What Studies Show About Turmeric For Hair Loss

Turmeric is a member of the ginger family which is native to India and other South Asian countries. It grows best in wet, tropical climates and is cultivated for both culinary and medicinal purposes.

The most used part of the plant is the rhizome, or the part of the stem which remains underground as the plant grows.

The powdered turmeric spice you find in markets and on supermarket shelves is ground from the boiled and dried rhizome.

It is famous for its deep yellow color, which is often used as a colorant in condiments such as mustard.

The powder has long enjoyed popularity as a spice in the curries of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, thanks to the bitter and peppery taste of its most prominent active ingredient, curcumin.

Turmeric has been used for centuries in traditional Indian medicine as a treatment for indigestion, liver problems and for skin and flesh wounds.

There is a body of research which shows that turmeric does indeed have antibacterial and antifungal properties.

Further research is underway to investigate the effect of the plant’s traditional role in the treatment of kidney diseases, cardiovascular ailments, gastrointestinal problems, diabetes and cancer.

The plant’s component compounds are known as curcuminoids, and are comprised of curcumin – as we have already seen – along with demethoxycurcumin and bisdemethoxycurcumin.

The amount of each compound varies between different plant variations, however, curcumin is the active ingredient and is the compound which has been researched the most.

IMPORTANT: Discover if turmeric and other natural plants and methods can help to re-grow your hair naturally by taking the quiz at the bottom of this page.

Benefits Of Curcumin For Health & Hair

Curcumin is not uniquely found in turmeric, but can be found in a variety of plants. As a chemical compound it is more properly named diferuloylmethane and is marketed and sold independently of turmeric as a food colorant, flavoring, medicinal supplement and cosmetic agent.

Its chemical classification came long after it had first been used in medicine, and its popular name is derived from the Latin name of the turmeric plant, Curcuma longa. You may also see it on food labels as an additive: E100.

Curcumin is not essential for the growth and survival of turmeric, rather it is a natural phenol which defends the plant against herbivores, a feature it shares with other secondary metabolites, which are often used in medicine or as food additives.

There is ongoing research into phenolic compounds in general and their role in the treatment of human diseases.

Curcumin’s applications in medicine are still limited to traditional forms, despite having undergone laboratory research in numerous studies.

Part of this body of research has shown that the compound can be safely administered to humans over a three-month period in daily doses of up to 12mg.

The Relationship Between Turmeric, Curcumin and Treatment for Hair Loss

Part of the laboratory research into curcumin suggest that it may help combat hair lossin a number of ways.

This research, coupled with the fact that it has been used in traditional medicine for hundreds of years, has led to a surge in marketing of the plant and its compounds, along with widespread online discussion of its benefits relating to the treatment of hair loss, and a huge increase in sales, particularly in North America.

It is typically claimed that eating turmeric as part of your diet, or drinking it in solution as a supplement will, over time, give a boost to your body’s overall health, and reinforce your immune system in order to stimulate hair growth to continue without the complications that can arise from autoimmune conditions such as androgenic alopecia.

Does it Actually Work? What Does the Science Say?

Studies carried out in laboratory conditions show that extracts of turmeric show properties in common with synthetic drugs which are used in the treatment of androgenic alopecia, specifically finasteride.

One of the ways that finasteride works is due to the fact that it is a 5-alpha reductase inhibitor, which means it reduces the body’s ability to convert testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (DHT) via the enzyme 5-alpha reductase (5-AR).

This is important, because 5-AR has been shown to be a main cause of many ailments including prostate cancer and, of course, androgenic hair loss.

This hair loss occurs as a result of the damage caused by 5-AR to hair follicles, eventually shutting them down and killing them.

Tumeric Vs. Finasteride As A DHT Blocker

Like finasteride, turmeric extracts have also been shown inhibit the 5-AR enzyme, meaning that they should also play a similar role in reducing hair loss.

This property is believed to belong to the curcumin compound found in the turmeric extracts.

The extent of curcumin’s ability to inhibit the 5-AR enzyme has been shown with a great disparity in results between different studies.

It has been shown to have a lesser effect on the production of DHT than finasteride, yet in other tests it has been shown to be up to 13 times more effective than the synthetic drug.

As we have seen, clinical tests have shown that administering daily amounts of curcumin over a period of three months indicate no toxicity, unlike finasteride, which has shown to cause adverse effects, including erectile dysfunction and infertility.

In addition to the enzyme-inhibiting properties that curcumin displays on its own, it has also been shown that it can be combined effectively with minoxidil – the vasodilatory active ingredient in topical and foam treatments for hair loss such as Rogaine.

These studies involved a relative of turmeric – Curcuma aeruginosa, and showed a significant enhancement in the performance of the synthetic drug in restoring hair growth in male sufferers of androgenic alopecia.

The Amazing Antioxidant & Anti-inflammatory Properties Of Tumeric May Help

Another way in which curcumin probably has a positive effect in reducing hair loss and encouraging growth is due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, which help the body to heal and recover more easily from conditions which may negatively affect hair follicles and the scalp.