7 years), the transition phase, and the resting phase. It highlights potential issues, such as DHT, which can damage the follicle and disrupt hair growth, and scalp calcification, which can block blood flow and affect hair health. Additionally, the role of stem cells in hair regeneration is introduced.
π The Role of Vitamin D in Hair Health
This section delves into the critical role vitamin D plays in hair growth, explaining that it's not just a vitamin but a hormone involved in regulating about 10% of the body's genes, including those related to hair. Specific genes like beta-catenin and the Sonic Hedgehog gene are mentioned, both of which require adequate vitamin D levels for hair development. The high concentration of vitamin D receptors in hair follicles is highlighted, linking vitamin D deficiency to hair loss. It also touches on autoimmune diseases like alopecia and how they are connected to low vitamin D levels.
π Magnesium and Hair Loss Prevention
This paragraph emphasizes the importance of magnesium in regulating calcium buildup in the scalp, which can affect blood flow to hair follicles. Magnesium works alongside vitamin D, supporting various enzymes crucial for hair health and energy production. It highlights the difficulty in accurately testing magnesium levels since most magnesium is stored in cells, not the blood, making it challenging for doctors to detect deficiencies. Despite this, magnesium is crucial for preventing scalp calcification and supporting vitamin D functions, underscoring its role in hair loss prevention.
π¬ Vitamin D Testing and Hair Health
Here, the focus shifts to understanding how vitamin D is measured and its implications for hair growth. Vitamin D has two systems in the body: one that supports bone health and another that regulates hair, skin, and immune functions. The text explains that most blood tests only measure the system that affects calcium and bones, not hair health. Therefore, higher daily doses of vitamin D (around 20,000 IU) are recommended, along with magnesium and other co-factors, to ensure sufficient levels are maintained for hair growth. Concerns about vitamin D toxicity are addressed, with reassurance that these high doses are safe.
π Global Vitamin D Deficiency and Its Impact
This section discusses the widespread issue of vitamin D deficiency worldwide, with most people having insufficient levels to support hair health. Various factors, such as skin color, insulin resistance, obesity, and air pollution, can prevent adequate vitamin D production. The recommendation is to maintain blood levels of vitamin D between 70-100 ng/mL to overcome these barriers. Additionally, the paragraph encourages the intake of 20,000 IU of vitamin D daily to address deficiencies and support hair growth, alongside co-factors like magnesium.
π Additional Nutrients for Hair Growth
This final paragraph outlines other nutrients that are important for hair health. Vitamin D not only protects hair follicles from DHT but also works in conjunction with zinc, which is essential for hair growth and repair. Deficiencies in zinc can lead to dry hair or hair loss. Iron and B12 are also necessary for proper oxygen delivery to hair follicles, and low levels of omega-3s can result in dry, brittle hair. The paragraph stresses the importance of a balanced intake of these nutrients, particularly for those with hair loss or poor hair health.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Hair Follicle
π‘Dermal Papilla
π‘DHT (Dihydrotestosterone)
π‘Scalp Calcification
π‘Vitamin D
π‘Magnesium
π‘Autoimmune Disease
π‘Sonic Hedgehog Gene
π‘Ferritin
π‘Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Highlights
The hair follicle is the cavity that supports hair growth, while the hair itself is not alive, but the follicle is.
The hair's growth cycle has three stages: growth (2-7 years), transition, and rest, where the hair is replaced by a new one.
DHT (dihydrotestosterone) can interfere with hair follicle regulation, leading to smaller hair or inhibiting growth.
Scalp calcification can reduce blood supply to hair follicles, leading to hair loss; scalp massages may help improve blood flow.
Vitamin D plays a key role in regulating stem cells in hair follicles and is essential for hair growth.
The gene beta-catenin, regulated by vitamin D, is essential for transitioning between hair growth phases.
Vitamin D deficiency can inhibit hair growth by affecting key genes like the beta-catenin and Sonic Hedgehog genes.
