Any way of increasing our SHBG (SexHormone-binding Globulin)

[Hoppi]

Does anyone know anything about this? It could be another useful way to get excess free testosterone "mopped up" to decrease DHT, but I just can't work out how to increase the stuff!

I am particularly interested in this because I have anxiety (general mild stress disorder) and this apparently lowers my SHBG making me more susceptible to losing hair.

Any ideas would be very much appreciated!

Hoppi


EDIT -- Attached is a document I found about it. Insulin seems to be KEY in this. Also, I want to learn why my anxiety is causing SHBG to drop.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_hormon ... g_globulin

 

[OverMachoGrande]

The way to increase S.H.B.G. is through diet and exercise.

Q. "What causes low S.H.B.G.?"

A. "High levels of IGF-1"

Q. "What causes high levels of IGF-1?"

A. "Protein"

Dietary protein stimulates IGF-1 which then decreases S.H.B.G.
A high fat diet also decreases S.H.B.G.
Dietary fiber increases S.H.B.G.

If you look around the globe, you will see countries that don't have a high rate of baldness...like China, Japan, Mexico, Peru, and many countries in Africa...look at their diets. What do you see them eating?
In China and Japan they eat rice. In Mexico, beans and rice. In peru they eat potatoes. Do you see any of these countries drinking milk? No. But if you look at America, where baldness is at an all time high, you see us eating cheese burgers, you see us eating steaks, chickens, drinking gallons and gallons of milk, and having scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast!

The fact of the matter is, eating animal protein, increases a hormone in your body called insulin-like-growth-factor-1 (IGF-1), which is the most powerful growth hormone in the body! (The effects of dietary protein on serum IGF-1 levels in adult humans
Kevin Donnelly, Tianna Beare, Joan Clapper and Bonny Specker http://www.fasebj.org/cgi/content/meeti ... acts/883.8)

IGF-1 is shown to decrease S.H.B.G. (Kaaks and Lukanova, 2001; Cordain et al 2003).

Drinking milk is associated with an increased level of IGF-1...but wait. That makes sense...right? Because the purpose of milk is to promote growth. But at this stage of your life, you don't want to grow (age) any more. And you definitely don't want to grow (age) any faster do you? So you want to decrease the stimulation of growth as much as possible, how do you do that?

You get dairy products like milk, cheese, yogurt and butter out of your diet, you get meat, fish, eggs, and poultry out of your diet. In other words...you go vegan!

Vegans are shown to have much much higher levels of S.H.B.G. and S.H.B.G.-bound-testosterone than people eating the rich western diet (Allen NE. Hormones and diet: low insulin-like growth factor-I but normal bioavailable androgens in vegan men. Br J Cancer. 2000 Jul;83(1):95-7.).

And as we both know S.H.B.G. prevents testosterone from converting to D.H.T. and estradiol... You see, S.H.B.G. binds to the S.H.B.G.-receptor, when a hormone binds to S.H.B.G., which is bound to the S.H.B.G.-receptor, the gene is activated. So it would make sense to decrease S.H.B.G. as much as possible...right? Wrong. Low S.H.B.G. is associated with low testosterone levels, diabetes, and atherosclerosis!

What you want to do is: decrease IGF-1 as much as possible (which will increase S.H.B.G.), then you want to prevent D.H.T. and estradiol from binding to S.H.B.G. (you can do this by taking beta-sitosterol, phytoestrogens, and using ketoconazole shampoo). When D.H.T. and estradiol are unable to bind with S.H.B.G., they are excreted from your body. Testosterone competes with D.H.T. and estradiol for S.H.B.G.

Saturated fat decreases S.H.B.G. and increases IGF-1.
Protein decreases S.H.B.G. and increases IGF-1.

Exercise increases S.H.B.G. and decreases IGF-1.
Dietary fiber increases S.H.B.G. and decreases IGF-1.
Alcohol increases S.H.B.G. and decreases IGF-1.
Fasting increases S.H.B.G. and decreases IGF-1.
Calorie restriction increases S.H.B.G. and decreases IGF-1.
Green tea increases S.H.B.G. and decreases IGF-1.

I hope all this makes sense. To reiterate everything I've said, the simple answer to your question would be: Go vegan, reduce protein and fat in your diet, and increase dietary fiber and complex carbohydrates.

Any other questions? Just let me know.

 

[OverMachoGrande]

Unfortunately China and Japan are being "westernized" due to the increase in globalization and the effects of the new world order. Let me ask you...since you are in China and Japan, isn't there a lot of meat and dairy in the diet, doesn't Japan and China have lots of McDonald's in their country now?

