Today we’re covering a very very important topic for those of you that are worried about
your finicky follicles vanishing from that beautiful scalp of yours.
And if you don’t want a wonderfully groomed head like mine, then I highly suggest you
watch this whole video.
I’ve actually covered this topic before, but you guys have been asking this question
quite a lot recently after I dropped my “if there’s only one supplement to take” video,
so I figure why not give you guys something fresh to enjoy!
After all, you’re here because you think I’m funny and entertaining and the information
is just the cherry on top right?
Right?
(natalie portman meme) But let’s get to it.
In my supplement video, spoilers, I said that creatine is THE supplement to take assuming
that getting enough protein isn’t a problem for ya.
Because if it is, then you’re better off trying to finish your protein powder that
has been sitting at the top of your fridge for the past six months.
But, a lot of you were worried because you’ve heard some rumblings that creatine might cause
you to lose your hair.
For this video, I’m not going to dive directly into the science and mechanisms of this topic.
I’ll link my older video for that if you’re interested.
I’ll have a link for that supplement video too.
What we will cover in this video is the actual data we have.
And, like other heavily perpetuated fitness myths, there’s actually not a lot of data.
In fact, there’s zero studies to date that directly investigates creatine’s effect
on your hair.
Instead, much of the concerns come from a single study 13 years ago that wasn’t even
looking into hair loss, but rather finding that creatine elevated a hormone called DHT,
which does seem to play a role in hair loss.
More on that later.
In this study, the researchers found when college-aged rugby players consumed 25 grams
of creatine per day for 7 days followed by 5 grams per day for 14 days, for a total of
21 days, their DHT levels increased by 40%.
Their DHT to T ratio, T for testosterone, was also significantly higher, suggesting
that there is indeed a higher conversion of testosterone into DHT since DHT metabolizes
from testosterone.
It’s actually in the name: dihydrogentestosterone.
But, upon closer inspection of this study, interestingly, the placebo group, the group
that didn’t consume any creatine, started at a much higher DHT level, 1.26 nanomoles
per liter compared to 0.98 nanomoles for the creatine group.
Very interesting discrepeancy.
Although the creatine group’s DHT level did increase, at the end of the 21 days, they
peaked at 1.38 nanomoles per liter.
Not that far from the baseline of the placebo group and certainly does not seem to be as
significant of a change as we initially thought.
And again, this was not a study looking directly at hair loss, but changes in DHT.
As for that connection between DHT and hair loss, there’s also no compelling data.
And, when we consider that simply exercising increases DHT, whether it’s aerobic exercise
or lifting weights, it’s hard to see creatine itself be of any significant impact.
“But Mr. PictureFAT, then why did when I lose all my hair after taking creatine?”
I’m not saying DHT has no connection to hair loss, because it does.
But, this is primarily the case if you have a genetic predisposition to hair loss known
as androgenic alopecia.
If that’s the case, your hair follicles have a genetically determined sensitivity
to localized DHT that can accelerate the thinning of your hair.
To summarize: there’s no data that suggest creatine itself causes hair loss.
The thing that some do blame it on, DHT, can increase from many factors other than creatine,
like exercise, and DHT seems to play a role only if you are already at a genetic risk
of losing your hair.
And that’s it.
That’s what we know about the data, and if you ask me, don’t blame creatine for
your hair loss, blame your mama’s genes.
Not actually, be nice to your mamas.
I wanna give a shout out to all the awesome new members of the channel:
Joining the Protein Pro Team is Russel Benton Joining the Getting Your Protein Crew are
theinadequatelifter, who’s secretly a mod for my discord, , SketchyGamerGuy, Oliver
B, and Baumwolle!
Thank you to all you guys!
If you wanna help this channel out as well, consider becoming a member by clicking the
join button below.
You guys can then get some cool icons and emojis, but most of all, my undying love.
I LOVE YOU.
If you enjoyed this video, please give it a hairy thumbs up and the next time your friends
say that creatine caused them to lose their hair, make sure to show them this video!
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As always, thank you for watching annnd don’t forget to GET YOUR PROTEIN!