A high concentration of vitamin D receptors in hair follicles supports the importance of vitamin D for hair growth.
Autoimmune diseases, including alopecia, are associated with vitamin D deficiency, as vitamin D helps regulate the immune system.
Magnesium is crucial for vitamin D activation and helps prevent scalp calcification by regulating calcium.
Vitamin D has a dual system: one for calcium/bone health and another for functions like skin, hair, and immune system regulation.
Vitamin D supplementation should be at least 20,000 IU daily to maintain optimal levels for hair growth and immune support.
Co-factors like magnesium, vitamin K2, and zinc are necessary to optimize vitamin D's function and prevent calcification.
Zinc deficiency can cause hair thinning, dry hair, and hair loss, as it plays a role in hair growth and repair.
Ferritin levels should be above 70 for optimal hair health, especially for women who lose iron through menstruation.
Transcripts
today we're going to talk about the
number one blood test that's most
overlooked when you're evaluating hair
loss so whether you have hair loss or
thinning of the hair or just a general
loss of volume this video is for you now
check this out we down here we have the
hair follicle there's a big confusion
about what a follicle is people think
that a follicle is your hair no the
follicle is the cavity that supports the
hair and what's interesting is the hair
is not alive the follicule is alive but
the hair is not actually alive and then
we have this little thing underneath the
hair root called the dermal pill this is
what regulates the growth stages there's
three of them one is growth which
basically takes between two and seven
years okay so your hair has a lifespan
about two to seven years and then it
goes into this transition phase where it
starts to loosen up then the third phase
which is the rest phase which basically
that hair releases and then you have
another one that replaces it and so
there's a lot that can go wrong with
this area you you might have this
powerful form of testosterone called DHT
which can burn out this follicule or
interfere with the regulation of the
growth making the hair smaller or
inhibiting this growth process you also
have scalp calcification around this
root to the point where you're going to
lose blood supply and this is why some
people do scalp massages or they try to
stimulate the scalp to get the blood
flow but they're dealing with scalp
calcification now the last point I want
to make about this thing right here here
is it not only regulates the growth
stages but it also regulates these stem
cells which are super important because
the stem cells are kind of cells that
don't really have a purpose these are
specifically going to rest there and
wait until you need them and then they
turn into a hair cell now let's get into
what test would you possibly want to
look at to ensure that you have the best
chance of getting a full head of hair
can you take a while guess what nutrient
deficiency that would be if you guessed
D3 you are correct but when you get your
blood tested unfortunately the doctor is
usually going to say oh it's normal
you're fine so I'm going to unpack some
things about vitamin D the first
question is are there any vitamin D
genes associated to hair or hair loss
one thing you need to know about vitamin
D vitamin D is not really a vitamin it's
a hormone and it's involved in 10% of
our genes so we have like 25,000 genes
so that means it's involved with
2500 different genes and there just so
happens to be several really important
genes that if you don't have enough
vitamin D that Gene will not get
triggered to allow this growing process
to occur and specifically down here in
in this structure right here the dermal
pill so the first Gene I want to talk
about is called beta Kine this Gene does
a lot it regulates the follicule with
the stages of developing a hair this
Gene also is essential for going through
one phase to another phase and so if
there's not enough vitamin D that's
going to trigger that Gene you're not
going to have this transition and you're
really not going to be able to grow the
hair to the potential that you should
now I'm going to list down all the genes
in the description but I just wanted to
mention another Gene just the name of it
because I thought it was kind of
hilarious Sonic Hedgehog Gene that's
right Sonic Hedgehog yeah look it up
it's true that's one of the genes that
affects the hair that's controlled by
vitamin D so that's clue number one
number two are The receptors for vitamin
D in this follicle absolutely there's a
high concentration of vitamin D
receptors right around through this area
right here so that explains if you don't
have enough vitamin D you're not going
to feed the hair what it needs to grow
next question I want to ask is what
about alopecia isn't that an autoimmune
disease the answer is yes and aren't