From what I've heard...There has been an increased rate of male pattern baldness due to the increased consumption of animal products and less consumption of starch (rice) and vegetables.

 

[cleverusername]

I also live in China and indeed there are plenty of balding men here. Yes they eat meat but not as much as westerners do. The bigger problem is they fry everything using vegetable oil. Pollution is also a big factor. My scalp has been itching like crazy since I've been here. However my roommate who is chinese 23 eats tons of meat, puts tons of oil in everything he cooks, actually eats the pieces of fat from the meat, gets 0 exercise and has perfect hair.

I thought protein from nuts was supposed to be good for your prostate/hair.

 

[OverMachoGrande]

It seems to me that China and Japan has given up it's vegetable and starch (rice) eating for animal protein eating... this can easily explain the balding... The more and more animals you eat, the faster you are gunna bald!

Meat is bad for you. The protein in meat is very acidic, which causes calcium lose from your bones (in order to neutralize the acid), which then cause a vitamin D deficiency in order to bring the calcium back into the bones.

If you ask me...Male pattern baldness is caused by eating animal products...it's the only explanation I can come up with! If any of you can come up with a better explanation, I'd like to hear it...because back in the 1940's male pattern baldness was unheard of in Japan and China!

Once again...anyone can research this for themselves...Animal protein increases IGF-1...IGF-1 decreases S.H.B.G....A decreases in S.H.B.G. increases the conversion of testosterone into dihydrotestosterone!

 

[eped87]

I don't know about this. I haven't ate meat since i was around 7 years old (literally not once), and have had a high starch diet basically my whole life. i'm balding worse than anyone ive ever seen at my age (22). advanced NW3 with really bad recession and diffused, i was forced into shaving my head at 18/19 or so. not just a buzz cut, but i have to bic it, sucks.

i actually always believed my diet might be part of what accelerated my hairloss, by 16/17 i was probably almost NW3 and had to cover my temples by combing my hair forward. and like i said, by 18/19 there was absolutely no way i could pull off having hair anymore, ill try to dig up some old pictures from right before i shaved it.

 

[Hoppi]

Hmm, this is definitely an interesting one, I fully appreciate what you are trying to say misterE - I also like your attitude as I have a ton of vegan and hippy friends (I am quite the hippy myself - hence one of the reasons I absolutely adore my hair!).

My diet recently... I have reason to suspect it. My stress levels have been high so I'm sure that isn't helping, but on the whole I have been eating a lot of pasta, pizza, bread, chips.. a lot of FAKE meats like wheat protein, soya, quorn. I am a partial veggie I cut down on my meat significantly, but I am suspicious that all those carbohydrates were increasing my insulin, and so decreasing my SHBG. Therefore, I am trying to have a more balanced diet (with lots of fruit and veg), more active lifestyle, reduce my stress, and take multivitamins and omega 3 once a day.

I was just getting a bit lazy with diet I think, it's so easy to get sloppy

I think your theory about meat... I'm not totally sure if it's true, we'd need some further scientific testing I think! I'm not quite sure how this IGF-1 relates to insulin, I checked it up on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulin-li ... h_factor_1

A lot of it does seem to be to do with diet and also age. Having said all this though... I don't believe I know many bald vegans! lol even vegetarians and hippies seem to have a full head of hair for many years... low stress and good diet?

 

[OverMachoGrande]

Insulin stimulates the production of IGF-1 which is like "super-insulin" it is much much stronger than insulin, in fact...it's the most powerful hormone in the body!

Carbohydrates don't cause low S.H.B.G., carbohydrates do raise your insulin, but that's what they are supposed to do, the problems start when insulin doesn't do it's job, due to dietary fat and high levels of IGF-1. When insulin is unable to push sugar into the cell, the sugar is sent to the liver, where it is turned in triglycerides.

All successful populations of the world have thrived on a starch based diet. China and Japan on rice. Peru on potatoes. Egypt on wheat. Native Americans on corn. These are all high-glycemic foods. The problems begin when these populations give up the high-glycemic foods in favor of animal products, like they are doing in Japan currently.

It is interesting to note that since 1900, Americans have lost 50% of their testosterone! The reason why this happened is because we have lowered are S.H.B.G. levels so much since 1900, by eating so much meat and dairy. It is shown in a study that a high protein diet decreases S.H.B.G. and total testosterone while increasing "free" testosterone. While a high carbohydrate diet increases S.H.B.G. and total testosterone (http://www.thinkmuscle.com/articles/inc ... iet-01.htm).

 

[let-it-grow]

Hoppi, if you have male pattern hair loss and you're regime would be to eat your vegetables and relaxed then you'll just keep losing hair. Genetic hair loss is when you hair follicles are sensitive to DHT and that's why having a high levels of DHT will cause you to lose hair.

