Have you drank a mug of green tea? If you're like most people , your answer is yes. Next question, have you used green tea to enhance your well being? If you said no, consider this: scientists continue to discover several reasons why green tea can be a tool for elevating health and not just soothing your mouth. If you've been near a television or radio over the past decade, you've likely heard about the anti-oxidant and anti-cancer properties contained in green tea. A team of Korean scientists found a new medical use for green tea - baldness prevention. Yes, according Dr. Kwon , green tea stops thinning hair. For men and women who don't desire to use drugs like minoxidil, finasteride or dutasteride to fight balding, green tea can be the solution they are looking to find.

In 2006, Dr. Kwon and his colleagues aimed to test a hypothesis - might the anti-oxidants in green tea prevent hair loss by attacking androgens in the scalp. Androgens are the hormones responsible for most types of hair loss for women and men. The research group in the Labaratory of Cutaneous Aging and Hair Research lead by Dr. Kwon recruited participants to contribute their hair . The research group selected hair follicles that were currently in the anagen phase or growth phase and they incubated the hair follicles in well dishes. What the research group discovered was encouraging. Hair exposed to green tea, in particular epigallocatechin-3-gallate, an element in green tea, exhibited a greater ability to encourage growth and resist hair follicle shrinking.

In order to understand why these discoveries are so momentous consider this: (1) Few studies have been executed by scientists, objectively testing how natural elements, like green tea, may prevent hair loss. (2) Investigations that have taken place, frequently have questionable methods, which makes the reliability of the results difficult to substantiate. (3) More natural options in the battle to stop thinning hair, and re-grow a woman or man's own hair are needed.

How Can I use Green Tea to Prevent My Hair Loss?

The answer is yes and no. Yes, the scientists discovered that green tea displays the capacity to promote hair growth through a process of hair proliferation and minimization of hair follicle apoptosis (death). The scientists did not brew a mug of tea and splash it on the head of the subjects. Rather, the doctors extracted the epigallocatechin-3-gallate in the green tea and combined this formula with ethanol. This new mixture was then applied to the scalps of the research subjects.

Ethanol acts as a vehicle, which facilitates absorption. This means the benefits of green tea can be more readily realized by applying the green tea to the scalp within a solution of ethanol. This doesn't indicate that you cannot pour green tea on your scalp. It just suggests your results may not be consistent with the impressive results of the research - unless you know how to develop an identical mixture. Unless you are a chemist or great at combining ingredients, a better solution is to learn about natural hair loss treatments that include green tea.