autoimmune diseases Rel reled to a
vitamin D deficiency and the answer is
yes without vitamin D your immune system
is really at risk for developing
autoimmune diseases this is why one of
the most potent remedies for any
autoimmune disease is high levels of
vitamin D number one because it gets rid
of the inflammation but number two What
vitamin D does to your te- cells and
helping put control over the te- cells
so they can now differentiate between a
normal cell or something else because
what is an auto autoimmune disease it's
your own body attacking itself because
it can't tell the difference between
your cell and something else vitamin D
regulates that whole process all right
the next question is related to the
scalp is there any condition related to
the scalp that is related to vitamin D
and the answer is yes psoriasis on the
scalp or on your skin that can be a
severe vitamin D deficiency dandruff is
also related to a vitamin D deficiency
as well as almost every dermatitis
because the remedy for all these
different types of skin inflammatory
diseases is prednizone what is prazone
it's a steroid what does a steroid do it
gets rid of inflammation vitamin D is
one of the most potent
anti-inflammatories but it doesn't come
with all the side effects if any side
effects because if you have too much
buildup of calcium underneath your scalp
around this hair follicle it's going to
starve off the blood flow the oxygen to
that hair and it's going to die so
you're going to have hair loss but the
question is how does this relate to
vitamin D well there's another little
key to this mystery and that is
magnesium is the most potent regulator
of calcium whether you have calcium
building up inside your cell or your
mitochondria magnesium is the regulator
of that if you've watched any of my
other videos I might have talked about
vitamin K2 regulator in calcium that's
true but magnesium is the co-actor to
allow the enzymes for vitamin K2 to work
so magnesium is at the bottom of a lot
of calcification problems vitamin D is
number one magnesium is number two why
because magnesium is involved with 300
different enzymes and there's actually
six of those enzymes that relate to hair
and so if we don't have the right
mineral in the hair can't develop the
structure of the hair another one is
just in the energy production of the
hair growth there it takes energy to
grow hair and magnesium is at the heart
of making energy all of the energy in
your body cannot be created without
magnesium there are three different
places in the biochemistry of vitamin D
where if you don't have magnesium
vitamin D cannot be produced so that's
how it relates we need magnesium for
vitamin D we also need magnesium to
prevent calcification in the scalp so
magnesium is really important but the
question is why didn't I mention two
different blood tests to do magnesium
and vitamin D because you cannot test
magnesium in your blood and get any
accurate information out of all the
magnesium in your body only 1% of that
is in the blood the rest of it is in
different places mainly inside the cell
in different places so when you test
magnesium in the blood you do not get a
very accurate picture of what's going on
in the cells so it's very difficult to
test magnesium some people might be
willing to do a biopsy that's a great
way to test it there are other tests to
do but they're they're more difficult
and they're not easy to do in fact I
know a lot of doctors and I don't know
one Doctor Who ever ordered those tests
so magnesium is difficult to test it's
involved in a lot of different things
300 different enzymes including vitamin
D as well as this calcification thing in
your scalp and most people are deficient
in magnesium because it's not easy to
get and even the doctors don't recognize
it because it's not tested so that
answers this question right here yes
magnesium is involved with a lot of
different enzymes related to hair loss
but I'm primarily recommending it to
allow vitamin D to work now let's get
into the testing of vitamin D so you go
to your doctor and here she says oh you
have normal vitamin D levels okay so
you're okay and let's say it's on the
low end like 20 or even 30 or even maybe
sometimes 40 well what's not very
commonly known is there's two systems of
vitamin D okay we have one system that
feeds the calcium and the bone but we
have another system that has other
functions that go beyond calcium like
restoring and maintaining and regulating
growth of your hair all the vitamin D
functions of this work off this other
system which is very very different I
mean just take a look at what happens
you get the sun you eat Vitamin D from
the food you take supplements it goes
into your blood most of this vitamin D
is feeding the calcium in your bone but
very little of it is feeding these other
functions I'm talking about your skin
your hair your immune system your gut
very tiny bits of this right here I'm
talking like