There are tribes in Africa who hunt for food and eat only meat all the time like lions and they don't lose hair and they keep their juvenile hairline, not one of them is getting bald. There are prisoners of war who eat crap for years and don't get enough sleep and exercise and they still keep their juvenile hairline even when they are 98 years old.

Male pattern baldness caused by genetic and hormones, only taking chemicals that messes with your hormonal system could help you. Maybe one day there will be a treatment to make your follicles immune to DHT but until then the only way to fight hair loss is by lowering your DHT levels in your entire body (with Finasteride, which can causes side effects) or only lower your DHT in your scalp with topical RU58841 (no side effects but it's an experimental drug).


A balance diet is good for you but your hair doesn't mind what you eat, if you got the genetic you are screwed. If you adore your hair and want to keep it then you have to figure out if you have Male Pattern Baldness or not, if you do you will have to lower your DHT which would help you keep your hair for a little longer (or a lot longer, depends on many things).

 

[OverMachoGrande]

D.H.T. isn't the problem. "Free" testosterone is the problem. "Free" testosterone is what is able to enter the sebaceous gland or prostate gland, not D.H.T.

If you increase "free" D.H.T. then "free" testosterone would go down and the "free" D.H.T. would be excreted from your body.

 

[Hoppi]

Hoppi, if you have male pattern hair loss and you're regime would be to eat your vegetables and relaxed then you'll just keep losing hair. Genetic hair loss is when you hair follicles are sensitive to DHT and that's why having a high levels of DHT will cause you to lose hair.

There are tribes in Africa who hunt for food and eat only meat all the time like lions and they don't lose hair and they keep their juvenile hairline, not one of them is getting bald. There are prisoners of war who eat crap for years and don't get enough sleep and exercise and they still keep their juvenile hairline even when they are 98 years old.

Male pattern baldness caused by genetic and hormones, only taking chemicals that messes with your hormonal system could help you. Maybe one day there will be a treatment to make your follicles immune to DHT but until then the only way to fight hair loss is by lowering your DHT levels in your entire body (with Finasteride, which can causes side effects) or only lower your DHT in your scalp with topical RU58841 (no side effects but it's an experimental drug).


A balance diet is good for you but your hair doesn't mind what you eat, if you got the genetic you are screwed. If you adore your hair and want to keep it then you have to figure out if you have Male Pattern Baldness or not, if you do you will have to lower your DHT which would help you keep your hair for a little longer (or a lot longer, depends on many things).

Again, I do appreciate your points but I disagree with some things you are saying.

High insulin (or IGF-1, like we said they are largely similar) decreases SHBG which INCREASES free testosterone which in turn INCREASES DHT. Anxiety has a similar effect. The theory that it's all genes is simply not true, but yes they are the biggest contributing factor.

It's all a delicate balance of hormones, coupled with your own hair follicles susceptibility to DHT (some people's are more prone to collecting it than others, according to studies).

I'm not saying your wrong that genes are very important, I'm just saying there are MANY factors here.

D.H.T. isn't the problem. "Free" testosterone is the problem. "Free" testosterone is what is able to enter the sebaceous gland or prostate gland, not D.H.T.

If you increase "free" D.H.T. then "free" testosterone would go down and the "free" D.H.T. would be excreted from your body.

yeah but dude, isn't it scientific fact that it's the DHT that clusters around hair follicles? plus, if it wasn't to do with DHT, then why do 5-alpha reductase (the enzyme in follicles and other places that makes DHT from free T) inhibitors such as Finasteride and Ketaconazole have such success treating male baldness/receding hair?


EDIT -- btw I think it's good to actually be discussing the science behind this I think it's only by being open minded and experimental that we can better learn how to stop hair loss

 

[OverMachoGrande]

yeah but dude, isn't it scientific fact that it's the DHT that clusters around hair follicles? plus, if it wasn't to do with DHT, then why do 5-alpha reductase (the enzyme in follicles and other places that makes DHT from free T) inhibitors such as Finasteride and Ketaconazole have such success treating male baldness/receding hair?

"Free" testosterone converts to D.H.T. in the sebaceous gland signaling it's growth. It is then bound to the sebaceous gland by S.H.B.G. or in other words D.H.T. is "stuck" to the hair thanks to S.H.B.G. It's as if S.H.B.G. is prolonging the effects of D.H.T. instead of testosterone.

So the secret is to detach D.H.T. from S.H.B.G. which is stuck to the hair. You do that not with propecia, but with androgen receptor (S.H.B.G.) antagonists; ketoconazole shampoo, beta-sitosterol, phytoestrogens, zinc... etc.

