Hair loss: A review of the role of food bioactive compounds

Abstract

The impact that hair loss can have on an individual's psychological wellness, and subsequent quality of life, is widespread and long lasting. Current standard care for hair loss includes surgery and medications, ranging from over-the-counter treatments to corticosteroid injections and immunosuppressants. Unfortunately, these current treatments are either expensive, invasive, or have extremely negative side effects on patients utilizing these therapies. Recently, the role of vitamins, minerals, and foods with their associated bioactive compounds, have gained increasing recognition as a potential mean to address this issue. Some of these compounds have been shown to decrease the risk of specific forms of hair loss, particularly alopecia, a form of balding that results due from an autoimmune disorder. These include experimental studies using black raspberry extract and egg yolks as well as epidemiological studies using Mediterranean diets and various micronutrients. Other compounds have been shown to promote hair growth on a more general scale, including in vivo studies using rice bran extract and mouse models using red ginseng oil and Annurca apple polyphenols. This review identifies key hair growth promoting vitamins, minerals, and other food bioactive compounds, summarizing relevant mechanisms of action of these elucidated compounds. However, it is imperative that further research be done to delineate exact dosage of those compounds, to check if in that effective dosage they are not toxic, and to subsequently integrate these dietary modifications into clinical treatment recommendations for hair loss.