We’ve been asked by a couple of clients, whether or not the amino acid Taurine can offer any benefits to the hair loss sufferer.
We dont actually know. The number of people using Taurine as a hair loss preventative appears to be very small, and we have not conducted any research on the subject.
This article is therefore designed as a signpost to resources available elsewhere, that may enable those considering the use of Taurine to make a more informed decision.
How is Taurine supposed to help?
As one source puts it:
L-taurine is an amino acid that when used orally at doses greater than 500 mg. acts as anti-fibrotic agent (inhibits the inflammatoin mediated hardening or ridgification of the hair follicle matrix), thus addressing the primary mechanism of the gradual follicle miniturization seen in MPB.
L’Oreal recently obtained a patent for oral hair growth compound that simply combined L-Taurine with Grapeseed Extract, Mega Green Tea Extract, OptiZinc, and Beta Sitosterol. In data submited by L’Oreal in their patent application, topical L-Taurine was found to be ineffective for hair growth.
For more background information about Taurine and hair loss, there is a useful article on eHow.com that may be worth reading. See the article here.
There are also forum threads on the subject on HairLossHelp.com, ImmortalHair.org, BaldTruthTalk.com and HerAlopecia.com.
There are also blog posts or articles that mention Taurine on HairLossTalk.com, NIH.gov (National Institutes of Health) and WomensHairLossProject.com.
The Wikipedia page about Taurine can be found here.