 

[Hoppi]

yeah but dude, isn't it scientific fact that it's the DHT that clusters around hair follicles? plus, if it wasn't to do with DHT, then why do 5-alpha reductase (the enzyme in follicles and other places that makes DHT from free T) inhibitors such as Finasteride and Ketaconazole have such success treating male baldness/receding hair?

"Free" testosterone converts to D.H.T. in the sebaceous gland signaling it's growth. It is then bound to the sebaceous gland by S.H.B.G. or in other words D.H.T. is "stuck" to the hair thanks to S.H.B.G. It's as if S.H.B.G. is prolonging the effects of D.H.T. instead of testosterone.

So the secret is to detach D.H.T. from S.H.B.G. which is stuck to the hair. You do that not with propecia, but with androgen receptor (S.H.B.G.) antagonists; ketoconazole shampoo, beta-sitosterol, phytoestrogens, zinc... etc.

yeah you may have a point there man, I mean Propecia and that... they DO work I mean the numbers and results surely back that up but, they are more general, and that's why you get side effects

So, am I right in saying that Ketaconazole just has a local effect? I thought it was a 5-alpha reductase inhibitor like Finasteride? And I mean, this stuff ( http://www.myhair.co.il/ru-58841.html ) sounds too good to be true - is it along the same lines as what you were saying, as it still inhibits the attachment of DHT right?

 

[Bryan]

"Free" testosterone converts to D.H.T. in the sebaceous gland signaling it's growth. It is then bound to the sebaceous gland by S.H.B.G. or in other words D.H.T. is "stuck" to the hair thanks to S.H.B.G. It's as if S.H.B.G. is prolonging the effects of D.H.T. instead of testosterone.

Yawn.

Rather than indulge in your usual flights of fancy, I suggest you try to prove (or at least find evidence) that it happens that way, in both sebaceous gland cells and hair follicle cells.

 

[OverMachoGrande]

So, am I right in saying that Ketaconazole just has a local effect? I thought it was a 5-alpha reductase inhibitor like Finasteride?

Ketoconazole doen't inhibit alpha-5-reductase, but what it does do is it inhibits both D.H.T. and estradiol (which can act like D.H.T.) from binding to S.H.B.G... increasing their excretion.

http://aac.asm.org/cgi/reprint/23/2/207.pdf

 

[dpdr]

So, am I right in saying that Ketaconazole just has a local effect? I thought it was a 5-alpha reductase inhibitor like Finasteride?

Ketoconazole doen't inhibit alpha-5-reductase, but what it does do is it inhibits both D.H.T. and estradiol (which can act like D.H.T.) from binding to S.H.B.G... increasing their excretion.

http://aac.asm.org/cgi/reprint/23/2/207.pdf

What is the recommended dosage to take Keto Oral ?

 

[OverMachoGrande]

I wouldn't recommend taking ketoconazole orally, because it can cause liver issues and gynecomastia!

 

[cleverusername]

Most vegans I've seen look a bit sickly and weak to me. I wouldn't recommend eating steak and bacon everyday but I find it hard to believe a moderate amount of chicken and fish is bad for you.

 

[OverMachoGrande]

Chicken and fish contain as much cholesterol as steak. Excess cholesterol (or cholesterol from the diet) contributes to atherosclerosis, which correlates with male pattern baldness.

The protein in chicken and fish is very acidic, so in order for your body to neutralize the acid, it yanks calcium (which is alkaline) out of your bones to neutralize the acidic animal protein. Your body then uses up its vitamin D stores trying to get the calcium back into the bones. Often times it can't and you then begin to develop osteoporosis, arthritis, and kidney stones.

Animal protein stimulates IGF-1 which decreases S.H.B.G. which then allows testosterone to be converted into D.H.T. and estradiol.

 

[Hoppi]

Chicken and fish contain as much cholesterol as steak. Excess cholesterol (or cholesterol from the diet) contributes to atherosclerosis, which correlates with male pattern baldness.

The protein in chicken and fish is very acidic, so in order for your body to neutralize the acid, it yanks calcium (which is alkaline) out of your bones to neutralize the acidic animal protein. Your body then uses up its vitamin D stores trying to get the calcium back into the bones. Often times it can't and you then begin to develop osteoporosis, arthritis, and kidney stones.

Animal protein stimulates IGF-1 which decreases S.H.B.G. which then allows testosterone to be converted into D.H.T. and estradiol.

Woah is that true? O.O It sounds a little extreme to me, but I dont really have the biology understanding in that area to prove or disprove it!

So really Ketaconazole inhibits DHT and estradiol? Hmm O.O