0.4% of this vitamin D in your blood so
where is the vitamin D coming from it's
coming from either the Sun the vitamin D
in your food or the supplements this is
a different type of vitamin D there's
actually three different types of
vitamin D and this is where you're
getting most of it right through in here
if you're getting Daily Sun if you're
eating the right kind of foods and if
you take vitamin D on a daily basis
because the thing about this form of
Vitamin D it only has a 24hour halflife
okay this is like two to three
weeks 24 hours this means you need daily
amounts of either Sun or the vitamin D
from the food or the Sun supplements and
people don't realize this this is why we
have such a massive epidemic of a
vitamin D deficiency problem worldwide
in fact the average person depending on
where you are in the world has like less
than 20 to maybe 30 that is not enough
to create a therapeutic change to be
able to feed the hair follicules there
are so many barriers that a person is up
against genetically the color of the
skin if it's darker they're going to get
less vitamin D if they have insulin
resistance diabetes obesity air
pollution blocking the sun there's so
many different barriers that are going
on to prevent vitamin D so what do you
need to do you need to make sure that
the blood values when you get your test
are at least 70 nanog per milliliter up
to 100 or even more okay you need higher
amounts to be able to penetrate through
all the barriers I'm going to recommend
daily amounts of at least 20,000 I use
every single day now the first thing
that comes to people's mind is oh my
gosh that's a toxic amount no it's not
if you were out in the sun in the summer
for 40 minutes this is how much vitamin
D that you would get no one will ever
tell you that being out the Sun for 40
minutes is going to be toxic to you they
might say that don't get burned but the
point is that you get vitamin D from the
Sun and you're going to get like every
20 minutes you're going to get another
10,000 and that is not toxic at all
toxicity levels for vitamin D OCC when
you're taking hundreds of thousands of
vitamin D3 every single day for months
and especially without the co-actors
this is why I'm recommending the
Magnesium with it at least 50 milligrams
and take that at night but you want to
take the co-actors Magnesium K2 zinc so
this data about vitamin D is interesting
as it relates to the hair but it's even
more interesting that you can't really
go by these low normals okay because
this is a different system so we want to
raise this higher by taking more of it
on a daily basis with the co-actors now
if you have no hair in your head and you
have calcification in your scalp then
you might want to take even a little bit
more magnesium over a period of time
because that could eventually help
regulate the amount of calcium buildup
in the soft tissues now there are a few
more nutrients I want to share with you
related to the hair because I just
talked about the most important one and
the blood test but let's get into the
other ones and I also want to mention
that vitamin D also inhibits this DHT
from destroying this follicle so vitamin
D protects you against high levels of
this very powerful form of testosterone
so vitamin D does a lot but there's also
other nutrients like zinc controls the
growth and repair if you're deficient in
zinc you can have dry hair as well and
you can have just short hairs or even
hair loss so that's that's very
important iron is also important in the
red blood cells so when you get your
fertin levels tested make sure it's
above 70 you're normally going to see
this in a situation where a woman is
menstrating and they're losing iron in
which case they need to consume more red
meat or liver or liver pills something
like that but you might also see it in
men with too much fertin or too much
iron now wait a second how could that
correlate well what happens there's
certain genetic problems where we tend
to accumulate at more iron in which case
we're very deficient in Iron at the same
time this is why especially men that
have too much iron are severely anemic
because it just doesn't work in that
case you might need to go donate blood
because it can be very toxic but it can
also affect your hair because it's
locked up and you also become anemic and
also if you're B12 deficient which you
need for the red blood cells you need
iron and b12 then the hair follicule
can't get oxygen so it's another test to
uh take a look at as well as your
omega-3s if you're low in omega-3
because maybe you're doing a lot of seed
oil that can also create dryness of the
hair anyway it's a lot to impact I think
it's very important start taking vitamin
D and also magnesium and please comment
down below if this helps you with any
problem that you have with your hair
thanks for watching and I will see you
in the next video
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