Can st john’s wort cause hair loss?
Do you want to rock a bald look without taking any significant steps to achieve it? Look no further! St. John’s Wort is here for you.
Yes, that’s right; the natural supplement used as an alternative therapy worldwide can have hair loss as a side effect- Yay!
The Background
St. John’s Wort (SJW) is also known by its scientific name hypericum perforatum and has been used in traditional medicine for many years. Besides being prescribed as an antidepressant with limited effectiveness and numerous side effects (woohoo), SJW possesses inflammation-reducing properties that make it useful in treating mild wounds.
With all these health benefits from this non-FDA approved herb, what harm could there be? Please hold on – we get to the part where SJW likely causes hair loss later in this piece wink wink！
What Causes Hair Loss?
Before diving into how taking SJW daily can leave your head barren of lush tresses (sigh), let’s explore some reasons why humans lose hairs:
- Aging: With aging comes less Melanin production – melanin pigment gives color(woah). Less melanin means gray or white strands!
- Hormonal Changes: Women experience postpartum hair fallout due to hormonal shifts when breastfeeding.(things just keep getting better)
- Diet: Poor food choices with little protein/iron levels decreases healthy blood flow leading to thinning follicles
4.Stress : When human body undergoes Stress/cortisol releases ,it leads to Telogen Effluvium(Large amount of shedding suddenly)
St.John ‘s Wort And Hairloss
Back To Business (Evil laughter).
How does our favorite herb leads us down the pathway towards Alopecia (Hair loss)?
The consumption of blessed SJW reduces serotonin levels (YAY), which in turn allows excess production of Cortisol; our love-hate stress hormone (whoopee!). Excess cortisol damages hair follicles’ functioning leading to shedding, as seen with stunted growth and thinner strands from numerous studies.
With a prolonged dosage of the herb, large amounts of cortisol production will lead to hair fall mainly when the body undergoes substantial pressure or shock. Regrow your edgy bald patches naturally!
How To Stop Hair Loss
Just kidding (toil harder), let’s keep going on about St.John ‘s Wort causing Hair Loss :
An extensive study conducted in 2009 by Harvard Medical School confirmed that SJW has side effects on short-term libido and long-term sexual problems- What? Yeah…
A mixture of depression, low-drive libido(lol) with alopecia would make anyone go crazy right away. An interesting cure is taking some echinacea & raspberry tea…….. JUST KIDDING! Nothing sounds worse than starting a herbal regimen despite bearing alopecia due initially to herbs.
Conclusion
By now, you should note that I’m farce since it’s unlikely individuals who try supplementing their medications with St John’s Wort have severe side effects like alopecia-there are few evidence showing direct causality between consuming SJW supplement and Extended periods of hair loss.
Let us be clear: Alopecia may arise from various imbalances -SJW usage remains less documented so don’t get yourself too alarmed !However….. no pain-no gain!