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Prevention and Treatment of Alopecia with Quercetin?
Hi all,
long-time lurker, first-time poster. I've been battling alopecia for about 8 years now. It developed when i was 22.
I've made a lot of progress over the past few years through natural remedies and diet. I eat an extremely clean diet. Plant-based and whole foods. Lots of exercise, sun and fresh air when i can get it.
I found this one study done on quercetin and alopecia. Quercetin is bioflavanoid found in many foods like onions, grapes, wine, etc. A quercetin supplement is readily available in most health stores.
Here is the link to the study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22042611. All the mice treated with quercetin showed regrowth. There are some pics in there as well.
Has anyone tried it? I'm thinking of giving it a go. Apparently not only is quercetin a strong anti-viral but it's also a natural antihistamine. There have been other studies showing antihistamines having a positive effect on alopecia.
I also found this patent that was filed that showed a combination of quercetin, bromelain, and vitamin C (500mg each 3 times a day) has beneficial affects on other autoimmune diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
Here is the link to the patent: http://www.google.com/patents/US20040028675
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by kiki on
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Hi, I had the same risults just eating healthy food and doing a lot of sport. WHen I stopped to eat healthy I start to lose my hair again.
2 days ago I start the diet and Im taking also the quercetin.
do u think is possible that we have food allergy?
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Permalink Reply by SwissAlopecian on
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Let me tell you something, when I was extremly depressive about my alopecia, I couldn't realy eat for 2-3 days.
Believe me or not, tonns of my hair started growing back on my eyebrows and eyelashes.
But well, I'm just a normal human as you are, so we all have to eat anytime, and so did I.
The "new hair" fell out after 1-2 weeks.
So I'm 100% sure that most of alopecians either have something like a food allergy, or are suffering from leaky gut. more here: http://scdlifestyle.com/2010/03/the-scd-diet-and-leaky-gut-syndrome/
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Interesting you say that.. fasting for 2 to 3 days usually get rids of the white blood cells that cause the trouble. It basically renews the immune system..please google fasting and autoimmune diseases.
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So you're saying that it will just renew the cells, and after they're restored the same sh** beginns again?
I'm acctualy trying to fast for 3 days from now, and I want to see what the reaction is to this.
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u should fast for 5 days. u can eat like 900 kcal per day. it's called FDM ...i'm following this diet. try to read about dott Valter Longo
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Permalink Reply by Patchy on
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The unfortunate thing about quercetin, bromelian and vitamin C is that no one will fund a scientific, double-blind study to verify that its an effective treatment because there's no return on that investment. Herbal supplements are not going to be subject to a paten, so there won't be money to be made. And doctors will not spend their time pro-bono when they need to make money. Thus, we have these studies from various places that don't seem to go anywhere conclusive.
The other complicating factor is that not everyone will respond the same to any treatment. While injections help some, they do nothing for others. The JAK inhibitors seem to show promise for some, but not for all. Same with the topical creams, the UV treatments, etc.
Frankly, I like the natural approach, if it works or not!
I took the plunge and decided to eliminate inflammatory foods (processed sugar, processed food in general, saturated fats, dairy for the time being) and have started taking quercetin (500mg, or close to it), turmeric 1,500mg, vitamin D3 of I think 5,000 ui?, vitamin C 1000mg, and biotin 500mg, I think. This has been in the past month, ramping up these supplements to the current regimen.
When I just cut out fats and processed sugar and was on the quercetin, I noticed my beard spots filling in with white, bristly hair after 2 weeks. This week, for the past day, I've noticed a significant drop in shedding on my head and one spot is filling in with light hair.
So, is it the diet and supplements? Or is it just that my body is ending the inflammation? I'm 42 and this started about a year ago. Statistically, men my age get this condition and it resolves itself within 2 years with or without treatment.
Of course, the statistics don't say what the people in that group have done as far as treatment. I tend to think the supplements are helping my body heal.
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Thank you for valuable information..do you have any updates..
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here's my update. I added back in milk and sugar, but kept doing the supplements faithfully. I take 800 mg of Quercetin each day (2 pills of 400 mg at different times). I take 5,000 ui of vitamin D3, and vitamin C (though I can't remember the dosage. I also take fish oil supplements. I've dropped taking the Turmeric supplement very faithfully since I put it in my eggs anyway. I don't think that was doing much.
Back to the update: I added back milk and sugar, had some additional shedding, but more interestingly, my stomach would react when I had much dairy. So, I cut out any dairy and went back to almond milk for my cappuccino. I've noticed that if I have anything that has milk in it, it doesn't sit well.
My derm apt. about a week and a half ago went well. He said I have significant re-growth in all areas on my beard and head, so he prescribed Clobetisol for my scalp and Hydrocortisone 2.5% for my beard -- to keep things going. I've been applying both 2x a day.
So, I'm continuing to see less shedding, more hair re-growth and I'm having no stomach issues since I have cut out dairy. I continue the supplements as listed above, too.
I don't know how much it's directly related to the alopecia, but I do know that milk appears to be causing an inflammatory response. I had a small portion of ice cream a few weeks ago and felt like a rock was in my stomach shortly after. When I avoid milk, I'm fine.
So, while science isn't finding a direct link to diet-per se, I think there is a link. Is it a direct cause? Maybe not. Does it contribute? quite possibly. The difficulty in making this certain is that there is no test to see what is causing the inflammatory response. There is only the clinical (observatory) diagnosis. And since we are all different, and respond to different treatments, it's a moving target.
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Thank you for the valuable update. I cut down dairy myself and agree the shedding has decreased. I will probably add quercitin supplements..you are taking 800 mg..is this the recommended dosage?
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800 mg is what is recommended on the bottle I have. I did some research and there are virtually no side effects. I think WebMD says that there may be some adverse kidney issues if someone takes more than 1gram per day for a long time. I plan on cutting down to 400mg once more of the hair grows in.
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Sounds like good plan. Thank you for details
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Permalink Reply by DaveW on
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I think you're approach is directionally correct. Also, Ive been digging pretty hard in recent years and I see a link for me to a surgery stesser and antibiotics. Im leaning towards the idea that the anestetics and antibiotics significantly depleated bacteria in my gut. Having a reduction in work load for the T-cells resulted in migration towards the skin surface to fight bacteria. The result would be damage to hair and nails.
If we look at what corticosteroids and JAK inhibitors are doing they are just disabling the ability of the T-cells attack strength and by doing so we see a reduction in inflammation.
It makes sense then that if we can both reduce inflammation and give T-cells something else to work on then hair and nail growth may improve.
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