Working out and ensuring you’re getting regular experience can offer many positive benefits to the body and mind, but there are some negative side effects that people are likely to be less aware of. One of these is the effect that your workout could have on your hair. Think that is an unlikely link to hair loss? Some scientists have suggested that there are some issues which could be directly linked to your approach to working out.
As part of the continual strive to make our bodies look and feel exactly as we wish them to be, many will consider supplementing exercise with nutritional supplements, and herein lies a minefield of contradictory “dos” and “don’ts”. Regardless of what you are trying to achieve with your physique, for some individuals, hormone boosting supplements can have a detrimental effect on hair calibre and hair coverage. The challenge for some men is, what is the bigger priority: bulking up or maintaining good hair coverage? This isn’t a dilemma faced by all men, but if you are prone to hair loss, then this is a decision that will have to be made.
What to avoid?
Some supplements and shakes contain active ingredients that claim to boost testosterone, and these are found in many common types of steroids, such as Winstrol, Masteron, Anavar, Primobolan and Trenbolone, to name but a few.
For people who suffer from male pattern baldness (a very common cause of hair loss, also known as androgentic alopecia), this results from the body’s reaction to a by-product of testosterone called dihydrotestesterone (DHT). The reaction is caused by an underlying genetic disposition, which results in a heightened sensitivity to DHT. This particular hormone causes hair follicles to get smaller, which is compounded with a reduced hair growth cycle. The result is that hair thins and will eventually fall out.
By introducing dietary supplements that increase the production of testosterone, these supplements could exacerbate the way the body reacts to these hormones, and therefore heighten the risk of hair loss.
What is ok to take?
Supplements that are purely made of whey, or those that are egg-based, are unlikely to cause issues to your hair. Plus, if you do not have the genetic makeup that make you susceptible to hair loss, then your hair has no cause for concern.
It is important to remember is that for a lot of people, taking supplements such as these can be completely fine and will not present any detrimental side effects. The main watch out is if you’re one of the many men who have a genetic predisposition to hair fall, as you’re in the high risk bracket for experiencing a reaction to taking testosterone enhancing products.
