Health, Eye Care and other related articles

Have you had a cup of green tea? If you are similar to most people , your answer is yes. Next question, have you ever used green tea to improve your health? If your answer is no, then consider this: researchers continue to discover multiple reasons why green tea should be used for boosting health and not just satisfying the pallete. If you've been near a television or radio over the past ten years, you've probably heard about the anti-oxidant and anti-cancer properties contained in green tea. A group of researchers from Korea found a new medicinal use for green tea - baldness prevention. Yes, according Dr. Kwon , green tea prevents hair shedding. For men and women who don't want to use drugs like minoxidil, finasteride or dutasteride to treat balding, green tea may be the solution they have been seeking to find.

In 2006, the researchers aimed to test a hypothesis - can the anti-oxidants in green tea prevent hair loss by attacking androgens in the head. Androgens are the hormones that cause most types of thinning hair . The investigative group in the Labaratory of Cutaneous Aging and Hair Research recruited participants to provide hair . The research group chose hair follicles that were in the anagen phase or growth phase and they grew the hair follicles in well dishes. The research group discovered was encouraging. Hair exposed to green tea, specifically epigallocatechin-3-gallate, a natural ingredient in green tea, exhibited a greater capacity to sustain growth and withstand hair follicle shrinking.

In order to understand why these discoveries are so momentous consider the following: (1) Few investigations have been executed by researchers, objectively testing how natural elements, like green tea, may curb thinning hair. (2) Studies that have occurred, often have biased methods, which makes the validity of the results difficult to substantiate. (3) Additional natural options in the fight to stop balding, and grow a woman or man's own hair are in need.

Can I use Green Tea to Prevent My Hair Loss?

The answer is yes and no. Yes, the researchers found that green tea displays the ability to encourage hair re-growth through a process of hair growth and minimization of hair follicle apoptosis (shrinking). The researchers did not brew a cup of tea and pour it on the scalp of the participants. Instead, the doctors identified the epigallocatechin-3-gallate from the green tea and combined this formula with ethanol. This new mixture was then administered to the heads of the research participants.

Ethanol acts as a transporter, which helps with absorption. This means the medicinal value of green tea is more readily realized by applying the green tea to the head within a solution of ethanol. This does not indicate that you cannot apply green tea on your head. It just suggests your results may not be the same as the impressive results of the study - unless you know how to create the same formula. Short of being a chemist or good at mixing ingredients, the best answer is to find natural thinning hair treatments that include green tea.